New View Safety Coach

14 August 2024

From RAF Officer Turned Diving Safety Crusader: Gareth Lock's Incredible Journey!

You won't believe the career path of today's guest. At just 18 years old, he joined the British Royal Air Force, where he took on a variety of fascinating roles over the following 26 years. He then moved into oil and gas, healthcare, software, and diving which is where he's recognised as someone driving change in the diving industries by applying human factors, HOP, non-technical skills and a Just Culture.

Gareth has set up 'The Human Diver' where he has:

- Taught over 2,000 students online 
- Taught over 500 students face-to-face
- Written a book
- Produced a documentary

Not just diving though, he's recently relaunched his work in the non-diving space under Human in the System.

Human in the Loop Podcast

4 August 2024

Do you ever wonder how we can better learn from past events, better control for human error, bring in better mitigations and safeguards…..well this episode might just be for you :)

In this very lively discussion we think about how we can best harness the power of language and the use of storytelling, better understand the 'why' of incidents, a case study of a recent incident... amongst a whole host of other fascinating things.

Safety on Tap Podcast

31 May 2024

Gareth doesn’t easily fit in a box or under a single label, as you’ll hear in a moment. Military, flying, human factors, HOP, and diving.

I’ve wanted bring a conversation with Gareth to you for a while, for three reasons. First, the people I know and trust have said wonderful things about him. Second, he is generous – his writing, travel, courses, and social media contributions are a cut above the rest. Just following him on Linkedin for three months and that is like a mini-course on its own. And third, Gareth is tackling some wicked problems in the health and safety space, and I had to see what lessons he is learning from what is very tough work.

Education Insights

3 June 2024

There are numerous business leaders trailblazing ideas and leading their domains, but how many are driving change for their community as a whole?

One leader of such extraordinary qualities is Gareth Lock, the creator of The Human Diver, a niche organization offering courses, training, and support for those who want to be the new pioneers in diving excellence. Gareth has trained numerous instructors worldwide in human factors and his mission to “apply human factors. Master the Dive” is at the heart of his work; his tagline, ‘Counter-Errorism in Diving’, summarizes what he and his team do.

No Way Out

1 February 2024

Ponch and Gareth Lock discuss the importance of teamwork in today's volatile world. They explore the myths surrounding teams and teamwork and highlight the need for organizations to prioritize teamwork skills. They also discuss where to learn about teamwork and how to develop effective teams within organizations.

In this part of the conversation, Gareth Lock discusses debriefing frameworks, teaching teamwork skills, communication techniques, effective debriefing approaches, the connection between diving and human factors, perception and mental models, and the importance of human and organizational performance (HOP). The conversation explores the connection between Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) and Deming's 14 points.

Emergency Mind Podcast

1 February 2024

In this episode, we talk through the power of storytelling for learning, building a culture that grows from near misses and learns from mistakes and error, harnessing human and organizational potential, and so much more. Gareth has worked since 2015 in multiple domains including healthcare and oil and gas, but he is most known for his work in the diving space under the banner of Counter-errorism in Diving with his company The Human Diver. He is passionate about bringing the knowledge locked in academia to the wide world, inside and outside of diving, facilitating exploration and discovery around self, team, and organization.

Success.com

25 October 23

Safety is paramount in underwater diving, as a multitude of things can go wrong with humans being in an environment they did not evolve to be in. With such a huge amount of risk, responsibility does not fall solely on the individual but, more importantly, on the system they operate in.

The Human Diver, an educational organization founded by Gareth Lock, a former Royal Air Force navigator and experienced diver, seeks to amplify safety by applying human factors and just culture in diving. However, the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed in diving are applicable to other fields and industries, enabling teams to perform at a higher level.

Trainer's Bullpen

23 September 2023

In this insightful interview, human factors expert Gareth Lock discusses the critical aspects of how we should understand sense-making and decision making especially in ambiguous and high-consequence environments.

The research shows that if performers have 'successful' outcomes following a near-miss, then our perception of the risk is lowered and therefore we are more likely to erode vital safety margins (training, equipment, standards and
policy).

