Overheard a dive supervisor yell 'stop breathing like a vacuum cleaner' today

I was on a job in Port Townsend last week, and this supervisor was training a new guy topside. The new guy was ripping through air, and the sup just lost it and screamed that line over the comms. It was funny but honestly, I realized I should check my own breathing too. Anyone else ever get called out for something dumb like that over the radio?

2 comments

2 Comments

paigep2022d ago

Nah, the supervisor was out of line. Breathing patterns are personal and the guy was probably just nervous. I've seen way worse topside screw ups get ignored, like that time a tender let a lift bag slip and it shot a wrench straight up. Yelling at someone for breathing is just lazy training, not leadership.

margaretm2322d ago

Gotta push back a little here. Theres a big difference between being nervous and breathing wrong on purpose during a critical task. If a tender is breathing erratically it messes with the whole team's rhythm and can cause real issues underwater, not just topside. The wrench story is different because that was a gear failure, not a person failing to control a basic safety thing. Yelling might not be the best way but ignoring bad breathing habits is how you end up with a diver panicking at 100 feet. The supervisor should have pulled him aside after and explained it calmly instead of screaming though, thats fair.