SH273: What story gets told? What words are used? Who gets to the tell the multiple stories?
From Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving by Gareth Lock at The Human Diver
April 25, 2026 · 10 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the importance of how tragic stories are told and their impact on safety in diving.
This episode looks at two very different ways of telling the same tragic story — the death of a 12-year-old girl during a scuba training dive in Texas — and why the way we tell these stories matters for real safety. The first version focuses on blame, emotion, and individual failure, which feels powerful but pushes people toward anger instead of learning. The second version looks at how the whole system shaped what happened, including training pressure, poor visibility, equipment choices, fatigue, class structure, and missing safety checks. Instead of asking “who failed,” it asks how normal practices, routines, and decisions slowly combined to create dangerous conditions. The key message is simple: real prevention doesn’t come from blaming people, it comes from understanding how systems work in everyday conditions — and changing those systems so tragedies like this are far less likely to happen again. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/what-story-gets-told-what-words-are-used Links: W hy hurting prevents change What is the purpose of an investigation Sharing stories: https://youtu.be/DRXqeQvRFK0 Linnea Mills case: https://youtu.be/lu4tc8gtNio Tags: English |…
People in this episode
Host: Gareth Lock
Topics covered
- storytelling
- safety
- systemic analysis
- scuba diving
- prevention
- training pressure
Keywords
- scuba diving
- safety
- systemic issues
- training
- storytelling
- prevention
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: What story gets told? What words are used? Who gets to the tell the multiple stories?
Places: Texas
More episodes of Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving
- SH286: The Shortcut That Gets You Home — and the One That Doesn't · June 10, 2026 · 10 min
- SH285: When Skill Alone Isn't Enough: The Resilient Performance Model · June 6, 2026 · 12 min
- SH284: LEODSI and PETTEOT: A Systems Approach for Understanding How Diving Really Works · June 3, 2026 · 12 min
- SH283: You're Accountable. You're Responsible. You're It! · May 30, 2026 · 18 min
- SH282: Isolation Amplifies Drift: When Remote Operations Make Small Deviations Invisible · May 27, 2026 · 11 min
- SH281: HMS Scylla Wreck Penetration Tragedy: Two Perspectives on Learning · May 23, 2026 · 37 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving podcast page.