RYA Safety Advisory Notice

The RYA Safety Advisory Notice is a simple digest of critical safety issues and is the first safety digest to be compiled solely for the leisure boater. It will be reviewed annually but where safety concerns are more immediate the RYA will issue periodic Safety Update alerts.

The Notice brings together critical safety issues, including those that have arisen from incidents in the past year, into a single digest and is supplemented by considerable safety advice available from the RYA.

CO poisoning, kill cords and more

This year’s Notice draws everyone’s attention to the dangers of CO poisoning and the importance of wearing a kill cord; safety aspects which lay at the heart of some tragic deaths last year.

It also covers other key safety issues including the wearing and maintaining of lifejackets, the fitting of prop guards and the registration of EPIRBS and PLBs.

Read the RYA Safety Advisory Notice in full.

Learning from accidents

The majority of watersport activities are safe, but what is also clear is that accidents can and do happen unexpectedly. As a result, what should have been a fun, rewarding and enjoyable day out can end in tragic circumstances and inconsolable grief for family, friends and loved ones.

The question then is not just what went wrong but could the accident have been prevented in the first place. Surprisingly the answer is ‘yes’ more often than you might think.

It’s not always easy to identify hazards and how we might be vulnerable to events that might go badly wrong.  That is why there is great merit in learning lessons from accidents and the experience of others if it gets us thinking about our own attitudes and behaviour when out on the water.

The Safety Advisory Notice is a positive and proactive step in promoting current safety messages while remaining responsive to particular safety concerns as they emerge.

Government has no wish to regulate

The Safety Advisory Notice was launched at the London Boat Show with Shipping Minister Stephen Hammond MP and TV personality and sailor Nick Knowles.

Speaking at the launch the Shipping Minister said “The Government has no wish to regulate where there is no compelling reason to do so. This safety initiative is entirely consistent with the Government’s view and will help to foster and encourage safe attitudes and behaviour on the water. Clearly, that is a desirable end state on its own but safe, accident free boating is indispensable if recreational boating is to be enjoyed at all levels”.