Gareth Lock
Most safety incidents are not caused by the people closest to them.
Gareth Lock helps organisations and divers understand why — and
what to do about it.
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.
Most investigations conclude with 'human error.' That conclusion ends the inquiry rather than beginning it. It assigns fault to the person who was closest to the failure while leaving untouched the system conditions that made that failure likely.
Gareth Lock's work exists to close that gap — not by defending poor performance, but by understanding the full picture of why people do what they do in complex, time-pressured, high-stakes environments.
If you have ever read an incident report and felt that something important was missing from it, this work is for you.
Military aviation background
Operational decision-making in environments where the cost of error is not recoverable. Not theoretical. Not simulated. Operational.
MSc in Human Factors and System Safety, Lund University
The academic depth to understand why systems fail, not just that they do.
MSc in Aerospace Systems, Kingston University
Systems thinking embedded from the ground up.
Fatal accident investigation for UK MOD and NZDF
Experience at the sharp end of what happens when the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done is never closed.
~800 dives — recreational, technical, cave, and rebreather
He knows the underwater environment from the inside, which means his frameworks are built for the reality of diving, not a classroom approximation of it.
No one else in the safety or diving space holds this combination. That is not a claim about quality. It is a claim about availability.
Speaking
Gareth delivers keynotes and conference talks that reframe how audiences think about risk, failure, and human performance. The goal is not inspiration that fades by Monday. It is a single shift in mental model that changes every incident review, every debrief, every briefing that follows.
Programmes & Masterclasses
Through The Human Diver and Human in the System, Gareth runs structured learning programmes for diving professionals and high-risk industry teams. These include the Human Factors in Diving series, the Mission: Kobayashi Maru NTS Masterclass, and bespoke organisational interventions using the High-Velocity Learning LAB methodology.
Investigation & Advisory
Gareth has conducted fatal accident investigations for the UK Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force. He provides advisory services to organisations seeking a more rigorous, learning-focused approach to incident investigation and safety culture.
Organisations that continue investigating incidents the same way will continue reaching the same conclusions. The structural conditions that produced the last unwanted event will remain in place.
Divers who develop excellent technical skills without developing non-technical skills are preparing for the dive they expect — not the one that tests them.
The question is not whether this work is valuable. The question is whether you can afford to keep doing without it.
'Gareth's work changed how I think about every incident I've been involved in since.'
— Programme graduate, commercial diving
'The most impactful safety keynote our team has experienced in over a decade of conferences.'
— Safety Director, energy sector
'He doesn't tell you what to think. He gives you a framework that makes it impossible to think the same way again.'
— Operations Manager, emergency services
'Every dive team leader should go through this programme. It fills the gap that technical training cannot.'
— Technical diving instructor
Under Pressure
Diving deeper with human factors
Under Pressure draws on decades of operational experience across military aviation and diving to explain why high-performing teams fail — and what the rest of us can learn from it. It is not a self-help book. It is a systems book for practitioners.
© 2026 The Human Diver
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.
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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?