Podcast
Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving
Hosted by Gareth Lock at The Human Diver · EN
Human 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.
47episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
SH285: When Skill Alone Isn't Enough: The Resilient Performance Model
3d ago00:11:45Tap to summarizeDiving operations rarely fail because people lack skill; they fail when skilled individuals are not supported by the systems around them. The Resilient Performance Model from The Human Diver explains that performance comes from the interaction of three areas: technical skills, non-technical skills like communication and decision-making, and the wider context such as culture, workload, and resources. When one of these areas is weak or missing, problems appear—such as highly skilled divers working in silence, well-coordinated teams lacking critical skills, or strong systems where people feel unable to challenge decisions. True resilience happens when all three are aligned, allowing teams to adapt when things go wrong and still achieve safe outcomes. The key lesson is that improving safety isn’t just about better training or stricter procedures, but about creating an environment where people can speak up, make good decisions under pressure, and learn from both successes and failures to improve over time.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/resilient-performance-modelTags: Commercial Diving
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SH284: LEODSI and PETTEOT: A Systems Approach for Understanding How Diving Really Works
6d ago00:12:10Tap to summarizeWhen something goes wrong in diving, people often ask “who made the mistake?”, but that question usually oversimplifies what really happened and stops us from learning. The Learning from Emergent Outcomes framework (LEODSI) takes a different approach by looking at diving as a system, where outcomes are shaped by many interacting factors rather than one person’s actions. It examines seven key elements—people, environment, tasks, equipment, external pressures, organisation, and time—to understand how decisions made sense in the moment and how conditions combined to produce the result. Instead of blaming individuals, LEODSI focuses on why events unfolded the way they did, recognising that both successes and failures come from the same system. By using this approach in everyday debriefs, not just after incidents, divers and teams can learn more effectively, improve safety, and make meaningful changes that reduce risk in the future.https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-is-leodsi-petteotLinks: Learning from Emergent Outcomes course: https://www.thehumandiver.com/lfeoTags: Learning, Incidents & Just Culture
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SH283: You're Accountable. You're Responsible. You're It!
1w ago00:17:40Tap to summarizeThis piece explores how diving incidents are often misunderstood by focusing too quickly on blame rather than learning. It explains the important difference between responsibility (who was involved) and accountability (who answers for the outcome), showing that incidents are usually caused by a chain of decisions, pressures, and system factors—not just one person’s mistake. By comparing “blame questions” (who is at fault?) with “learning questions” (why did it make sense at the time?), it highlights how real improvement comes from understanding the conditions that led to an error. Through examples like missed safety checks, risky habits becoming normal, ignored concerns, and unreported near-misses, the text shows how blame cultures stop people speaking up and allow problems to grow. Instead, it argues for a learning-focused approach where divers, instructors, and organisations reflect on decision-making, encourage honest reporting, and examine the wider system. The key message is that accountability should not be about punishment, but about creating an environment where people can speak openly, learn from mistakes, and prevent future incidents.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/youre-accountable-youre-responsible-youre-itLinks: Blog about the Scylla wreck incident: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/scylla-wreck-penetration-leodsiIJN SATA case study: https://wreckedinmyrevo.com/2023/11/16/close-call-on-the-ijn-sata-palau-120-fsw/Blog about Linnea Mills: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/linnea-mills-death-hf-systems-lensPDF guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ugx0lQM5am2gQ9rJa4aCq39JBukGZyLK/view?usp=sharingRuth Parris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-parris-76a53635/Ruth’s thesis: https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/9186204Tags: English| Learning, Incidents & Just Culture
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SH282: Isolation Amplifies Drift: When Remote Operations Make Small Deviations Invisible
2w ago00:11:25Tap to summarizeThis blog by Michael John Snow explores how small equipment issues on a remote expedition vessel can gradually become accepted as “normal,” not because of poor decisions, but because of how isolated systems work. In these environments, teams are skilled and focused on keeping operations running, especially when guests, tight schedules, and limited support make stopping costly. With fewer external checks and less immediate feedback, minor irregularities are often monitored rather than acted on, and over time they fade into the background. This process, known as normalization of deviation, slowly shifts what is seen as acceptable without anyone clearly deciding to take a risk. When a problem finally forces action, it can look sudden, but it is usually the result of many reasonable choices made over time. The key message is that this isn’t about individual failure, but about system design: isolation reduces challenge, delays response, and makes it easier for risk to build unnoticed. To manage this, the blog argues that remote operations need stronger structures—like clear governance, tracking, and shared visibility of equipment performance—so that small issues stay visible and are addressed before they become bigger problems.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/isolation-amplifies-driftLinks: Governance mechanisms: https://remoteassetgovernance.com/frameworkTags: English| Operations & Procedures
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SH281: HMS Scylla Wreck Penetration Tragedy: Two Perspectives on Learning
2w ago00:37:10Tap to summarizeThis episode looks at the 2021 wreck diving tragedy on HMS Scylla, where three experienced divers entered the wreck and only one survived. It first examines the kind of reaction often seen on social media, where the incident is explained as a series of obvious mistakes made by individuals. It then explores the same event using a human factors and systems approach called LEODSI, which looks at how people, environment, equipment, tasks, organisational culture, and time interact to shape decisions and outcomes. Instead of asking “who failed?”, this perspective asks how normal behaviour, built on experience, trust, and familiar conditions, can combine with changing environments, increasing stress, and limited time to slowly reduce safety margins. By understanding how these factors interacted to produce the outcome, the aim is to help the diving community learn in a deeper way and improve the overall system so that safer decisions become easier and tragedies like this are less likely to happen.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/scylla-wreck-penetration-leodsiLinks: Interview with Adam on the Deep Wreck Diver Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMYKjZocinsLinnea Mills Case: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/linnea-mills-death-hf-systems-lensDeath of a 12 year old in Texas during Open Water training: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/learning-from-tragedy-dhLearning from Emergent Outcomes: https://www.thehumandiver.com/lfeoDive Talk review of the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvCr3_pX4a4Tags: English| Learning, Incidents & Just Culture
