Effective communication is critical for safety and performance in diving, yet many divers struggle to speak up due to fear of judgment, peer pressure, or an adversarial culture. This silence can lead to mistakes, unreported incidents, and missed opportunities for improvement. Leaders at all levels play a vital role in fostering open dialogue by responding to mistakes constructively, avoiding blame, and creating trust. Self-awareness, humility, and a willingness to learn are key traits for maintaining open communication. By embracing these principles and shifting focus from blame to learning, divers and teams can enhance safety, build stronger relationships, and achieve high performance.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/nine-ways

Links: Blog about peer pressure: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/why-is-it-so-hard-to-thumb-a-dive-or-end-something-that-you-have-committed-to

Blog about leadership: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/leadershipindiving

Tags:  English, Communications, Gareth Lock, Leadership, Teamwork

Cognitive biases and mental shortcuts significantly impact decision-making, especially in high-risk environments like diving, where errors can have critical or fatal consequences. Factors such as narcosis, reduced visibility, and altered sound perception exacerbate these biases, distorting reality and affecting safety. Common biases include anchoring, overconfidence, and confirmation bias, each influencing risk perception and decision-making in unique ways. Awareness and mitigation of these biases are vital, achieved through strategies like education, training, crew resource management, and system changes to reduce reliance on human behavior alone. Understanding these factors is essential to improving safety and preventing incidents often attributed to "human error."

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/17-cognitive-biases

Links: Types of cognitive bias: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/i-am-biased-you-are-biased-we-are-all-biased

Normalisation of deviance blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/being-a-deviant-is-normal

Dunning-Kruger effect blog: 

​​https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/incompetent-and-unaware-you-don-t-know-what-you-don-t-know

Tags: English, Gareth Lock

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This episode explores the complexities of human error in diving incidents, challenging the oversimplified blame often placed on individuals. Drawing on James Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model, we examine how both active failures (individual actions) and latent conditions (systemic weaknesses) contribute to accidents. We also discuss cognitive biases, such as hindsight and outcome bias, that hinder objective learning from incidents. By shifting focus from blame to systemic improvement, fostering accountability without shame, and continuously reforming processes, we can better manage errors and enhance safety. Tune in to rethink “human error” and embrace a systems approach to diving performance.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/human-error-in-diving-is-it-really-that-simple

Links: Shappell and Weigmann’s HFACS model: https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Human_Factors_Analysis_and_Classification_System_(HFACS)

Animated Swiss cheese model: https://vimeo.com/249087556

James Reason, Managing Maintainence Error: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_adv_b/?field-title=Managing%20Maintenance%20Error&search-alias=stripbooks&unfiltered=1

Tags:  English, Gareth Lock, Human Error, Human Factors

This episode dives into the importance of investing in skills and experience to prepare for unexpected challenges in diving and life. Using an analogy of red and white blood cells, we explore the balance between productivity and response readiness, emphasizing why both are essential. Drawing lessons from Captain Sullenberger’s emergency landing on the Hudson River, we highlight the value of deliberate practice, teamwork, and situational awareness. By learning from our own experiences and others’ stories, we can improve decision-making and be better equipped to handle ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity. Are you ready to invest in your “bank of experience”?

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/blood-banks-diving

Tags:  English, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Risk

This episode explores the critical role of leadership in diving, drawing on a challenging night dive on the Abu Nuhas reef and lessons from military aviation. The dive highlighted the importance of accountability, planning, and adapting leadership styles to the situation. Diving lacks formal leadership training, yet all divers—from instructors to dive center managers—play leadership roles. Drawing inspiration from a Marine Corps officer’s letter, we discuss core leadership values such as professional hunger, focus, attitude, moral courage, and dedication. These values, combined with structured debriefs and continuous learning, are essential for fostering safety, excellence, and teamwork in diving.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/leadershipindiving

Links: Blog about deviation: 

​​”Leaders in learning mode develop stronger skills than their peers”: https://hbr.org/2017/08/good-leaders-are-good-learners

Tags:  English, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Leadership, Teamwork

