Stay ConnectedHuman factors is a critical topic within the world of SCUBA diving, scientific diving, military diving, and commercial diving. This podcast is a mixture of interviews and ‘shorts’ which are audio versions of the weekly blog from The Human Diver.
Each month we will look to have at least one interview and one case study discussion where we look at an event in detail and how human factors and non-technical skills contributed (or prevented) it from happening in the manner it did.
Copyright: © 2023 (c) The Human Diver 2023
This blog compares two diving emergencies at the same dive centre to show why technical competence alone is not enough. In the first incident, a diver survived, but the instructors struggled to coordinate because they had only received a basic introduction to Human Factors in Diving. Roles were unclear, communication became fragmented and attention narrowed to the immediate problem. Before the second incident, the centre had changed how it worked: instructors had completed HFiD: Applied Skills, and the Course Director had made Human Factors part of everyday operations. When a student suffered a fatal heart attack during the second dive, the instructors were able to divide responsibilities, protect the other students, communicate clearly and follow a plan they had already practised. The outcome was tragic, but the response was professional and disciplined. The two incidents show that training does not guarantee a good outcome, but it can influence how well a team adapts when things go wrong. Human Factors skills such as leadership, followership, communication, workload management and shared mental models need to be practised before they are needed, and supported by the wider organisation. They also help teams make sense of an incident afterwards, creating a clearer account of what happened and why decisions made sense at the time. The key lesson is that there is no time to become coordinated during an emergency: teams can only rely on the coordination they have already built.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/technical-skills-are-not-enough-you-need-applied-human-factors
Links: Dr Laura Walton’s Fit To Dive: https://www.fittodive.org/pages/dive-trauma-resource-index
Tags: THD-English| THD-Learning, Incidents & Just Culture| THD-Education & Content Type
This episode explores how social media shapes the way the diving community responds to serious incidents. When an accident happens, discussions can quickly move from sympathy to certainty, with people assigning blame and explaining what the victims or divers “should” have done before the facts are known. The problem is that social media rewards strong emotions, certainty and disagreement, while complex, context-rich explanations are less likely to attract attention. This can turn real people into simple characters and discourage divers from sharing their own mistakes and near-misses for fear of being criticised. The result is that some of the experiences with the greatest potential for learning may never be shared. The episode argues that accountability and standards still matter, but that understanding should come before judgement: instead of asking who was at fault, we should ask what conditions influenced the decisions people made and how the situation made sense to them at the time. The next time a diving incident appears online, the challenge is to consider whether our contribution is helping the community understand what happened, or simply adding to the cycle of outrage and certainty.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/asking-better-questions-be-curious
Tags: THD-English| THD-Learning, Incidents & Just Culture| THD-HFiD-Conference
When should a diver call off a dive, even when everything seems to be going well? Using the 1996 Everest disaster as a starting point, this episode explores why we often celebrate people who reach their goals while overlooking those who make the difficult decision to turn back. In diving, fatigue, minor equipment problems, rushed briefings and tension within a team can seem manageable on their own, but these warning signs can build up over time. The money, time and effort already invested in a trip can also make it harder to walk away, while previous successful dives may lead us to believe that taking the same risks is acceptable. The episode explains why knowledge alone is not enough and how divers can make better decisions by agreeing on clear exit criteria before entering the water. It also explores the importance of psychological safety, so people can say “I’m not diving today” without facing pressure or criticism. Ultimately, a good decision should be judged by the information available at the time, not by whether the dive happens to end safely. Knowing when to turn back is a skill that needs to be practised, and sometimes the best dive is the one you never make.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/quit-while-you-stil-can
Links: Escalation of commitment: https://archive.org/details/entrapmentinesca0000broc
Tags: THD-English| HITS-Decision-making
