The objective of the present study was to illuminate the experience of injuries and the process of injury reporting within the Swedish skydiving culture.
The study had a qualitative approach where data was collected in narrative interviews that were subsequently analyzed with content analysis. Seventeen respondents between the ages of 22 and 44 were recruited at three skydiving drop zones in Sweden.
Injury events related to the full phase of a skydive were described. Risk of injury is individually viewed as an integrated element of the recreational activity counterbalanced by its recreational value. The human factor of inadequate judgment such as miscalculation and distraction dominate the descriptions as causes of injuries. Organization and leadership act as facilitators or constrainers for reporting incidents and injuries.
On the basis of this study it is interpreted that safety work and incident reporting in Swedish skydiving may be influenced more by local drop zone culture than by the national association policy. Formal and informal hierarchical structures among skydivers seem to decide how skydiving is practiced, rule enforcement, and injury reporting. We suggest that initial training and continuing education need to be change from the current top-down, to a bottom-up perspective, where the individual skydiver learns to see the positive implications of safety work and injury reporting.