Diving expert flexes his business to run life-saving courses online across the world

High risk diver and human factors expert Gareth Lock has flexed his business to work completely online with teams across the world to save the lives of divers.

Gareth, who lives in Wiltshire and who normally travels globally has within a week taken his business totally online. Recently he’s trained five other diving instructors to deliver his courses worldwide.

“Developing others is a passion of mine. There were a few stresses watching others teach my materials. This is my baby and I want it to succeed. All the participants joined the course after I advertised for instructors who wanted to commit to developing diving safety in their work.” Gareth said.

Five students completed the six-month course, prior to lockdown. They are already diving instructors from a range of backgrounds:

• Guy Shockey – full time technical dive instructor, instructor trainer & examiner and sports parachuting coach based in Vancouver
• Helene Pellerin – Associate Professor of Anaesthesia in Quebec University and dive master for a local dive centre in Quebec
• Bart Den Ouden – technical dive instructor, counter-terrorism and security specialist and safety diver based in the Netherlands
• Jenny Lord – technical dive instructor and safety diver for record breaking dives and media shoots in Dahab, Egypt
• Darryl Owen – technical dive instructor and instructor trainer, dive centre owner and manager for three dive centres in Dubai and the UAE.

Gareth said:

“I want those who’ve committed to and passed my course to be able to carry on my ambition to improve diving safety by increasing the knowledge and practice of non-technical skills and creating a ‘Just Culture’  in diving. A Just Culture is where we recognise human fallibility and do not punish others for the mistakes they make. That doesn’t mean no blame, as a small number of events do need to be treated accordingly.

“It was a privilege to work with these students, I’m confident they know their stuff and I’m proud they now have knowledge and skills they can apply in their work; they’ll do the community a great service. The next instructor development course will start online in July 2020 with graduation in February 2021.”

Gareth’s original plan was to continue to deliver face-to-face training , now he’s moved 100 per cent online.

“When you work globally like me, I’m often having to communicate via online webinar and video tools, so that’s nothing new. What’s new is the speed at which I’ve had to do it and the fact that all of my training has to be delivered this way at the moment. 

“I’ve also created a new series of webinars for those in the global diving community. This course consists of 90 mins per week for ten weeks to further their own knowledge and also includes home study to consolidate the delivery. I’d always planned to do this in the near future, now I’ve accelerated it to take into account the lockdown.”

Gareth, who is known as The Human Diver, has adapted his home office to suit his new situation by creating a background of whiteboards so his delegates ‘feel’ they are getting a more ‘classroom’ experience. However, for Gareth, there’s one thing which has enabled him to move so quickly.

“The truth is I’ve spent several years working hard to raise my profile through consistent PR and thus demonstrate my credibility. One way I’ve done this is to engage effectively on social media and see it as a business tool of value to my business. 

“Thanks to my visibility, many divers have joined my private Facebook group, The Human Diver – Human Factors In Diving, which has over 5,000 members and I’ve got a strong following on Twitter and LinkedIn. My email list, fully GDPR compliant, has a similar number of subscribers. This level of engagement is really paying off now that all of us are having to embrace digital communication more fully.”

Gareth, who lives with his family in Malmesbury, in Wiltshire had a 25-year career with the RAF as a Squadron Leader and flight instructor. His company – The Human Diver – educates divers – or any team undertaking any activity – the importance of decision-making, situational awareness, communication skills, leadership, teamwork and managing stress and fatigue. 

In 2019 he published his first book titled ‘Under Pressure: Diving Deeper with Human Factors’ which has since sold thousands of copies. Anyone interested in his courses can find out more by visiting https://www.thehumandiver.com