Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving

This episode explores how the diving community responds when something goes badly wrong and why the choice between blame and learning really matters. Drawing on three university research projects, it explains that after serious incidents people look for meaning through justice, learning, and sometimes punishment, and that visible learning can itself be a form of justice. The episode looks at why divers often struggle to share honest stories about near misses and accidents, including fear of judgment, legal worries, and online criticism, and why sharing clear, context-rich stories is essential for real safety improvement. It also explains that accountability is not just about finding fault but about choosing fair, forward-looking ways to improve systems, training, and teamwork. The key message is that diving becomes safer when we replace silence and scapegoating with open storytelling, curiosity, and accountability that focuses on learning and change rather than blame.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/asking-why-telling-stories-and-owning-accountability-lessons-for-divingLinks: The three theses: Møller (2023), Lock (2024), Parris (2025)Summary of Lock’s thesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRXqeQvRFK0&t=3sChanging the language to help learning: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/change-your-language-change-the-worldDEBrIEF model: https://www.thehumandiver.com/debriefThe documentaries ‘If Only…’ and ‘Just a Routine Operation’Tags: English, Gareth Lock, Incident Reporting, Just Culture, Psychological Safety

This episode looks at how many decisions can happen during a single dive and why decision-making is often harder underwater, especially for new divers. Using a real-world wreck dive story, it shows how focus on a goal, strong currents, stress, and missed checks can slowly lead to poor outcomes, even when basic skills are sound. The discussion explains how pressure, mental overload, common thinking biases, limited experience, and social influences can affect the choices divers make without them realising it. It also introduces simple, practical tools—like clear dive plans with decision points, pausing to reassess when stressed, regular scanning of key information, and honest post-dive debriefs—to help divers recognise problems earlier and make safer decisions. The key message is that good decisions are a skill that can be learned, and every dive is a chance to improve judgment and dive more safely.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-decision-makingTags: English, Beginners, Cognitive Biases, Decision Making, Gareth Lock

In this episode, we explore situation awareness, a key skill that helps divers notice what’s happening around them, understand what it means, and anticipate what might happen next. Using a personal story from a first open water dive, we show how beginners often rely on instructors to manage the “big picture” and don’t realise how much awareness is needed until they dive on their own. The episode explains why situation awareness is harder for new divers, introduces the simple three-step model of perception, understanding, and prediction, and shares practical tips to build this skill from the very start, such as good dive briefings, clear communication, staying curious, managing stress, and learning from debriefs. The key message is that situation awareness is a skill anyone can develop, and improving it makes diving safer, calmer, and more enjoyable.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-situation-awarenessLinks: Blog about dive briefings: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/Why%20are%20dive%20briefings%20important%3F%20How%20to%20deliver%20them%20effectivelyBlog about debriefing: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/debriefing-a-challenging-dive-a-real-life-experienceBlog about communication: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-communicationTags: English, Beginners, Mike Mason, Situation Awareness, Situational Awareness

In this episode, we follow Paul, a diver who joins an unfamiliar group and stays silent when he feels unsure, leading to stress, separation from the team, and a risky situation underwater. His story shows how being part of a group doesn’t automatically mean being part of a team, especially when people don’t feel comfortable asking questions or speaking up. We explore the ideas of psychological safety and just culture, and why they matter in diving, so that everyone can raise concerns, admit mistakes, and learn without fear of blame or embarrassment. The episode also shares practical ways divers can support each other, encourage open communication, and challenge unsafe behaviour, helping teams become safer, stronger, and better together.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-psychological-safety-just-cultureLinks: Blog about Performance Influencing Factors: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-performance-influencing-factorsTags: English, Beginners, Just Culture, Pedro Paulo Cunha, Psychological Safety, Teamwork

This episode looks at Ellie’s first overseas dive trip, where she discovered that being “ready” on paper doesn’t always mean performing well in real life. Even though she knew her skills, a rushed boat, unexpected changes, stress, and small mistakes left her overwhelmed and unsure underwater. We use her experience to explore why divers don’t always act the way they intend, using the WITH/TWIN model to explain how the environment, individual limits, task load, and human nature all shape performance. You’ll hear practical tools for managing stress, spotting error traps, asking better pre-dive questions, and debriefing the human side of a dive. The message is simple: safe diving isn’t just about technical skills — it’s about understanding what affects your performance so you can learn, adapt, and be better than yesterday.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-performance-influencing-factorsLinks: HALT: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/stress-a-challenge-we-all-facePACE model: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/navigating-the-authority-gradient-pt2SBAR model: https://www.ihi.org/library/tools/sbar-tool-situation-background-assessment-recommendationDebrief model: https://www.thehumandiver.com/debriefTags: English, Beginners, Gareth Lock, Performance Influencing Factors

