|
LIFE JACKETS
17 May 2007
Although rarely needed our life jackets are probably the most commonly used item of safety equipment on our boats. Apart from giving us reassurance and piece of mind in rough conditions they are vital safety items; just last year a club member’s life was saved by his life jacket during a man overboard incident during a sailing race.
It is therefore surprising to know that equipment checks have revealed that as many as 30% of life jackets in use have serious faults which could render them useless in an emergency. The RNLI confirm that poorly maintained or badly fitting life jackets are a major cause of death at sea when lives could have been saved by proper maintenance or training.
The attached links will take you to the RNLI’s web pages offering advice on
These pages are well worth a visit, giving useful advice on many aspects of fitting a maintaining a lifejacket; they make the following key points:
- Life jackets should be checked every three months for damage & wear & tear
- A maintenance programme should include a twice yearly detailed check and test inflation.
- Life jackets cannot perform properly if not fitted properly, care needs to be taken to ensure the correct fit – especially when different amounts of clothing are worn.
- All crew members should understand how to fit and operate their jackets.
Brian Morgan
Club Safety Officer
DISPOSAL OF TIME-EXPIRED MARINE PYROTECHNICS
15 April 2007
In the past the RNLI have been able to collect out of date flares for disposal when doing one of their flare demonstrations. Unfortunately this is no longer the case.
Members are therefore advised not to bring any flares to the special demonstration at the Yacht Club on the 15th April as they cannot be collected by the RNLI or let off (it is an offence to let off emergency flares when there is no emergency - the demo flares are white).
If members need to dispose of any out of date flares they should Call Thames at Walton on 01255 675518 and request the out of date flares are picked up from their premises.
They should NOT be taken to the unit on Mersea as it not always manned and they do not want flares lying around outside. The ability of the mca to collect is based upon their available storage which is emptied twice a year by the Royal Navy.
Alternatively the manufactures have a duty of care to provide some form of safe recovery of time-expired marine pyrotechnics.
RNLI FLARE DEMONSTRATION - LECTURE & DEMONSTRATION REPORT
15 April 2007
On Sunday evening we welcomed Guy Addington who is the RNLI Divisional Sea Safety Manager (East). He gave a thoroughly interesting and amusing talk on the correct use of the devices coupled with technical explanations of how they can sometimes go wrong. He emphasized the importance of:
Informing all crew members during the routine skippers briefing of where flares are kept and how they are used
Being aware of the various types of firing mechanisms used by different manufacturers
Always facing down wind when firing a flare
Correct storage to avoid malfunction due exposure to wet conditions or mechanical damaged caused by rattling around in their containers
Guy showed us the inside workings of different devices and illustrated his talk with situations he has come across during his active lifeboat service at Ramsgate.
A collection was held and the Yacht Club raised £100.00 which has been donated to the West Mersea Lifeboat Station. Thank you to all members for their support!
|
