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@king_of_battle thanks for the review. I agree that writing something about trying to change the industry would be useful. However, given that the book is already 110k words long and at normal 1x audible speed is 11.5 hrs, I didn't think adding something more would help given that the industry...

More than 2100 people have downloaded this free eBook now. Thank you. I have now received the first commented manuscript back from the editor. We are now looking at the first two weeks in March for this to be released. It will be in paperback to start with and a Kindle version released asap...

Very apt. 'Stupid' is because the prediction engine failed for one reason or another. "It won't happen to me", "I've done it before", "I saw someone else do it and nothing happened", "I'm not like that person", "I can multi-task", "I don't need to use a checklist to slow me down, I can...

The human brain works very hard at being an effective but efficient prediction machine. However, we can only predict against what we have perceived (different to seeing, hearing, feeling) and then matching it against previous patterns which we have encountered. If this involves a level of...

"So the question is which cases. Is the dive shop us right, a cheaper reg is not as safe as a more expensive model or brand, and having any shop tech repair my reg is safer than doing it myself. Whos judgement do we use to sort it out?" If there were some form of QA/QC of servicing that would...

Bob, just because someone says that safety is compromised because of saving money, it doesn't mean it was stupid. Money (or lack of it) is recognised as a driver when it comes to reducing margins of safety. This isn't just an issue in diving, it happens in healthcare, aviation, oil & gas, in...

Stress Stress can be a good thing, eustress, or it can be a bad thing, distress. Distress comes in two forms which impact our performance, acute or chronic. Acute distress comes about from the real-time demands placed on our bodies and minds from dealing with unexpected events, working under...

Introduction Ever looked back at an incident or accident to find the reason it happened and realised that you were stressed, tired or distracted and that is what caused the event? These are three of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ which human factors experts have identified as key contributory factors or...

Thanks. Nice to hear that someone got something useful from it :) Regards Gareth

Martin Parker's presentation at Eurotek this weekend highlighted that the majority of the causal and contributory factors in CCR fatalities are down to either the variability of human performance or the poor interface between human and machine which are based on the assumptions of how humans...

I know. He and I were at the Tech Diving Network conference, Germany this weekend and were discussing the HF work I am doing, something he considers very important. He led one of the teams (NZ one) which was part of Atul Gawande's WHO Safe Surgical Checklist research programme which showed...

"Only 20% of surgeons would like to use a checklist in their operations……but 94% would like one used in an operation on themselves…!" Atul Gawande gave four presentations before Christmas as the 2014 Reith Lectures’ presenter (BBC iPlayer downloads and transcripts can be downloaded from here)...

Thanks Mi000ke, Perrow's book is a good read, although hard work!! Some great examples of systems' failures within which are equally applicable to diving too. The first step is realising that we make these mistakes and how they come about - they aren't, as I described in a previous blog, an...

Reefhound, I agree you can't calculate the numbers, that is the point of this article and the last about gambling on odds which appear to be 'safe'. In terms of a case by case basis, I agree, which is why I said it was something manageable. I wouldn't class holding a broken mask without a...

In the UK, where I am based, having two dives like this isn't often possible due to tides. There is also an assumption being made that solo is acceptable. I know I wouldn't dive solo on something that was planned a team dive. But a good solution nonetheless. Thanks

I agree Chris, and at the same time we do have a logical part in our brain which we can engage (but it takes effort and we are lazy creatures) to slow us down. To a certain extent, this is exactly what checklists are there to do, to slow the rapid, emotionally-driven processes down and allow us...

Although the following might appear contradictory, the claims which Kahneman and Tverskey made have been shown to be valid. - “In mixed gambles, where both a loss and a gain are possible, loss aversion causes extremely risk-averse choices. - In bad choices, where a sure loss is compared to a...

You have been blown-out for 4 weekends in a row and you now have an opportunity to dive this weekend as the weather is fabulous and the visibility has been reported as 10m+. However, you aren’t due to dive for another four weeks for a variety of reasons. Just as you getting your gear ready to...

Here are a couple of diving examples to show availability bias in action. - If you don’t analyse your gas every time you don’t know what is in the mix. You are making an assumption based on information you have been given by your instructor or dive operation staff or watching them fill a...