Commercial & Occupational Diving
Your management systems describe and audit how work should happen. We address how it actually does.
Commercial diving operates inside some of the most comprehensive safety frameworks in any industry. Risk registers, permit-to-work systems, diving supervisors, medical fitness standards. And yet serious incidents keep occurring. Not because the systems failed, but because the humans operating within them did what humans do. We bridge that gap.
Recreation & Technical
Recreational & Technical Diving
From open water to cave and rebreather, the gaps in your training are rarely technical. Your agency taught you what to do. We cover what happens when a team stops communicating, when a plan loses its flexibility, when no one says what they're thinking. That's where dives go wrong — and that's what we teach.
Commercial & Occupational
Commercial & Occupational Diving
Commercial diving operates inside management systems, risk registers, and permit-to-work frameworks. Those systems are necessary. They are also not sufficient. The human side — team dynamics, supervisor decisions, stop-work authority, normalisation of deviance/risk — is where your serious incidents will come from. We bridge the gap between your documented procedures and how work actually gets done.
Defence & Special Operations
Military Diving
Military diving teams operate at the intersection of technical complexity, operational pressure, and hierarchical culture. Power distance, mission focus, and the reluctance to report near-misses are systemic challenges, not individual weaknesses. Our programmes — drawn from military aviation and adapted for defence diving — address them directly, in the language of people who have served.
"The course made me aware of different forms of communication and highlighted the need to work as a team. It highlighted that human error is part of who we are but there is ways in which we can reduce it. It taught me how to risk manage, but introduced a fun and exciting way to do it. Others should do this course as it will highlight different techniques to learn about human factors and how they can be used within our company from the top of the tree level down to the base level, and that it can create a common goal for all people involved within the company." - AB, Diving Supervisor
The procedures are necessary. They're also not sufficient
The majority of serious incidents in commercial and occupational diving do not result from procedural absence. They result from normalisation of deviance/risk; the gradual drift away from standards that happens in every operational environment, at every level of seniority, when nothing has gone wrong. Yet.
They result from supervisors who feel pressure to proceed. From divers who see something wrong and don't say it. From teams that have lost the habit of genuine pre-dive briefing. From incident investigations that stop at the individual and never reach the system.
None of those are addressed by adding another layer of procedure. They require a different understanding of how human performance works, and a culture in which that understanding is applied, not just documented.
of serious incidents in commercial diving involve human and organisational factors, not technical failure. The technical investigation is necessary. It is rarely sufficient.
The gap between how procedures say work should be done and how it is actually performed is present in every operation. The question is whether it is visible, understood, and managed, or remains invisible until it becomes an incident.
The specific challenges
Military diving creates distinct human factors conditions.
Most training programmes don't address them directly.
These are not weaknesses of military culture; they are the predictable characteristics of hierarchical, high-stakes, mission-focused organisations.
The question is whether they are visible and managed, or invisible until they produce an outcome.
Power distance and rank
Hierarchical structure is operationally necessary. It also creates pressure gradients that suppress junior personnel or students from raising concerns or questioning plans, even when they should. This is a systemic condition, not an individual failing.
Mission focus and plan continuation
Military culture optimises for mission completion. That same optimisation makes it harder to call off a dive when conditions change, particularly under time pressure, command expectation, or the cultural weight of not being seen to fail.
Near-miss reporting inhibition
Reporting a near-miss in a military environment carries perceived career risk. The conditions required for genuine psychological safety, where people report honestly without fear of consequence, don't emerge automatically from good intent.
High individual capability, low team transparency
Military divers are typically highly competent individuals. That competence can reduce the perceived need for explicit communication, briefing, and shared mental models within the team, which is precisely when they matter most.
Normalisation of deviance/risk
Operational tempo and resource constraints create conditions for gradual standards drift. In elite units, high performance can mask accumulating risk, until the conditions align and an incident occurs despite everything being 'normal.'
Investigation culture
Military incident investigations often operate within legal and administrative frameworks that are not designed for systemic learning. The result is reports that identify the proximate actor and miss the organisational conditions that produced the event.
The gaps
What conventional safety training doesn't cover.
Industry-standard commercial diving safety training covers procedures, hazard identification, emergency response, and equipment. It does not typically address the following; which is where most incidents originate.
Normalisation of deviance/risk
How operational drift accumulates over time, why it is invisible to those inside it, and what structural practices interrupt it before it becomes an incident.
Stop-work authority
Why divers and supervisors often don't use it when they should, and what organisational and team conditions make it genuinely available rather than theoretically available.
Supervisor decision-making
How commercial diving supervisors make go/no-go calls under time, commercial, and organisational pressure, and what cognitive and team factors compromise those decisions.