This episode dives into the lessons the diving community can learn from aviation safety practices, using the near-disaster of Air Canada Flight AC759 at San Francisco Airport as a starting point. In aviation, near-misses are thoroughly investigated to uncover systemic issues rather than just individual mistakes, fostering a culture of learning and improvement. By contrast, the diving industry often discourages open discussions about close calls due to fear of criticism or legal consequences, hindering collective growth. We explore how a shift toward non-judgmental analysis and systemic thinking could enhance safety in diving, encouraging shared learning from mistakes and near-misses to prevent future incidents.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/aviation-diving-errors

Links: Mercury News report: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/02/ntsb-finds-blind-spot-in-sfo-radar-following-air-canada-near-disaster/

Tags: English, Gareth Lock, Human Factors

In this episode, we explore how authority gradients—the imbalance of power or experience between individuals—can lead to critical mistakes in diving and other high-stakes environments. Drawing lessons from aviation, medicine, and real-world diving incidents, we discuss how the fear of questioning a more experienced person can prevent vital safety concerns from being raised. Whether it's a student diver hesitant to challenge their instructor or a junior crew member in aviation unable to assert their concerns, the consequences can be life-threatening. We highlight the importance of fostering open communication, psychological safety, and mutual accountability to prevent errors and improve safety across all levels of experience.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-power-of-one

Links: Wrong site surgery: http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/05/how-mistakes-can-save-lives

Pan Am/KLM accident: https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/B742_/_B741,_Los_Rodeos_Tenerife,_1977_(RI_AGC_WX)

Landing gear light problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_173

Crew Resource Management: https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP720.PDF

Non-Technical Skills: https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/professional-support-development-resources/learning-resources/non-technical-skills-for-surgeons-notss

Human Factors skills in Diving: https://www.thehumandiver.com/

Tags: English, Gareth Lock

In this episode, we dive into the role of social conformity, biases, and decision-making in diving safety. Humans naturally seek group belonging, but this can lead to harsh judgments when incidents occur, particularly on social media. We explore how biases like hindsight and outcome bias affect our perceptions of accidents, often focusing on blame rather than understanding the decision-making processes behind them. To improve diving safety, it’s essential to create a "Just Culture"—a psychologically safe environment where mistakes can be shared without fear of humiliation or judgment. By examining flawed systems rather than individual outcomes and teaching the "why" behind protocols, we can foster better decision-making and prevent future incidents.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/we-judge-based-on-outcomes-not-on-process

Links: Learning teams blog: https://www.thehumandiver/blog/can-divers-learn-from-the-us-forest-service

Hindsight bias: https://www.thehumandiver/blog/incompetent-and-unaware-you-don-t-know-what-you-don-t-know

More about Just Culture: https://humanisticsystems.com/2016/11/24/just-culture-who-are-we-really-afraid-of%EF%BB%BF/

Tags: English, Gareth Lock

In this episode, we explore how cognitive biases—mental shortcuts that influence our decisions—affect our actions in complex and dynamic situations. Whether things go right or wrong, biases like overconfidence, expectation bias, and hindsight bias shape our thinking, often without us realizing it. We discuss practical ways to identify and reflect on these biases to improve decision-making, drawing from Buster Benson’s framework that simplifies 175 cognitive biases into four key challenges: filtering too much information, finding meaning in a confusing world, acting quickly under uncertainty, and deciding what to remember. Tune in to learn how understanding biases can enhance awareness and resilience.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/i-am-biased-you-are-biased-we-are-all-biased

Links: Wikipedia page of cognitive biases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

Cognitive bias cheat sheet blog: https://betterhumans.coach.me/cognitive-bias-cheat-sheet-55a472476b18

Links: English, Gareth Lock

This podcast episode explores how the U.S. Forest Service uses structured Learning Reviews to improve safety in high-risk environments by focusing on understanding the context, mindset, and systemic factors behind incidents rather than assigning blame. Highlighting parallels to the diving community, we discuss the importance of storytelling, identifying gaps between "normal" and "ideal" operations, and addressing systemic issues to enhance safety and learning. With insights from the USFS's approach and Todd Conklin’s Learning Teams, we consider how divers and training organizations can adopt these principles to prevent accidents, foster accountability, and improve decision-making under pressure.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/can-divers-learn-from-the-us-forest-service

Links: USFS Learning review: http://wildfiretoday.com/2014/08/07/usfs-to-use-new-serious-accident-review-system/

Todd Conklin’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Pre-Accident-Investigations-Introduction-Organizational-Safety/dp/1409447820

Tags:  English, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Incident Reporting, Safety