Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors

by Gareth Lock

Most incidents and accidents are down to 'human error'. Unfortunately, 'human error' is normal and we can't get rid of it. However, we can reduce the likelihood of one of those, 'Oh s***t moments' if we have an understanding of human factors and develop our non-technical skills. This is a globally-unique book containing decades of research and practice from high-risk domains translated into the world of recreational and technical diving. This is done through the use of numerous detailed case studies to highlight the value and applicability of these skills. This book is a must for all divers who want to manage their risks more effectively and have fun in the process.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure

342 pages, Paperback

Published March 12, 2019

Reviews

[Jon Haase · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have never studied systems thinking or human factors, this is the book to start with. The fundamental shift in my thinking this book generated was around failure and error. Garrith views human error as the result of failure not the cause of failure. It may seem counterintuitive until you understand his logic. A system where people can make human errors is faulty to begin with. The example he does is the B17 landing gear which is directly adjacent to the flaps. There's no discernible difference between the two levers and as a result the Pilots continue to raise flaps instead of lower landing gear. Garreth uses this as a design flaw not taking into account the human factor of the layout. The landing gear was redesigned so that the flaps and the landing gear have different feels, the landing gear feels like a wheel to the touch. This allows pilots to know which lever they're pulling and preventing human error. This book provides many examples from the technical and mixed gas world of diving, which may not be as appealing to many that don't have a diving background. As a mixed gas diver myself, I did find these useful as well. Regardless of your experience with diving though, reading this book will change your paradigm when it comes to understanding systems thinking, human error, and human factors. As a bonus, the author is actually a fantastic guy and was willing to talk with me about some of his ideas after reading the book.

[Jaspal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to follow and without doubt it will help me become a safer diver - not just me but the people I dive with.

I really liked the case studies and there are lots of them.

There are few ‘recipes’ for safer diving but plenty to think about on making your diving safer. For me, possibly too much theory overall, hence four not five stars.

Overall I think this is important material if you’re a diver. Possibly more so if you run a dive center or are an instructor.

[John Crisostomo · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have read behavioural economics books before, most of the concepts here will be familiar. The concepts are applied to diving and risk management. I will read this book again after my tec training, it's more suited for mission critical, high performing teams rather than leisure / fun divers.

[Rik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you start reading, you can't stop. Excellent book on the topic. Should be mandatory for every diver.

[Rolands Jegorovs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally managed to finish this book. The fact that it took me almost a year to read it but I gave it 5 stars is interesting. So to start off - why did it take a year to read? For me this book at times was dry and had a technical style of writing, which led to me resisting reading it when I had lower mental capacity. It’s absolutely not a long book (only about 320 pages) but every chapter is worth pondering and, even better, applying the information to your diving or personal life or work. So it’s not a page turner and I don’t believe it should be one.

Luckily, and I love when authors do it, every chapter has a summary and follow up questions to think about connected to the chapter you just read. That’s fantastic for remembering the contents later on without reading the whole book again.

The 5 stars come from the fact that the philosophy, ideas and the attention put in this book is wonderful. But most importantly, there’s dozens of actual incident reports from seasoned professionals. That both inspired and humbled me. It’s more powerful than some might imagine. For example, that’s exactly what Sheck Exleys famous book “Basic cave diving” did and a big part of why it became the staple at the time.

If you’re a dive professional - I’d say this is going to 10x your career and the impact you have on your students and colleagues. If you’re just a diver - it’s going to help you be a safer and more competent diver. If you’re neither - the philosophy in the book is surprisingly applicable to general life and work. The topics are mostly about non technical skills.

[Des Paroz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic exploration of non technical diving skill and mindset development

An outstanding book that explores the development of non-technical diving mindset and skills. A must read for keen divers, and certainly for dive instructors.

[Ruti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating - got past "it's safe if you follow the rules," and talked about the need to figure out *why* people don't follow the rules and how to fix the rules so people will.

[Caesar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This text delves into the analysis of human behavior specifically within the context of SCUBA diving. It thoroughly dissects every relevant aspect of human factors related to diving and offers pragmatic remedies and solutions. The inclusion of real-life case studies effectively demonstrates how each proposed solution can be applied to SCUBA-related incidents.

The text acknowledges the detrimental effects of the dark side of human factors but falls short of providing practical guidance of how to mitigate them.

Furthermore, it neglects to address the unchanging nature of human behavior.
The persistent existence of group dynamics, social hierarchy, shame, pride, and the inherent sense of superiority among experienced divers are mentioned but are not effectively addressed.
Despite proposing behavioral improvements, the author fails to consider these fundamentally unchanging aspects of human nature in real-life practical scenarios.

I found the main issue with this book to be that it feels more like a psychological analysis of group dynamics and their influence on individual decision-making, rather than a practical how-to-guide.

The book references numerous scientific studies covering topics such as team building, human error, leadership, and systems thinking. These studies undoubtedly lend credibility to the author’s assertions but also contribute to the somewhat dry and academic tone of the book.

[Lanny Vogel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that has led to a paradigm shift in the diving industry. It looks at various Human Factors principles such as situational awareness, psychological safety, communications, leadership. followership and performance shaping factors. Each topic is put into context with a real life diving story, and the human factors explained in accessible language. Thoroughly recommended for all divers.

[jazz weisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book exploring all of the ways that proper understanding of human factors can make SCUBA diving safer and more reliable. Gives an essential perspective for non-technical things to consider around diving, and also in general.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on human factors not only for diving but with diving examples/use-cases. A minor glitch is that there are some proofreading issues in some of the last chapters where you can see some syntactic errors. I also felt that some chapters could have been shorter.
4.5/5

[Trey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly dry human-factors research interspersed with heart-pounding stories of near-misses in recreational and technical diving. Enjoyed it overall and hopefully made me slightly more considerate every time I suit up to dive.

[George Polykratis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend to divers and non-divers alike. It made be go into the rabbit hole of risk management.