Incident investigation quality
Most investigations in commercial diving identify the proximate human error and stop there. The systemic conditions that produced the error, and that will produce the next one, remain unaddressed.
Power distance
The hierarchical structures of commercial diving operations create pressure gradients that suppress concern-raising. This is predictable, measurable, and manageable, if it is recognised.
Learning culture
The conditions required for near-miss reporting, honest post-job debriefs, and genuine learning from experience, rather than documentation-focused DEBrIEFs and after-action reviews.
◈ Normalisation of deviance/risk
How operational drift accumulates over time, why it is invisible to those inside it, and what structural practices interrupt it before it becomes an incident.
◈ Stop-work authority
Why divers and supervisors often don't use it when they should, and what organisational and team conditions make it genuinely available rather than theoretically available.
◈ Supervisor decision-making
How commercial diving supervisors make go/no-go calls under time, commercial, and organisational pressure, and what cognitive and team factors compromise those decisions.
◈ Incident investigation quality
Most investigations in commercial diving identify the proximate human error and stop there. The systemic conditions that produced the error, and that will produce the next one, remain unaddressed.
◈ Power distance
The hierarchical structures of commercial diving operations create pressure gradients that suppress concern-raising. This is predictable, measurable, and manageable, if it is recognised.
◈ Learning culture
The conditions required for near-miss reporting, honest post-job debriefs, and genuine learning from experience, rather than documentation-focused DEBrIEFs and after-action reviews.
What we do
Our approach for commercial and occupational operators.
DCRM training for commercial diving contexts is adapted from the core HFiD curriculum with case studies, language, and scenarios drawn from commercial and occupational operations. The conceptual framework is the same. The application is specific.
Work-as-Done vs Work-as-Imagined
We surface the gap between your documented procedures and the way work actually gets done, without blame, and with a view to making the gap smaller. This is the foundation of all the other work.
Supervisor and team non-technical skills
Situation awareness, communication under pressure, decision-making in ambiguous conditions, workload management, and team leadership, applied directly to commercial diving contexts.
Just Culture implementation
What a Just Culture actually requires, not the policy statement, but the organisational conditions: leadership behaviours, and investigation practices that make it real rather than aspirational.
Incident analysis and learning
How to investigate your own incidents and near-misses in a way that produces systemic understanding, using LFEO/LEODSI and similar tools, rather than a narrative that stops at the individual who was closest to the event.
Leadership and safety culture
How senior leaders and supervisors shape the conditions in which their teams operate, the culture that determines whether concerns are raised, whether near-misses are reported, and whether learning actually occurs.
"As a governance specialist for commercial diving activities, the course reinforced my beliefs in the value of a human performance orientated approach to safety, where greater emphasis on the person is key to making further gains. Fundamental in all of this is the need to understand how to get the best from yourself and others. The Human Diver gives you the tools to better understand the why and how behind the human factors that directly impact on outcomes; it is a hugely valuable training package applicable to anyone who is engaged in risk to life activities. "
How we deliver
Flexible delivery for operational teams.
We work with commercial diving contractors, vessel operators, and project managers to deliver training that fits the operational reality, not the other way around.
DCRM: Essentials (Online)
Self-paced online pre-learning covering the conceptual foundations; human error, situation awareness, communication, decision-making, Just Culture. Suitable for all team members prior to face-to-face sessions. Goes live 1 May 2026.
DCRM: Applied Skills (On-site)
Two-day face-to-face immersive programme. Can be delivered on-site at your operational base, vessel, or training facility. Includes scenario work, debrief practice, and application to your specific operational context. Available now. Get in touch.
Bespoke programmes
For operators with specific incident histories, regulatory requirements, or operational cultures, we develop tailored programmes that address your context directly. Contact us to discuss scope, format, and delivery.
Supervisor & management sessions
Focused sessions for diving supervisors and operations managers on decision-making under pressure, safety culture leadership, the organisational conditions that either support or undermine stop-work authority, plus learning from emergent outcomes when things don't necessarily go to plan.
Join the Waitlist
Essentials will be live on 1 May 2026.
Recreation & Technical
Recreational & Technical Diving
From open water to cave and rebreather, the gaps in your training are rarely technical. Your agency taught you what to do. We cover what happens when a team stops communicating, when a plan loses its flexibility, when no one says what they're thinking. That's where dives go wrong — and that's what we teach.
Commercial & Occupational
Commercial & Occupational Diving
Commercial diving operates inside management systems, risk registers, and permit-to-work frameworks. Those systems are necessary. They are also not sufficient. The human side — team dynamics, supervisor decisions, stop-work authority, normalisation of deviance/risk — is where your serious incidents will come from. We bridge the gap between your documented procedures and how work actually gets done.
