Jenny’s interest in human factors and recognition of its importance was first sparked 20 years ago when she started teaching outdoor education. She would spend a lot of time focusing on teamwork and team development, and this meant directing attention on to how the team members interacted. Human Factors training uses this when looking at performance, along with the other two important parts, the interactions between equipment and systems.
It’s an area that is very neglected in dive training and yet is possibly one of the most important topics we need to be aware of. When Gareth Lock appeared on the radar with The Human Diver it began a shift in the way diving is taught. Gareth has developed a course which allows people to learn about themselves and others, and why people do things that can be counter to their training or what appears to be the “obvious” thing to do.
The online Human Factor in diving: Essentials (level one) class gives you three hours of theory in short (5-10 minute) clips. It’s all related directly to diving and is suitable for anyone who wants an introduction to this fascinating subject. For more information, email the address below or sign up here to get access straight away!
The two day face to face (level two) Human Factors in diving course covers theory sessions on decision making, communications, situational awareness, and leadership and followership, as well as putting what you’ve learnt into practise using a simulator to fly “missions”. This enables everybody to be in a totally unfamiliar environment, which means courses can be run for all levels of diver, from beginner to instructor trainer. You also get access to the Essentials class as part of this, so no previous Human Factors training is required.
Also available is Under Pressure by Gareth Lock. Available for collection in Dahab, or from the link here. This book uses over 30 case studies to examine and analyse the events and look at what we can learn from them.
If you’re interested in joining a course, would like to put on a course for your team or require further information, please contact Jenny at humanfactors@diverjennylord.com
Testimonials:
“I highly recommend HF course, it put me back on track how to communicate with my team and try to understand why they are doing what they’re doing”
“…gave me tools to try to avoid or solve problems in the future. If you want to improve your communication style and try to learn the tools to anticipate mistakes and learn things about yourself, that’s the course to take”
“As the world is getting more and more complex and complicated we need to be aware of what’s going on around us but we can’t do it alone. We need the help from other people to do our best and actually enjoy what we’re doing. But we don’t learn the soft skills at school so we have to find another alternatives. This is something the Human Diver provides and because it’s associated to diving it’s more concrete and fun than learning these skills on their own”
“Mainly it filled a big gap in my personal communication approach. Knowing the value of feedback as a learning tool was obvious but how to do it effectively to maximise the learning experience was key”
“It put in perspective how I should look at mistakes and accidents in a different way. How it’s important to understand others point of views regarding things that I see in a different way. I would recommend this course to others because it could lead to a more safe and peaceful world, if we stopped and looked at why people do stuff and to learn from that”