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 episode looks at two very different ways of telling the same tragic story — the death of a 12-year-old girl during a scuba training dive in Texas — and why the way we tell these stories matters for real safety. The first version focuses on blame, emotion, and individual failure, which feels powerful but pushes people toward anger instead of learning. The second version looks at how the whole system shaped what happened, including training pressure, poor visibility, equipment choices, fatigue, class structure, and missing safety checks. Instead of asking “who failed,” it asks how normal practices, routines, and decisions slowly combined to create dangerous conditions. The key message is simple: real prevention doesn’t come from blaming people, it comes from understanding how systems work in everyday conditions — and changing those systems so tragedies like this are far less likely to happen again.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-story-gets-told-what-words-are-used
Links: Why hurting prevents change
What is the purpose of an investigation
Sharing stories: https://youtu.be/DRXqeQvRFK0
Linnea Mills case: https://youtu.be/lu4tc8gtNio
This episode explores how divers often overlook the richness of underwater environments they think they already know, and how greater awareness can transform both safety and understanding. Using real examples from rivers, lakes, and glacial landscapes, it shows how underwater spaces are shaped by nature, history, and human activity, even when they look simple on the surface. The episode explains how human factors help divers make better decisions, communicate clearly, and work more effectively as teams, while citizen science gives divers a way to contribute real knowledge to research and conservation. The core message is that when divers learn to look more carefully, every dive becomes more meaningful — improving safety, protecting underwater heritage, and turning ordinary dives into opportunities to learn, discover, and contribute.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/seeing-what-is-unseen-scientific-diving
This episode explores why diving accidents involving children create such strong reactions and deep divisions, and how our need for simple explanations often gets in the way of real learning. It explains how people quickly form strong opinions after tragedies, not because they don’t care about safety, but because events like this challenge their beliefs about control, training, and protection. To feel safe again, communities often rush to blame individuals, which brings emotional comfort but blocks deeper understanding. The episode shows how psychology, identity, and group thinking shape these reactions, and why early public stories become hard to question. The key message is that real safety comes from slowing down, asking harder questions, and looking at the wider system — the pressures, culture, and conditions that shape decisions — instead of just asking who is at fault.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/when-the-story-hurts-too-much
Links: The moral dimension of an investigation: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-is-the-purpose-of-an-investigation
Cognitive dissonance: https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/cognitive-dissonance
Blame providing moral comfort: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-is-the-purpose-of-an-investigation
Suppressing events: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRXqeQvRFK0
The death of Linnea Mills: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/linnea-mills-death-hf-systems-lens
This episode explores how accidents in diving and other high-risk jobs are often blamed on individuals, even when the real causes are deeper problems in the system, such as pressure, poor communication, lack of support, broken procedures, and unsafe cultures. Using real examples from rescue diving, healthcare, aviation, and emergency services, it shows how “blame cultures” create fear, silence, and hidden mistakes, which makes future accidents more likely. In contrast, “learning cultures” focus on understanding how systems shape behaviour, encourage people to speak up, and treat mistakes as chances to learn rather than punish. The message is clear and practical: safety improves when organisations build trust, psychological safety, and open reporting, so problems can be fixed before they turn into tragedies — because you can’t fix what people are too afraid to talk about.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/safe-diving-starts-from-the-system-not-from-the-human
Links: Report about the search operation (in Polish): https://www.trojmiasto.pl/wiadomosci/Zarzuty-za-smierc-strazaka-Zginal-podczas-poszukiwan-Grzegorza-B-n203080.html
When CRM isn’t implemented (in Polish): https://remiza.pl/nik-grupy-psp-potrzebuja-wsparcia-a-system-reform/
2025 Mid-air collision: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Potomac_River_mid-air_collision#
Blog about the reasons for undertaking an investigation: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-is-the-purpose-of-an-investigation
Blameless post mortems: https://sre.google/sre-book/postmortem-culture/
This episode looks at how diving accidents are often explained in simple ways that blame individuals, instead of exploring the deeper systems and pressures that shape what really happens. It explains that investigations are not just about facts, but about meaning, comfort, and fear after someone has died, which often leads to stories that focus on “human error” instead of learning. Using real examples, it shows how simple explanations may feel reassuring, but they don’t make diving safer. Real prevention comes from understanding how people, training, culture, pressure, equipment, and organisations interact in complex ways. The key message is that safety doesn’t come from finding someone to blame — it comes from changing the conditions that shape decisions and behaviour, so future dives are genuinely safer, not just easier to explain.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-is-the-purpose-of-an-investigation
Links: Dekker’s four competing purposes: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1463922X.2014.955554
Fatal maritime collision investigation: https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/collision-between-ro-ro-passenger-vessel-scottish-viking-and-prawn-trawler-homeland-off-st-abb-s-head-scotland-with-loss-of-1-life
Non-fatal maritime collision investigation: https://dmaib.com/reports/2014/kraslava-and-atlantic-lady-collision-on-1-november-2014
Blog about Linnea Mills: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/linnea-mills-death-hf-systems-lens
If Only… documentary: https://www.thehumandiver.com/ifonly
Learning from Emergent Outcomes course: https://www.thehumandiver.com/lfeo
References:
Dekker: The psychology of accident investigation: epistemological, preventive, moral and existential meaning-making. 2015. Another link. https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/items/d0de2c1f-08f8-43b2-9d30-2a4ff6baea09/full
MAIB Report: https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/collision-between-ro-ro-passenger-vessel-scottish-viking-and-prawn-trawler-homeland-off-st-abb-s-head-scotland-with-loss-of-1-life
DMAIB Report: https://dmaib.com/reports/2014/kraslava-and-atlantic-lady-collision-on-1-november-2014
A fellow graduate from Lund University wrote about this “Why do we ask why? Finding meaning after a violent loss.”