This episode explores what diving insurance can—and cannot—do, drawing on insights from two highly experienced dive insurance underwriters. Insurance can help cover the financial consequences of an incident, but it does not make diving safer or prevent harm, and policies may have conditions that limit when they will respond. The discussion also highlights how difficult it is for the diving industry to learn from incidents because insurers hold much of the claims data but cannot normally share it with training agencies. At the same time, qualifications and certificates may give little indication of a diver or instructor’s actual current ability. The result is a system that can focus heavily on paperwork, standards and insurance while missing opportunities to improve real-world competence. The episode argues that insurance should be the last line of defence, not a substitute for capability, ongoing learning and honest reflection. Reducing risk means understanding how decisions are made in real situations, learning from mistakes and near misses, and continuing to develop long after the certificate has been earned.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/the-insurance-illusion
Links: Ineffective reporting of incidents and accidents: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/why-does-nothing-change
Vetinary Defense Society: https://www.thevds.co.uk/aboutvetsafe
In this episode, Brent Webb explores the idea that Human Factors should be more than a collection of concepts or courses—it can become the “operating system” of an organisation. Drawing on his experience running Scuba Adventures in Plano, Brent explains how psychological safety, Just Culture, systems thinking, debriefing and curiosity have become part of the way the business operates, influencing how staff handle mistakes, customer complaints, disagreements and everyday decisions. He reflects on how his own Human Factors journey began in 2022, when he realised that his behaviour under pressure could affect those around him, and how this led to a focus on personal growth alongside scuba diving. Brent also describes why successful events and near-misses are worth debriefing, using a recent lost-buddy situation as an example of how reflection can identify gaps before they become problems. The episode concludes by looking at the role of leadership in turning Human Factors from something written down into something people actually experience, with every interaction either reinforcing or undermining the organisation’s culture.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/human-factors-as-operating-system
Links: Join us at next years conference: https://www.hf-in-diving-conference.com/
HFiD Products: https://www.thehumandiver.com/your-learning-journey
Scuba Adventures, Plano: https://www.scubaplano.com/
“If Only…” Documentary: https://www.thehumandiver.com/ifonly
Tags: THD-English| THD-Education & Content Type| THD-HFiD-Conference
In this episode, Connor Tate shares her experience of attending the Human Factors in Diving Conference while struggling with imposter syndrome as a researcher with limited diving experience. Despite understanding the science behind stress and decision-making, Connor discovers the difference between studying these concepts and experiencing them first-hand when a mask-clearing problem at depth triggers the early signs of panic. With the calm assistance of an experienced diver, she completes the dive and later reflects on how the experience connects directly to their research into detecting stress underwater. Through structured debriefs, practical training and an environment where people can discuss mistakes without blame, the conference demonstrates the value of psychological safety, teamwork and learning from experience. Connor also discovers that these lessons apply beyond diving, using human factors tools to improve communication and accountability at work. Ultimately, the experience shows that everyone has something valuable to contribute, regardless of their level of experience, and that progress comes from being willing to learn, reflect and be better than yesterday.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/am-i-enough
Links: Join us at next year’s Gathering: https://www.hf-in-diving-conference.com/
Tags: THD-English| THD-Education & Content Type| THD-HFiD-Conference
We explore how capable, motivated divers can gradually push beyond safe limits when their environment rewards risk-taking and treats near misses as successes. Using the story of a young technical diver who died after entering a strong current, alongside examples from aviation, we examine how normalisation of deviance, practical drift, peer pressure and the need for recognition can erode safety margins over time. The episode asks whether we are recognising skill or simply rewarding luck, and looks at the responsibility of instructors, dive centres and teammates to create an environment where people can challenge decisions and stop a dive without fear of criticism. In an activity where there is no higher authority to stop a diver from making a poor decision, the people around us may be the last line of defence. The challenge is to tell these stories not as tales of foolish people making bad decisions, but as opportunities to understand how reasonable decisions can lead to terrible outcomes—and to recognise the early warning signs in our own thinking before it is too late.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/cashing-cheques
Links: Blog about Normalisation of Deviance: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/normalisation-of-deviance-not-about-rule-breaking
Lucky and good are different things: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/were-you-lucky-or-were-you-good-2
Jon Kieran’s article about training Doc Deep: https://indepthmag.com/i-trained-doc-deep/