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SH280: This Could Happen to Any Dive Operator: What We Can Really Learn From The Perth Diving Academy Incident
3w ago00:09:44Tap to summarizeThis episode explores the serious incident in which two divers were accidentally left behind by a dive boat near Rottnest Island while diving with Perth Diving Academy. Rather than treating it as the failure of one operator, the discussion looks at how a simple error—such as a headcount mistake—can reveal deeper weaknesses in safety systems that may exist across the dive charter industry. It explains how many operations rely on habits, assumptions, and informal checks that usually work, but can fail when conditions change. The episode also looks at the limits of fines and punishment, which rarely help the wider industry learn unless there is transparency about what actually went wrong. Instead of blaming a “bad operator,” the focus is on understanding how safety systems drift over time, why single points of failure are dangerous, and how stronger safety comes from multiple checks, open feedback from staff and customers, and a culture of continuous improvement that looks for problems before they turn into accidents.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/this-could-happen-to-any-dive-operatorLinks: Australian Maritime Safety Authority: https://www.amsa.gov.au/How we measure safety in diving: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-does-safe-meanSystems in diving: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/the-road-to-excellence-systems-and-structure-form-the-foundation-of-a-culture-of-improvementTags: English| Learning, Incidents & Just Culture
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SH279: The Tower Was Already Full of Holes
3w ago00:09:05Tap to summarizeThis episode looks at how diving incidents are often explained by blaming the last person involved, much like blaming the person who pulls the final brick from an already unstable Jenga tower. While that person may be the last to act, many other factors—such as environment, equipment, training, social pressure, and organisational practices—may already have weakened the system. Through several real diving examples, the episode shows how accidents usually develop from a combination of conditions rather than a single mistake. It also explains why people are quick to blame individuals: it is easier, it protects our sense of safety, and it is what we are used to seeing in the media and official reports. Instead of asking what someone “should have done,” the more useful question is how their actions made sense at the time with the information and resources they had. By shifting from judgement to curiosity and looking at the wider system, divers and instructors can learn more from incidents and improve both their technical and non-technical skills to make future dives safer.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/and-still-the-tower-is-standingLinks: “Blaming a bad apple is like wetting your pants”:https://indepthmag.com/do-bad-apples-actually-exist/Blog about the death of Linnea Mills: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/linnea-mills-death-hf-systems-lensBlog about the death of a 12 year old child in Texas: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/learning-from-tragedy-dhWait list for Learning from Emergent Outcomes course: https://www.thehumandiver.com/lfeoFacebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/184882365201810/permalink/2729409417415746/Tags: English| Safety & Risk Management
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SH278: Be Curious, Not Judgemental
4w ago00:06:53Tap to summarizeThis episode looks at how quick judgement, especially online, can block learning and make diving less safe. Using a real example of an adaptive scuba training video that received harsh criticism, it explains how people often react without understanding the full context. The episode introduces two key ideas from Human Factors: psychological safety, where people feel safe to ask questions and speak up, and just culture, where the focus is on learning instead of blame. The main message is simple: when people judge, learning stops, but when people stay curious, learning begins. By slowing down, asking questions, and trying to understand why decisions made sense at the time, dive teams and the wider community can make better choices, create safer environments, and build a healthier culture for everyone.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/be-curious-not-judgementalLinks: Original Facebook post and video: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DnwV8qM1r/Tags: English| Learning, Incidents & Just Culture
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SH277: You are entering water with known problems, and don't kid yourself that it's any different.
May 900:11:55Tap to summarizeThis episode explores why people often go diving even when something feels “off,” and how risk usually starts before anyone gets in the water. It explains that danger doesn’t come from one big mistake, but from small pressures like stress, tiredness, rushing, poor communication, and cutting corners that slowly build up and start to feel normal. Over time, these small compromises become habits, and people stop seeing them as problems at all. The key message is that safety isn’t just about following procedures underwater — it’s about noticing when your safety margin is already shrinking on the surface. Real safety comes from having the courage to stop, slow down, and ask not “Can we do this dive?” but “Do we still have enough room for things to go wrong?”Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/you-are-entering-water-with-known-problemsLinks: Work as Imagined vs Work as Done blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/Work-as-Imagined-vs-Work-as-DoneTags: English| Safety & Risk Management
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SH276: If there are no silver bullets, build capacity to fail safely
May 600:14:57Tap to summarizeThis episode explores what real safety improvement in diving could look like if we stop copying other industries and start designing for the reality of diving itself. It explains that diving is commercial, lightly regulated, and full of everyday trade-offs between safety, money, time, and training, which means risk can’t be removed — only managed. Instead of relying only on rules and checklists, the focus should be on building “margin” into the system: better training time, safer conditions, lower ratios, rested instructors, better decision-making, and a culture where stopping a dive is normal, not failure. The key message is that safety doesn’t come from paperwork alone, but from building real capacity — skills, time, support, learning systems, and honest culture — so people can make good decisions under pressure and prevent small compromises from slowly turning into serious danger.Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/no-silver-bullets-build-capacityTags: English| Learning, Incidents & Just Culture
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