SH117: Complacency: The Silent Killer... But it's not that Simple!

In this episode, we explore complacency in technical diving, using the tragic case of Wes Skiles' 2010 rebreather accident as a springboard. Often labeled as the "silent killer," complacency can emerge when divers become overly reliant on their equipment and fail to actively monitor it, especially automated systems like rebreathers. Diving systems, much like any automated setup, require continuous attention and critical monitoring to avoid a gradual drift from safe operating practices—a concept known as the "normalization of deviance." We discuss the importance of training, shared learning from others' experiences, and maintaining a mindset of proactive failure anticipation, following insights from human factors research.

 

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/complacency-the-silent-killer-but-it-s-not-that-simple

 

Links: Report about Wes Skiles: http://postoncourts.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/05/20/pbc-jury-deciding-whether-to-award-widow-of-famed-diver-wes-skiles-25-million/

HFACS: https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_documents/humanfactors_classAnly.pdf

Parasuraman et al 2010: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21077562

Normalisation of deviance blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/incompetent-and-unaware-you-don-t-know-what-you-don-t-know

Endsley’s Situation Awareness model: http://hfs.sagepub.com/content/37/1/32.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc

Bahner et al: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581908000724

HUDs research: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21077562

Pilot missing parked aircraft: http://www.aviation.illinois.edu/avimain/papers/research/pub_pdfs/techreports/05-23.pdf

 

Tags: English, Gareth Lock