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
In this podcast episode, the host reflects on the crucial role of human factors in diving, particularly in the context of scientific diving, where diverse skills are essential for conducting underwater research. The episode details the experience of implementing human factors training in the first Occupational Scientific Diving Training class at the Tvärminne Zoological Station in Finland. The scientific diving class, held over six weeks, aimed to develop skills in project management, supervision, emergency plans, and diving skills. The incorporation of human factors principles, such as creating a psychologically safe environment, using checklists, and improving communication techniques, significantly enhanced the students' learning experience. The host shares how these practices fostered teamwork, reduced errors, and improved safety and efficiency in the challenging underwater environment. The episode concludes with the students' positive feedback, highlighting the transformative impact of integrating human factors training into scientific diving education.
Original Blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/HF-into-scientific-diving
Tags:
English, Beatrice Rivoira, Checklists Communication, Psychological Safety, Scientific Diving, Teamwork
In this podcast episode, Gareth explores the safety practices of aviation and nuclear industries, and their relevance to diving. Rather than focusing on regulations, the discussion centers on five key principles derived from Human and Organisational Performance (H&OP). The principles delve into understanding human error as normal, avoiding blame in favor of learning, recognizing that context drives behavior, emphasizing the importance of leaders' responses, and highlighting the vital role of continuous learning for improvement. Gareth provides a concise overview of each principle, underscoring their interdependence and practical applications in the diving community. The episode concludes by emphasizing the need to shift from a blame-oriented culture to one centered on learning, promoting safety and improved performance in the dynamic world of diving. Additional resources are offered for a deeper exploration of these principles.
Original Blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/five-key-principles-how-to-improve-individually-and-organisationally
Links:
Work as imagined will not meet the operating environment: https://gue.com/blog/compliance-provides-an-illusion-of-safety-in-diving/
James Reason’s categorised errors: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/mistakes-errors-words-have-meaning
You can blame or you can learn, you can’t do both: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/surely-if-we-blame-and-punish-things-will-be-safer
Context, the decision-making process, and ‘local rationality’: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/why-diving-incident-stories-are-good-and-bad
Social media sites and the fear of sharing stories: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/we-ve-got-an-attitude-problem
Psycholoigcal safety: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/team-building-psych-safety-1
Dummies blog about Just Culture: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/hf-in-diving-for-dummies-part-3-just-culture
Adopting HF and Non-Technical Skills training into curricula: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/knowledge-is-not-enough-we-must-apply
Moving from a blame-focused approach to one which is focused on learning and understanding local rationality: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/accountability-or-another-word-for-blame
Learning from unintended outcomes: https://www.thehumandiver.com/lfuo
The need to tell context-rich stories: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/don-t-just-focus-on-the-errors
Patrick Lencioni’s ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’: https://medium.com/@leenasn/book-summary-the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team-f3299a1f1a3c
Post from the CEO of PADI: https://pros-blog.padi.com/straight-talk-from-padi-ceo-your-1-priority-and-responsibility-when-training-or-supervising-divers/%C2%A0
Moving from blame to learning: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/from_blaming_to_learning
Tags:
English, Gareth Lock, HOP, Human Error, Human Performance, Just Culture, Leadership
In this podcast episode, Jenny delves into the concept of trust, drawing a historical connection to the origin of the term "confidence man" in the late 1940s. The story of William Thompson, a small-time thief, serves as an analogy to highlight the importance of integrity in building trust, especially in teamwork. The discussion emphasizes that while skills and integrity are foundational components of trust, benevolence, or the belief that someone is acting in our best interests, plays a crucial role. Jenny explores Shane Snow's three building blocks of trust – ability, integrity, and benevolence – and emphasizes that benevolence forms the foundation, making it the most critical factor. The episode concludes by relating these trust principles to the diving community, highlighting the natural tendency for divers to trust one another based on shared identity and the significance of considering all three trust components in diving partnerships. Relevant academic references on organizational trust and teamwork are provided for further exploration.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/do-you-trust-me-can-i-trust-you