The factors that allowed Holland’s fatality: https://convergentperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/attachments/Darker_Shades_of_Blue.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoqA5a510blcq1IOFitrQHksCF-mGJHc_5W7wcAmC1fl8A-MN7B5
Discussion about the term “second victim”: https://www.medstarhealth.org/-/media/project/mho/medstar/institute-for-quality-and-safety/about-miqs/abandon-term-second-victim-2019_web.pdf
Calling a dive: https://www.tdisdi.com/sdi-diver-news/a-secret-tip-for-safer-diving/
Sidney Dekker’s checklist: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/restorative-just-culture
References/Resources: Dillon and Tinsley. Near-miss events, risk messages, and decision making. & How Near-Miss Events Amplify or Attenuate Risky Decision Making
This episode explores Human and Organizational Performance (HOP), an approach to safety that starts with the idea that people will always make mistakes, so we should focus on understanding why decisions made sense at the time rather than simply blaming individuals. Drawing on a workshop from the Human Factors in Diving Conference in Vis, Croatia, we look at how HOP can be applied to diving by considering the conditions, information, equipment and pressures people were working with. Using a hypothetical case of a dive boat leaving two divers behind, we compare traditional incident investigations with a more curious approach that looks at the wider context, including workload, fatigue, schedules, group dynamics and the pressures faced by the crew. Most importantly, HOP encourages us to learn from everyday work rather than waiting for something to go wrong, asking what makes things succeed and where risks might be hiding. The episode considers how regular debriefs and humble inquiry can help teams learn, improve and build safer systems without relying on blame.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/steve-smith-applying-hop-lucky-or-good
Tags: THD-English| THD-Education & Content Type| THD-HFiD-Conference
This episode explores what really makes complex technical diving successful: not just helium, decompression and equipment, but the people using them. Using the recovery of the WWII B-24 Liberator Tulsamerican off the island of Vis as a case study, we look at how communication, teamwork, workload management, clear goals and psychological safety can make the difference between a team that simply completes a dive and one that achieves its mission safely. The project brought together divers, archaeologists, historians, military agencies, local authorities and vessel crews from different backgrounds and countries, creating the kind of complex environment where human performance becomes critical. The story shows how small mistakes can quickly become team problems, why anyone should be able to speak up or call a dive, and how focusing on the wider mission can help prevent individual ambition from driving poor decisions. Ultimately, the Tulsamerican recovery demonstrates that technical diving is about far more than what we carry into the water—it is about how effectively we work together.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/more-than-a-deep-dive
Tags: THD-English| THD-Education & Content Type| THD-HFiD-Conference
In this episode, Gareth Lock reflects on why improving diving safety requires more than telling people to follow the rules. Drawing on his experience in aviation, diving, and safety science, he explains why incidents are often blamed on individuals while the wider system escapes scrutiny. The discussion explores how culture, reporting systems, commercial pressures, and training standards shape diver behaviour, why many divers avoid formal reporting channels, and what other high-risk industries have done to build real learning systems. Gareth also shares how The Human Diver, the LEODSI investigation framework, and new industry standards are helping shift the focus from blame and compliance to understanding context, building trust, and creating lasting improvements in diving safety.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/cultural-infleunce-is-really-hard
Links: Developing competencies and capacities for resilient performance: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/resilient-performance-model
Diving Talks: https://youtu.be/fUSD9gPZ-x0
Work as Imagined vs Work as Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgIwHrUWVQ&list=PLNXuyLsCTX6hHS3newpcROfJ_JiI27q3C&index=24
Standards: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/beyond-the-floor
Gareth’s Thesis: https://youtu.be/DRXqeQvRFK0
Flavours of Human Factors: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/four-ways-of-hf
LEODSI: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-is-leodsi-petteot
Chac Mool fatalities: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/chac-mool-triple-diving-fatality
Human Diver Conference: https://www.hf-in-diving-conference.com/
Rebreather Forum 4: https://youtu.be/nkdVHBDnCjc?t=3015
Maldives fatalities: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/the-structure-is-normal-the-scale-is-not
Events that happen without fatalities: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/we-know-and-we-say-nothing
Agencies using HF language: https://www.tdisdi.com/sdi-diver-news/how-serious-are-you-about-safety/
Levels of training available: https://www.thehumandiver.com/your-learning-journey
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