Psychological Safety in Diving
Psychological safety helps divers speak up, ask questions, and flag concerns before small issues become incidents. It supports clear planning, better decisions, and calm responses when the plan changes. This page explains what psychological safety means for dive teams and how to build it on every dive.
What Is Psychological Safety?
Psychological safety is an environment where divers feel comfortable sharing observations, asking for clarification, and voicing concerns without fear of embarrassment or criticism. In a psychologically safe team, divers communicate openly about risks, problems, and uncertainties, which makes dives safer for everyone. The concept is well studied in aviation, healthcare, and other high risk work, and the same principles apply in recreational and technical diving.
Why Psychological Safety Matters in Diving
Many divers, especially newer ones, may feel hesitant to speak up, even when they sense something is wrong. Hesitation can come from several sources that are common on busy boats and at popular sites.
- Fear of looking inexperienced: A diver may notice a buddy's tank is not fully open but say nothing because they assume the other diver knows what they are doing.
- Social pressure to follow the group: A diver may feel cold, low on gas, or uncomfortable but stay silent to avoid disrupting the plan.
- Unclear leadership: If no one owns checks and briefings, divers may assume someone else will speak up.
In a psychologically safe team, divers feel empowered to raise concerns before problems escalate into emergencies. Over time this reduces incidents and improves the quality of every dive.
How Psychological Safety Affects Dive Teams
Psychological safety shapes how teams plan dives, communicate underwater, and recover from surprises. When it is missing, divers often carry unspoken concerns and take on unnecessary risk. When it is present, teams are more coordinated and adaptable.
- Without safety: Concerns stay silent, signals are delayed, and divers feel pressure to exceed limits.
- With safety: Risks are discussed in plain terms, help is requested early, and responsibility for safety is shared.
Practical Ways to Improve Psychological Safety in Diving
Psychological safety is not about being timid. It is about creating a culture where divers make informed decisions and speak up without fear. Use the steps below to strengthen team habits and make expectations explicit.
- Encourage open discussions: Before a dive, invite concerns and clarify that any issue is worth raising.
- Normalize questions: Experienced divers should model curiosity so less experienced teammates feel comfortable speaking up.
- Avoid blame: Focus debriefs on learning from mistakes and improving processes rather than criticizing individuals.
- Use debriefs: After the dive, review what went well and what to adjust for the next dive.
Further Learning: The Human Diver (Gareth Lock)
Psychological safety is central to human factors in diving and is covered in depth by The Human Diver resources from Gareth Lock. His work explains how communication, decision making, and team behaviors influence safety outcomes.
Highly recommended: I have completed The Human Diver online course and read Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors. It is the best non skill based training I have taken, and it changed how I plan and brief dives.
For more detail, see:
- Website: The Human Diver
- Book: Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors
- Courses: Online and in person training on human factors in diving