The Safety Guru

21 September 2023

Dive into another captivating conversation with us as Gareth Lock returns to The Safety Guru! Tune in as Gareth dives deep into navigating organizational learning through storytelling and discusses creating an environment of shared trust to encourage vulnerable and productive structured debriefs. Gareth’s profound insights and compelling examples will unveil the hidden layers of organizational growth. 

The Debrief with Jon Becker

20 September 2023

I am excited to have Gareth on because his views of human fallibility, although rooted in diving, have broad lessons to teach anyone who leads others, especially those working in high-risk areas.

Gareth has broad operational experience from 25 years in the RAF as flight crew, flight instructor, trials officer, R&D advisor, and systems engineer. He runs a small company, The Human Diver, focused on applying the lessons from high-risk industries, and academia into the sports diving space.

All Things Risk

27 August 2023

In this episode, we look at decision-making in the world of deep sea diving, a topic that provides us with so many transferable lessons to other domains. It is also a very fun conversation.

Over the years he realised that one thing the military does very well is teamwork – which, of course makes sense because poor decisions, bad behaviour and a lack of situational awareness can cost lives. Gareth found that the world of diving focused heavily on technical expertise – obviously important – but emphasised human behaviours and decision-making less than it should. 

This conversation is filled with wonderful insights about decision-making, working in teams, planning, the importance of constructive dissent, psychological safety, a just culture, making change happen, systems thinking and much more.

The Leadership Paradigm

9 June 2023

Exciting conversation with a veteran of the Royal Air Force, experienced diver, author, trainer, university lecturer and such a nice guy - Gareth Lock. We talk about Just Culture, Blame Culture, Counter Terrorism, Counter Errorism, human error, safety culture, Psychological Safety, Amy Edmondson, General Stanley McChrystal, teams, lateral trust, shared conscience, high-performing teams, measuring safety, and diving off the Coast of Scotland.

The Safety Guru

9 March 2023

“The beauty of human factors is that it’s applicable in every space. It’s just the stories that change.” In this episode, we’re excited to have Gareth Lock take us on a deep dive into organizational learning, decision-making, and safety culture through the lens of human factors. Tune in as Gareth shares practical advice for creating a shared mental model within an organization through prioritizing psychological safety and how to effectively foster a culture of embedded learning and growth.

Safety Labs - Safety Slice

1 December 2022

A key focus of this fascinating interview is the importance of safety pre-briefs, debriefs and validating plans through training: “It’s much better to sort problems on the surface before you go into water”.

Gareth introduces the concept of inclusive ‘learning reviews’ that uncover a safety event’s rich context and ‘second stories’. They help EHS professionals move past the immediate cause and blame to understand and address the complex combination of converging factors.

An underlying theme to Gareth’s interview is the need for organizations to shift from a blame culture to a ‘just culture’ - where the workforce feels psychologically safe to speak out, and leadership recognizes that human error is inevitable.

Gareth is as passionate about safety as he is about diving, and his insight applies to any environment where people are involved.

1202 Podcast - Barry Kirby

6 September 2021

This episode is a "deep dive" into the Human Factors aspects of Diving (see what I did there....). In this episode, Gareth talks about how he has brought his knowledge of Human Factors into the arena of Diving.  In an industry that comprises a huge leisure and tourism sector as well as a military and police angle, Gareth highlights just how HF can play a huge part, as well as how he is overcoming the challenges of developing HF in a new sector.

Gareth is the author of the book "Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors" and he is also leading a world first Human Factors in Diving Conference.

Human Risk

2 August 2021

How do human factors influence an inherently risky activity like scuba diving?

Whether you’ve ever been diving or not, it's fairly obvious that it’s an activity, that comes with a degree of inherent risk. After all, It involves getting into an environment that requires us to use specialist equipment because being underwater impacts our ability to breathe naturally and diminishes the use of some of our senses. It also exposes us to some potentially dangerous conditions - temperature, currents and air pressure for starters. Not to mention the sea creatures we might come across, who aren’t necessarily always going to welcome our intrusion into their world.

As Gareth explains in our discussion, those dynamics can be made far worse by humans. Most accidents and incidents in diving arent down to technical failures, rather they are down to complacency, breakdowns in communication, poor decision-making, a lack of situational awareness or ineffective teamwork and/or leadership