Links:
Simon Sinek’s presentation about trust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJdXjtSnZTI
Shane Snow’s three building blocks: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shanesnow/2020/04/27/this-common-approach-to-earning-trust-completely-backfires-on-leaders/
An Integrative Model of Organisational Trust: https://www.jstor.org/stable/258792?seq=7#metadata_info_tab_contents
Trust in Teams: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018726718818721
Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Foundation is Trust. https://medium.com/@leenasn/book-summary-the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team-f3299a1f1a3c
Tags:
English, Jenny Lord, Leadership, Psychological Safety, Teamwork, Trust
In this podcast episode, Gareth shares his insights from a presentation given to young CEOs and presidents during a diving trip, focusing on applying lessons from diving to non-diving environments. The discussion encompasses topics like organizational drift, competing goals, creating a shared mental model using non-technical skills, and fostering an environment supporting psychological safety and a Just Culture. The key takeaway emphasizes the importance of learning and practicing debriefs for future dives, with a focus on the DEBrIEF framework. The framework is detailed as a valuable tool for analyzing both positive and negative dive experiences, promoting a psychologically safe environment for effective debriefing. Each element of the DEBrIEF framework is explained, from defining the scope and creating psychological safety to reviewing the timeline and fostering internal and external learning. The episode concludes by highlighting the framework's role in continuous development for high-performing dive teams and the importance of a positive and supportive learning environment. The standalone DEBrIEF guide is also made available for further reference.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/debriefing
Links:
DEBrIEF guide: https://www.thehumandiver.com/debrief
Tags:
English, Debrief,Gareth Lock, Leadership, Teamwork
In this podcast episode, the focus is on a scenario involving three teams of divers tasked with finding a wreck in challenging underwater conditions. The problem requires a mix of decision-making and situation awareness, emphasizing the importance of understanding the current situation, recognizing patterns, and projecting ideas into the future. The teams face challenges such as maintaining a constant bearing and dealing with variable currents. The experienced divers demonstrate the concept of intentional deviation, choosing a longer route to increase the chances of finding the wreck. The episode highlights the application of human factors and non-technical skills in diving, showcasing how intentional decisions, though seemingly flawed economically, can be smarter in the given context. The interdependence between technical skills, environmental factors, luck, and non-technical skills is explored, emphasizing the critical link between situation awareness and the diving environment. The podcast encourages post-dive debriefs to enhance understanding of problem-solving approaches and underscores the interconnected nature of situation awareness, task, and environment in diving.
In this podcast episode, the focus is on the importance of taking action and addressing issues in various environments, drawing parallels to a scenario in fire safety training. The speaker reflects on the quote, "The standard you walk past is the lowest standard you accept," emphasizing the responsibility of leaders to initiate change by not overlooking problems. The Bystander effect is explored, particularly in the diving industry, where psychological safety and lack of standards can hinder addressing issues. The podcast discusses effective strategies to counter the Bystander effect, including proactive discussions, defined team roles and standards, and the significance of briefs and debriefs in fostering a culture of learning and improvement. The episode encourages individuals to be proactive leaders, persist in initiating change, and engage with the team to maintain momentum. Additionally, we look at how change can start with one person and gain momentum with others joining in.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/whose-job-is-it-to-create-change
Links:
Speech from Lieutenant General David Morrison:https://youtu.be/s_TfZdIhIgg?t=156
The bystander effect video: https://youtu.be/OSsPfbup0ac
Interesting leadership tips: https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/story-everybody-somebody-anybody-nobody/