Defence & Special Operations
Military Diving
Military diving teams operate at the intersection of technical complexity, operational pressure, and hierarchical culture. Power distance, mission focus, and the reluctance to report near-misses are systemic challenges, not individual weaknesses. Our programmes — drawn from military aviation and adapted for defence diving — address them directly, in the language of people who have served.
Next step
The gap between your
procedures and your practice is
where incidents live.
If you want to understand it, measure it, and close it, start a conversation
with us. We work with commercial diving contractors, vessel operators, and
diving medical and safety professionals across the industry.
Recreation & Technical
Recreational & Technical Diving
From open water to cave and rebreather, the gaps in your training are rarely technical. Your agency taught you what to do. We cover what happens when a team stops communicating, when a plan loses its flexibility, when no one says what they're thinking. That's where dives go wrong — and that's what we teach.
Commercial & Occupational
Commercial & Occupational Diving
Commercial diving operates inside management systems, risk registers, and permit-to-work frameworks. Those systems are necessary. They are also not sufficient. The human side — team dynamics, supervisor decisions, stop-work authority, normalisation of deviance/risk — is where your serious incidents will come from. We bridge the gap between your documented procedures and how work actually gets done.
Defence & Special Operations
Military Diving
Military diving teams operate at the intersection of technical complexity, operational pressure, and hierarchical culture. Power distance, mission focus, and the reluctance to report near-misses are systemic challenges, not individual weaknesses. Our programmes — drawn from military aviation and adapted for defence diving — address them directly, in the language of people who have served.
© 2026 The Human Diver
THD Courses
Contact Menu
© 2026 The Human Diver
ONLINE
The next LEARNING FROM UNINTENDED OUTCOMES online course will be running in May 2023, dates TBC but will run 17:00 GMT each day. Each online session will last 3.5 hours and finish at 20:30 GMT.
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Next Class Dates/Times
The next 10-week webinar-based classes will start on 15 February 2022 starting 19:30 AEDT (time zone converter below). This is based around Australia/Far East attendees and taught by Mike Mason.
15 Feb - Introduction to HF, Non-Technical Skills and Human Error in Diving and Case Study introduction.
22 Feb - Psychological Safety and Just Culture
1 Mar - Situational Awareness
8 Mar - Decision Making
15 Mar - Communications
22 Mar - Leadership & Followership in Diving
29 Mar - Teamwork
5 Apr - Performance Shaping Factors (Stress & Fatigue)
12 Apr - Incident Reporting & Checklists
19 Apr - Goals and Accountability
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ONLINE
The next LEARNING FROM UNINTENDED OUTCOMES Online course will run from 13:00-17:00 British Summer Time (BST) on 3, 10, 20, 22 and 25 September 2023.
Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com
WHAT YOU'LL GET FROM THE COURSE...
Face-to-Face Interaction/
Live Interactive Webinars
This course is available in two forms. Both involve some pre-learning to ensure the core theory is understood before the interactive sessions occur.
The two-day face-to-face workshop provides practical exercises, case studies and developing an understanding of how an event occurred by examining local rationality and using relationship-based models to help create understanding.
The 5 x 3.5 hr webinar session content is the same as the workshop but arranged over 5 sessions which allow the learning to be consolidated and not get Zoom-frazzled.
Applied Learning
Both workshops will give you plenty of practical skills and knowledge to develop an understanding of how an adverse event could have developed.
It is not about root causes (they don't exist!) but rather the emergence of factors and the presence of error-producing conditions, and how they interact.
You will be given the basic skills to make sense of an adverse event using a learning perspective, not a blaming one, working to understand what 'normal' looks like.
You won't be given a silver bullet to solve problems, but you will be given insight into how to understand local rationality to help prevent future adverse events.
Consolidated Learning
There is no way you can learn and remember everything during these two days or 5 x 3.5 hrs sessions. Therefore, each of the online sessions will be recorded and made available to the course participants. (Private information will be removed from the recordings).
After the class, there will also be regular emails every two weeks out to three months reminding you of some of the aspects of the class.
Course materials and reference papers will be made available in the back end of The Human Diver website.
BONUSES
As a student of this class, you will be given access to additional materials like presentations and briefing notes only available to those who complete a face-to-face class with The Human Diver. The goal being to grown your knowledge, develop your skills and help you take action.
