Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving

In this episode, we dive into the concept of psychological safety and its critical role in diving and team performance. Psychological safety, defined as a shared belief that it's safe to take interpersonal risks, enables people to ask questions, make mistakes, contribute ideas, and challenge the status quo without fear of judgment or reprisal. Drawing on insights from experts like Amy Edmondson and Dr. Timothy Clark, we explore its four stages: inclusion, learner safety, contributor safety, and challenger safety, with a focus on how each stage impacts divers, instructors, and teams. From life-or-death scenarios to fostering innovation, creating a culture of psychological safety can improve decision-making, teamwork, and training outcomes. Tune in to learn how to build this essential skill in your diving and beyond. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/how-safe-is-your-diving   Links: If Only video: https://vimeo.com/382399090 Debrief guide: https://www.thehumandiver.com/debrief Psychological Safety and Learning Behaviour in Work Teams: http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Group_Performance/Edmondson%20Psychological%20safety.pdf High Performing Teams need Psychological Safety: https://liberationist.org/high-performing-teams-need-psychological-safety/ What Psychological Safety is not: https://qz.com/work/1470164/what-is-psychological-safety/   Tags:  English, Communication, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Just Culture, Leadership, Teamwork

In this episode, we explore the double-edged nature of goal setting—how it drives achievement but can also lead to risky decisions when pressure and commitment override safety and judgment. Using examples from mountaineering and advanced diving, including a personal story about a challenging CCR trimix course, we delve into the concept of "destructive goal setting." The discussion highlights how external pressures and an unwillingness to abandon goals can cloud decision-making, and emphasizes the importance of open communication, team empowerment, and stepping back to reassess whether "the juice is worth the squeeze." Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/is-the-juice-worth-the-squeeze   Tags:  English, Cognitive Biases, Decision Making, Guy Shockey

In this episode, we explore the concept of counterfactual reasoning—our tendency to imagine how incidents could have been avoided by different actions—and why it falls short in improving safety. While this type of hindsight helps us feel better by creating a sense of order, it doesn’t address the real-world conditions or decisions that led to the incident. Instead of asking, "Why didn’t they do Y instead of X?" we should ask, "How did doing X make sense to them at the time?" By focusing on what actually happened and understanding the context, we can uncover valuable insights to improve safety and decision-making in diving. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/counter-factuals   Tags:  English, Cognitive Biases, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Incident Analysis

In this episode, we explore a personal account of a Gareth’s experience with decompression sickness (DCS) and the critical decision-making process that followed. The story dives into the internal monologue, biases, and stigmas surrounding DCS, highlighting how emotions and uncertainties influence risk-based decisions. We also examine industry practices, the importance of creating a psychologically safe culture for discussing incidents, and the need for better preparedness when things go wrong. This episode challenges listeners to reflect on their own decision-making and encourages a shift toward curiosity and learning in the diving community. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-bend-is-uninteresting-the-related-decisions-are-much-more-so   Links: PACE model: https://gcaptain.com/graded-assertiveness-captain-i-have-a-concern/ Prospect Theory: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1914185 Blog about Normalisation of Deviance: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/being-a-deviant-is-normal Distancing through Differencing: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Woods11/publication/292504703_Distancing_through_differencing_An_obstacle_to_organizational_learning_following_accidents/links/5742fb1808ae9ace8418b7ea/Distancing-through-differencing-An-obstacle-to-organizational-learning-following-accidents.pdf   Tags: English, Decision Making, Gareth Lock

In this episode, we explore Professor James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model, which helps explain how incidents occur when multiple safety barriers fail at different levels within a system. We discuss how organizational, supervisory, and individual errors can combine to create accidents, and how the holes in these barriers move and shift over time. Using dynamic models, we highlight that safety is an emergent property of a system, where small errors accumulate and can lead to larger, more significant failures. We also examine the role of human error, risk management, and attention to detail in preventing accidents and emphasize the complexity of real-world systems, where multiple factors often lead to a critical mass of failure before an incident happens. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/when-the-holes-line-up   Links: Animated simple Swiss Cheese model: https://vimeo.com/326723142 Big Hole model: https://vimeo.com/326723122 Little Hole model: https://vimeo.com/326723109   Tags:  English, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Incident Investigation