Debrief webinar from Jenny and Mike: https://youtu.be/JTM_Lh7HtmA%C2%A0
Psychological safety blogs: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/team-building-psych-safety-1
https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/team-building-psych-safety-2
https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/team-building-psych-safety-3
https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/team-building-psych-safety-4
Tags:
English, Gareth Lock, Leadership
In this podcast episode, Mike Mason, an instructor for The Human Diver in Australia, shares insights from his recent week-long dive training course focused on MOD 2 CCR. Emphasizing the importance of teamwork, he discusses key takeaways applicable to all divers, regardless of their specific diving interests. Mike delves into the significance of team pre-jump checks, highlighting how performing these checks as a group enhances awareness and emergency response. Gas planning and computer settings are explored, with an emphasis on independent problem-solving and the use of worst-case scenarios for safer decision-making. Mike also underscores the unique approach of physically supporting teammates during simulated problems, enhancing safety and situational awareness. The episode concludes with a recommendation for instructor Marc Crane, known for integrating Human Factors into dive training, and the value of non-technical skills in becoming a better diver.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/teamwork-in-diving-what-i-learned-from-a-recent-training-course
Links:
Dummies series, Leadership blog https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/HFiD-for-dummies-teamwork
Tags:
English, Communication, Decision Making, Mike Mason, Situation Awareness, Teamwork
In this podcast episode, we explore the challenges of diver training and the limitations of a formulaic approach in preparing divers for real-world uncertainties. The discussion revolves around the difficulties of transferring tacit knowledge from experienced divers and instructors to students within the constraints of short course durations. The evolution of competence through stages—novices, advanced beginners, competent performers, proficient performers, and experts—is explored, emphasizing the importance of contextual understanding and decision-making. The episode scrutinizes the current training culture in diving, highlighting the need for frequent, reflective experiences and contextual situations for effective learning. The role of case studies, near misses, and incident reports in bridging the gap between theory and real-world application is emphasized, with a call for a just culture and psychologically safe environments for meaningful discussions and learning. The episode concludes with insights into the challenges of knowledge transfer and the significance of contextual understanding in improving diving competency.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/why-diving-incident-stories-are-good-and-bad
Links: Five stages of competancy by Dreyfus https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0270467604264992
Flyvberg’s book on social science https://amzn.to/3ZvuXiG
Essentials program https://www.thehumandiver.com/HFiD-Essentials
If Only documentary https://www.thehumandiver.com/ifonly
Oatmeal comic about the backfire effect https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe
The problem with transferring knowledge, Dave Snowdon https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241660493_Complex_Acts_of_Knowing_Paradox_and_Descriptive_Self-Awareness
Tags: English, Decision Making, Gareth Lock, Incident, Reporting, Just Culture, Psychological Safety
In this podcast episode, we delve into the tragic details surrounding a fatal diving accident between friends, investigating a series of factors leading to the unfortunate outcome. The incident took place outside formal dive center procedures, raising questions about the supply of compressed air by unlicensed operators and the lax recertification requirements for divers. Numerous issues emerged, such as buoyancy problems, rapid ascents, and the management of finite gas supplies. The proceedings scrutinize team protocols, gas tracking, and a lack of rescue attempts, shedding light on the complexities of mixed diving methods and decision-making under stress. The podcast highlights the intersection of errors, environmental influences, and diver fatigue, questioning the inevitability of the final outcome and implications for the criminalization of buddy system failures in the diving community.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/human-factors-analysis-of-a-maltese-diving-fatality
Links:
Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board on the grounding of the Beau Maiden: https://dmaib.com/reports/2021/beaumaiden-grounding-on-18-october-2021/
References and source materials:
Summary of the judgement: https://www.divinginfo.mt/?p=1751
Judgement details (in Maltese) https://ecourts.gov.mt/onlineservices/Judgements/Details?JudgementId=0&CaseJudgementId=135422