YOUR TUTOR
GARETH LOCK, MSC, MCIEHF
Gareth founded The Human Diver in January 2016 when he recognised that there was a gap in knowledge within the diving community when it came to human factors, non-technical skills and the need for a Just Culture. You can see a detailed background here
He has led two reviews into military diving fatalities, one for UK MOD and one overseas with a close military ally, along with examining numerous case studies to help understand the key question 'how did it make sense'. In the global safety domain, he is recognised as someone at the leading edge of ideas of how to improve operational safety by understanding 'Work as Done' as it compares to 'Work as Imagined'.
He is currently undertaking an MSc in HF and System Safety at Lund University looking at 'Second Stories' and whether they contribute to learning.
MIKE MASON
Mike spent 20 years in the Royal Air Force, most of it flying on frontline squadrons. He now works as a flying instructor in the Royal Australian Air Force teaching young pilots to fly fighters. As well as being an accomplished instructor, he is an experienced flying supervisor and holder of a commercial pilot’s licence.
He has been an active diver since 2015 and has around 300 dives in his logbook from as far north as Iceland and as far south as New Zealand. He works part-time as a Dive Master and is also an active CCR diver. Wrecks interest him the most but he gets just as much satisfaction taking groups to see Grey Nurse Sharks at his local dive sites.
Due to his career in military aviation, Mike has lived and breathed Human Factors for his entire professional life. As he became involved with diving expeditions and supervision, he realised how much the diving world could learn from aviation. He is a great believer in Human Factors and how an awareness of them can make time spent underwater safer and more rewarding.
WHAT OUR STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY
"This class has been a game changer for myself as it has given me the HF tools and knowledge as to how I plan to understand, interact and communicate with my dive community, dive team, work, family and even strangers."
Josh Maxwell
"In my case, It's made me dive again. I ended up very disappointed professionally with this industry, certain aspects and certain people. So much so that I even lost the desire to go in the water.
This last month, I have already done seventeen dives. I have also been motivated and encouraged by the fact that there are many people (in this case my fellow seminarians) who want a breath of fresh air in this world and to improve and change certain aspects."
Jamie Sanchez
FAQ'S
WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES FROM THE COURSE?
- Outcome 1. Oversee and manage the investigation process in line with your organisation’s or team’s guidelines regarding the severity of the event.
- Outcome 2. Lead an investigation, proactively identify latent conditions, organisational weaknesses and develop smart corrective actions.
- Outcome 3. Create an environment where people can identify error likely situations and potential incidents and are free to speak up without retribution.
- Outcome 4. Lead and influence the change needed to create learning within the team or organisation to support outcomes 1-3.
WHAT IS THE INVESTMENT?
It is just £400 (approx $500) - you have lifetime access to these materials as well as the alumni community.
WHAT DO I NEED TO COMPLETE THE CLASS?
The only thing you need is a web browser (PC or Mac) and an internet connection. As there will be interaction using web browsers and Zoom, using a mobile device on its own won't work for the interactive elements.
There are no prerequisites in terms of diving certification. Level 0: Essentials of Human Factors in Diving, is required for both the Level 3.0 online and 3.1 & 3.2 face-to-face courses.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO COMPLETE?
The course takes place over 16 hours of direct student contact and 4 hours of pre-learning and mid-course learning/consolidation via online self-study. Direct contact is either 2 x full days in a physical classroom, or 5 x 3.5-hour sessions (which includes breaks).
DO I GET A CERTIFICATE OR C-CARD?
You do get a certificate from The Human Diver which you can use for continuing professional development as long as you complete each of the homework assignments.
The course is not currently underwritten by any of the diver training agencies so you won't get a bit of plastic. Sorry! However, we are trying to do our bit regarding single use plastic.
ARE SESSIONS RECORDED?
Yes, all of the sessions are recorded which means you can refer back to them or if you are busy and can't make a session, then you can catch up later, via your laptop/desktop or via the mobile app available for iOS and Android.
HOW LONG DO I GET ACCESS?
You have lifetime access, and you’ll receive an update when we update course reference materials.
"Someone once asked me what the difference between Knowledge and wisdom is; Knowledge is gained from one's own experience, Wisdom is obtained from others experience. I feel that this class truly embodies this quote."
Jacqueline Patek
OW Diver and OR Nurse
AWARD WINNING PROGRAMME
We were so delighted that the Online Micro Class was awarded The Innovation Award at the 2018 TekDiveUSA Technical Diving Conference.
“For innovation and/or product design that has increased the safety and extended the field of technical diving.”
100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
We are so confident that you’ll benefit from this 10-Week Webinar Programme that if you’re not 100% happy with it we’ll refund your money. All we ask is that you provide some robust feedback within a month of completing the programme as to why the learning didn't happen and how we can make the class better. What do you have to lose?