About Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving
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.
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 (https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/am-i-enough)
Links: Join us at next year’s Gathering: https://www.hf-in-diving-conference.com/ (https://www.hf-in-diving-conference.com/)
Tags: THD-English (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/en)| (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/education-content)THD-Education & Content Type (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/education-content)| (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/hfid-conference)THD-HFiD-Conference (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/hfid-conference)
7 Oct 2026
SH312: Your Body Can't Cash the Cheque Your Ego Is Writing
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 (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 (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 (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/ (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 (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 (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/ (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 (https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/restorative-just-culture)
References/Resources: Dillon and Tinsley. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10669-015-9578-x)Near-miss events, risk messages, and decision making (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10669-015-9578-x). & (https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v58y2012i9p1596-1613.html)How Near-Miss Events Amplify or Attenuate Risky Decision Making (https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v58y2012i9p1596-1613.html)
Fit to Dive - Dealing with trauma after a diving accident (https://www.fittodive.org/pages/dive-trauma-resource-index)
Tags: THD-English (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/en)| (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/learning-JC-incidents)THD-Learning, Incidents & Just Culture (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/learning-JC-incidents)
3 Oct 2026
SH311: 3. Don’t Wait - Learn From Everyday Work Using HOP Principles
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 (https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/steve-smith-applying-hop-lucky-or-good)
Tags: THD-English (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/en)| (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/education-content)THD-Education & Content Type (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/education-content)| (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/hfid-conference)THD-HFiD-Conference (https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/category/hfid-conference)
Who has been a guest on Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving
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Mike Mason
Jenny Lord
Guy Shockey
Steven Shorrocks
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