Facebook page of the Professional Dive Schools Association of Malta: https://www.facebook.com/PDSAMalta
Scuba Tech Philippines- Andy Davies: http://scubatechphilippines.com/scuba_blog/accident-analysis-gauci-2020/
Clapham Rail Crash report: https://www.jesip.org.uk/uploads/media/incident_reports_and_inquiries/Clapham%20Rail%20Crash.pdf
Never Events: https://humanisticsystems.com/2016/02/27/neverzero-thinking/
Case studies from the outdoor activities sector in Australia: https://uploadsproject.org/
Criminalising human error: https://humanfactors101.com/2022/05/08/is-human-error-a-crime/
Being aware of hindsight bias doesn’t mean we won’t fall foul of it: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10631443_Hindsight_is_not_equal_to_foresight_The_effect_of_outcome_knowledge_on_judgment_under_uncertainty
The “Reasonable Man”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_person
Rodando Vought case: https://humanfactors101.com/2022/05/08/is-human-error-a-crime/
Liability of a buddy: https://www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/dive_magazine/2002/LiabilityBuddy200203.html
BSAC Safe Diving Guide: https://www.bsac.com/safety/bsacs-safe-diving-guide/
BSAC Duty of Care and Welfare page: https://www.bsac.com/advice-and-support/club-support/duty-of-care-and-welfare/duty-of-care-and-welfare--club-checklist/
British Mountaineering Council Risk, Responsibility, Duty of Care and Liability Club Guidelines: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/Download.aspx?id=385
Work as Imagined vs Work as Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgIwHrUWVQ&list=PLNXuyLsCTX6hHS3newpcROfJ_JiI27q3C&index=24
Professional Diving Schools Association statement: https://www.facebook.com/PDSAMalta
Maltese Diving Regulations: https://legislation.mt/eli/sl/409.13/eng/pdf
Everest tragedy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Destructive-Goal-Pursuit-Everest-Disaster/dp/023000332X
Loss of Situation Awareness blog: https://gue.com/blog/the-cause-of-the-accident-loss-of-situational-awareness/
The shooting down of US Blackhawks in Iraq: https://www.mindtherisk.com/literature/150-friendly-fire-the-accidental-shootdown-of-u-s-black-hawks-over-northern-iraq-by-scott-a-snook
Tags:
- English, Gareth Lock, Incident Analysis, Just Culture, Psychological Safety
In this podcast episode, we explore the concept of human error in diving and how it relates to different types of errors, including slips, lapses, mistakes, and violations. The episode highlights that errors alone aren't the primary issue; they need to occur in a specific context where hazards and control/mitigation measures are present to impact safety. Using a real-life example from the "If Only" documentary, the podcast discusses how various factors, such as time pressure, equipment issues, and social environments, can contribute to catastrophic outcomes when combined with errors. It introduces the "TWIN" or "WITH" model, which categorizes error-precursors into four areas: Work Environment, Task Demands, Individual Capability, and Human Nature. The episode emphasizes the importance of understanding these error-precursors to enhance dive safety and prevent adverse events. It also encourages divers and instructors to proactively identify and address these conditions, highlighting the role of context in diving incidents and accidents.
Task Demands
Time pressure (in a hurry)
High workload (large memory)
Simultaneous, multiple actions
Repetitive actions/monotony
Irreversible actions
Interpretation requirements
Unclear goals, roles, or responsibilities
Lack of or unclear standards
Individual Capabilities
Unfamiliarity with task/first time
Lack of knowledge (faulty mental model)
New techniques not used before
Imprecise communication habits
Lack of proficiency/inexperience
Indistinct problem-solving skills
Unsafe attitudes
Illness or fatigue; general poor health
Work Environment
Distractions/interruptions
Changes/departure from routine
Confusing displays or controls
Work-arounds/OOSß instrumentation
Hidden system/equipment response
Unexpected equipment conditions
Lack of alternative indication
Personality conflict
Human Nature
Stress
Habit patterns
Assumptions
Complacency/overconfidence
Mind-set (intentions)
Inaccurate risk perception
Mental shortcuts or biases
Limited short-term memory
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/don-t-just-focus-on-the-errors
Links:
HF for Dummies Part 2- Human Error: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/hf-in-diving-for-dummies-part-2-human-error
‘If Only’ Documentary: https://www.thehumandiver.com/ifonly
Normalisation of Deviance blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/normalisation-of-deviance-not-about-rule-breaking
Institute of Nuclear Power Operations reference guide: http://nuclearsafety.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Human-Performance-Reference-Manual.pdf
Tags:
English, Decision-Making, Gareth Lock, Incident Analysis, Incident Investigation, Incident Reporting
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