Safety in diving is not a standalone priority but one of many factors, including time, money, resources, and productivity, that individuals and organizations must balance in a dynamic environment. Safety is best understood as reducing risk to an "acceptable level," but defining what is acceptable can be complex and context-dependent. Using principles like ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable), risk is mitigated until further reduction becomes disproportionately expensive or impractical. Both training organizations and divers face trade-offs between safety and competing priorities, which can shift depending on circumstances. Divers must critically assess their own safety standards and weigh the effort, time, and money required to mitigate risks, understanding that "safety" is a shared responsibility within the larger system of diving. Ultimately, improving safety requires self-awareness, courage, and a commitment to learning from near-misses and incidents.

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

Links: ICAO Safety Management Manual: https://www.icao.int/safety/SafetyManagement/Documents/Doc.9859.3rd%20Edition.alltext.en.pdf

Royal Sociecty Risk Assessment report: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Risk_Assessment.html?id=LRcmQwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

John Adams book ‘Risk’: http://www.john-adams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/RISK-BOOK.pdf

Efficiency-Throughouness Trade Off: http://erikhollnagel.com/ideas/etto-principle/index.html]

Work as Imagined/Work as Done: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/what-does-human-factors-in-diving-mean

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

Tags:  English, Gareth Lock, Human Factors, Safety