This number may seem high, but other occupations are risky too. To put a different spin on these numbers, there are other types of risk estimates that are worth noting. If you smoke cigarettes, this risk increases dramatically. In Canada, approximately 44,000 people a year die from smoking-related diseases. Of course if you smoke and dive your chances of developing life-threatening complications is compounded.
Risks are synergistic.
The more risk factors one combines in a particular activity, the greater the overall risk to the individual. For instance, if you are an overweight smoker who frequently does deep dives without a buddy or adequate training and experience, statistically speaking you are loading the deck against yourself. The risk of fatality for sport divers is considerably lower than the risks' taking by commercial divers. This makes a lot of sense since most sport divers are not pushing their 1 imi t s on a regular basis. Few of us work with mixed gases or with heavy machinery at depth.