This episode explores what happened when an inexperienced diver, John, assumed he was “just meant to follow” his far more experienced buddy, Shona- and how a simple sea dive turned stressful when expectations weren’t shared. Their miscommunication shows that good teamwork in diving isn’t automatic: leaders need to notice when teammates are struggling, and followers need to speak up, ask questions, and stay involved in the plan. We look at how beginners can build both leadership and followership from day one through curiosity, clear expectations, simple pre-dive questions, and short debriefs. The story highlights that safe, enjoyable dives come from shared mental models, mutual accountability, and the courage to communicate- no matter how new you are.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-leadership-and-followershipLinks: Debrief model: https://www.thehumandiver.com/debriefTop Tips for Beginner Divers- Teamwork: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-teamworkDive briefings: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/Why%20are%20dive%20briefings%20important%3F%20How%20to%20deliver%20them%20effectivelyPsychological safety: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/HFforD-part-10-psychological-safetyTags: English, Beginners, Communications, Followership, Gareth Lock, Leadership, Teamwork

In this episode, we look at how two new divers learned the hard way that being a true buddy team takes more than just diving side by side. A simple dive on a house reef became stressful when assumptions replaced communication, and neither diver had agreed on roles, pace, or what to do if something went wrong. Their experience shows that teamwork doesn’t happen automatically—it’s built through clear plans, shared expectations, and honest conversations before and after the dive. We explore how new divers can avoid “assumed coordination,” develop a shared mental model, and grow stronger as a team using practical tools like pre-dive role discussions, simple communication habits, quick debriefs, and psychological safety. Effective teamwork helps divers stay connected, learn together, and enjoy safer, more relaxed dives.   Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-teamwork   Links: Debrief model: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/debriefing Building psychological safety: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-challenge-of-psychological-safety   Tags:  English, Beginners, Brief, Debrief, Gareth Lock, Teamwork

In this episode, we look at how a simple miscommunication during a fun dive turned into confusion, and why clear planning and shared understanding are essential for safe and enjoyable diving. Because you can’t talk underwater, communication has to start at the surface, and most problems come from assumptions, unclear plans, or people being too nervous to speak up. We break down practical tools to avoid this—like agreeing on the dive plan, using shared hand signals, confirming understanding, carrying a slate, and doing short debriefs after each dive. Good communication builds confidence, strengthens teamwork, and prevents small misunderstandings from turning into big issues.   Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-communication   Links: Shared understanding: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/lost-in-translation Blog about psychological safety: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-challenge-of-psychological-safety Ask questions: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/communications-ask-better-questions   Tags:  English, Briefing, Communication, Communications, Mike Mason, Teamwork

In this episode, we explore how easy it is for divers to drift into unsafe habits when risky behaviour seems to have no consequences, especially in small or high-performing cave and technical diving teams. A real example from a cave rebreather class shows how a simple shortcut- only a few metres and seemingly low-risk- could have broken a key rule of always maintaining a continuous guideline. Even when a team is skilled and conditions look perfect, small deviations can become normalised and lead to bigger risks later. We talk about why psychological safety, honest communication, and clear team standards are essential for spotting drift, challenging unsafe ideas, and learning from each other.   Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-blog-normalisation-of-deviance-in-rebreather-cave-diving   Links: Normalisation of deviance: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/normalisation-of-deviance-not-about-rule-breaking Psychological safety: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/what-we-get-wrong-about-psychological-safety-in-diving   Tags:  English, Cave Diving, CCR, Decision Making, Lanny Vogel, Normalisation of Deviance, Teamwork

In this episode, we finish exploring the “Dirty Dozen” human factors that contribute to mistakes in diving by looking at fatigue, lack of assertiveness and norms. These factors influence how divers think and behave, and they can increase risk if they aren’t recognised and managed. Fatigue can reduce focus and reaction time, lack of assertiveness can stop people from speaking up when something feels wrong, and unsafe norms can develop when teams skip important steps simply because “nothing went wrong last time.” We discuss how to address these issues through tools like HALT and PACE, building psychological safety, supporting each other as teammates, and challenging negative habits within dive communities. The goal is to create an environment where divers can speak up, look out for each other and make safer decisions together.   Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/reframing-the-dirty-dozen-part-4   Links: Part One: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/reframing-the-dirty-dozen-part-1 Part Two: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/reframing-the-dirty-dozen-part-2 Part Three: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/reframing-the-dirty-dozen-part-3 Error Producing Conditions: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/hf-for-dummies-part-9-error-producing-conditions Building psychological safety: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/team-building-psych-safety-1 PACE tool: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/navigating-the-authority-gradient-pt2 Negative norms need to be recognised: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/what-are-we-pretending-not-to-know Normalisation of drift vs pushing boundaries: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/drift-vs-advancement-how-do-we-push-limits-safely   Tags:  English, Fatigue, Human Error, Jenny Lord, Performance Shaping Factors