This blog explains why hiding mistakes in diving training and leadership is dangerous, and why honesty builds safer, stronger teams. Using real examples from military service and diving, it shows that when leaders admit errors, teams learn faster, trust each other more, and make better decisions. When mistakes are hidden, people stop asking questions, small problems become normal, and serious risks grow over time. The article introduces the idea of psychological safety — creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up, admit mistakes, and challenge unsafe actions without fear. It argues that real credibility comes from honesty, not pretending to be perfect. By encouraging openness, shared responsibility, and learning instead of blame, dive teams can prevent accidents, improve performance, and build a culture where safety, trust, and learning come first.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/the-hidden-cost-of-never-show-weakness-why-hiding-instructor-errors-undermines-dive-safety
This episode explores the link between diving, mental health, and trust, showing that anxiety, depression, and therapy are common parts of normal life and are also present in the diving community. Many divers hide mental health challenges or medication use because they fear judgment, exclusion, or losing opportunities, which actually makes diving less safe. The key message is that safety underwater depends more on trust between people than on equipment, and that honesty and psychological safety in a dive team allow divers to support each other properly. The episode explains that common treatments like antidepressants are not the real risk — the real danger comes from silence, stigma, and poor communication. It also highlights how diving can improve mental wellbeing, helping people feel calm, focused, and connected. Overall, the message is simple: openness about mental health is not weakness — it’s responsibility, professionalism, and an important part of keeping each other safe underwater.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/diver-s-depression-it-s-time-to-tackle-stigma-and-taboos
Tags: - english andrzej górnicki
This episode looks back on a big year for Human Factors in Diving and shares what The Human Diver community has achieved, along with what’s coming next. It highlights how real change in diving doesn’t come from new gear or technology, but from learning, reflection, and improving how people think, communicate, and make decisions. The episode celebrates global training programmes, online courses, podcasts, blogs, and free resources that have helped thousands of divers grow their skills and awareness. It also looks ahead to new projects, including international events, new learning programmes, and wider access to training in 2026. The core message is simple: progress comes from consistent learning, honest self-reflection, and small daily improvements — being better than yesterday, not perfect today.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/a-review-of-2025-looking-forward-to-2026-2597
Links: Courses: HFiD: Essentials, HFiD: Applied Skills, Masterclass series
Learning from Emergent Outcomes (LFEO)
Ambassador network (sign up here: https://www.thehumandiver.com/partner-mandated-instructor-application)
This episode looks at a real cave diving tragedy and uses it to explain how accidents often happen because of human thinking, not just broken rules or bad equipment. Instead of focusing on blame, it shows how choices made underwater can seem logical at the time, even when they lead to disaster. The episode explores key ideas like awareness, decision-making, teamwork, leadership, and psychological safety, and explains how stress, distraction, group pressure, and complex plans can affect how people think and act. It also highlights why good briefings, open communication, and honest debriefs matter, and why teams must feel safe to speak up and challenge decisions. The main message is that safer diving comes from understanding human behaviour, learning without blame, and building strong teams that plan well, communicate clearly, and adapt when things don’t go as expected.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/analysis-from-a-human-factors-perspective-cave-double-fatality-calimba-2004
Links: Blueprint for Survival: https://nsscds.org/blueprint-for-survival/
Identifying lessons and learning from them vs blame and punishment: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/blame-or-learn
online resources that have a compendium of reports on cave diving fatalities:
CREER https://creer-mx.com/accident-incident-analysis/
NSS-CDS https://nsscds.org/accident-analysis/
IUCRR - https://iucrr.org/more/accident-analysis/incident-reports/
Jenny’s blog “Incompetent and Unaware”: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-dunning-kruger-effect-incompetent-or-competent-and-unaware
YouTube channel: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/hf-for-dummies-part-1-human-factors
This episode explains that real teamwork in diving is much more than just staying close to your buddy. Using a real incident where a diver tried to handle a serious problem alone, it shows how this can create new risks for the whole team. The key idea is that strong teams are built through clear roles, planning, and communication, not luck. When everyone knows who is responsible for things like navigation, monitoring the group, managing equipment, or handling problems, dives run more smoothly and safely. The episode highlights how assigning roles before a dive, confirming them in the briefing, and learning from them in the debrief helps reduce confusion, stress, and mistakes. The main message is simple: good teamwork doesn’t happen by accident — it is created through clear planning, shared responsibility, and learning together after every dive.
Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/teamwork-in-diving-the-power-of-clear-roles-task-division
Links: Blogs about leadership: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-diving-instructors-leadership-creating-the-space-for-others-to-be-heard
https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-diving-professional-leadership-is-not-optional
https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/top-tips-for-beginner-divers-leadership-and-followership
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