In this episode, we dive into the concept of "good enough" in diving and how it relates to decision-making, risk, and safety. We explore why terms like "safe" and "good" are subjective and often influenced by context, experience, and social pressures, rather than absolutes. Using real-life examples, we discuss how divers weigh trade-offs between efficiency and thoroughness, balancing time, money, and risk to make decisions in uncertain situations. By understanding the biases and constraints that shape our choices, we can better assess what "good enough" means in different scenarios and improve through shared stories and context-rich learning. Original blog: Spiderman drawing video: https://youtu.be/x9wn633vl_c Blog from Steve Shorrock: https://humanisticsystems.com/2016/12/05/the-varieties-of-human-work/ Efficiency-Thouroughness Trade Off: http://erikhollnagel.com/ideas/etto-principle/index.html Latent Pathogens from James Reason: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1117770/ Outcome bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome_bias   Tags: English, Gareth Lock

In this episode, we explore how decision-making under uncertainty plays a crucial role in scuba diving, drawing insights from Prospect Theory and real-life scenarios. We discuss how psychological factors, like loss aversion, influence divers to take risks they might otherwise avoid—whether it's diving with faulty gear after weeks of being unable to dive or dealing with pressures during high-profile expeditions. Highlighting examples from both individual dives and operational standards in dive centers, we examine the balance between minimizing loss and managing uncertainty. Finally, we emphasize the importance of teamwork, robust communication, and standardization to mitigate risks, ensuring safer and more informed diving decisions. Original blog: DOSPERT Study: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1301089 Near death experience in Truk lagoon: https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/complacency-kills-its-not-just-an-empty-threat.567481/   Tags:  English, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Risk

In this episode, we explore how risk is perceived and managed in diving, where emotions, biases, and mental shortcuts often outweigh logic and statistics. Diving fatalities are statistically rare, but those numbers don’t resonate emotionally—our decisions are more influenced by stories and personal experiences. Through real-life examples, we unpack biases like availability bias, outcome bias, and the “turkey illusion,” showing how these distort our understanding of risks. The discussion also highlights strategies for improving risk management, such as using checklists, planning and debriefing effectively, and sharing experiences to enhance collective learning. Join us to rethink how we approach uncertainty and decision-making in diving and beyond. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/riskoffatality   Links: Fatalities COnference Procceedings: https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/files/Fatalities_Proceedings.pdf Numbers don;t have the same emotional relevance as stories: https://hbr.org/2003/06/storytelling-that-moves-people Risk of dying from a shark attack: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/odds/compare-risk/death/ Behavioural economics: https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/introduction-behavioral-economics/ Prospect theory: https://www.behavioraleconomics.com/resources/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/prospect-theory/ Video about normalisation of deviance: https://vimeo.com/174875861 4 T’s of risk management: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1612046102342961/permalink/2160646497482916/ How it makes sense for “stupid” decisions: https://www.facebook.com/gareth.lock.5/videos/10155465887236831/   Tags: English, Gareth Lock

How do you measure safety in diving? This episode dives into a real story of a dive team that adapted to an emerging safety risk when two divers, certified but inexperienced in drysuits and challenging conditions, showed signs of stress. Through situational awareness, communication, and teamwork, the team adjusted their plan, choosing a safer dive site where the less experienced divers could build confidence. The story highlights how safety isn’t about luck or strict rule-following but proactive decision-making and collaboration. We explore how divers can develop the skills to create safety and why “nothing happening” often means someone made it happen. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/safety-is-nothingness   Tags:  English, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Leadership, Safety, Teamwork

In this episode, we explore the decision-making challenges in diving, sharing a personal story of risky dives and lessons learned. A diver reflects on their early diving experiences, from breaking training depth limits to encountering equipment failures at 30m, and how a lack of knowledge and overconfidence contributed to risky choices. We discuss the importance of understanding context when evaluating incidents, avoiding hindsight bias, and learning from mistakes to improve safety. Diving involves inherent risks, but by fostering curiosity, sharing lessons, and acknowledging uncertainties, we can create a safer and more informed diving community. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/responsible-but-not-informed   Tags:  English, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Risk Management