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Safety Policy for Minibus operation

Policy

Safety Report for 2005

It has been a relatively good year for  water safety. However, the two major incidents that did occur identified a few issues, as did some of the injuries at events. The major lessons are as follows:
 
* There must be someone at the end of the course when young paddlers come down the course if they come down first
* The two paddler rule must prevail
* Safety briefings should occur - particularly for the youger generation
* Safety lines bankside should be long enough to reach paddlers
* BCU Closed Cockpit 3* and 4* tests should be undertaken by all Junior Paddlers
* All paddlers should be able to exit their boat under Race Conditions
* All paddlers should know how to swim in White Water and be rescued by line (4* test will address this)
* Warm-ups at events should be neither overlooked nor curtailed
 
The statistical basis for Water Safety is now good enough for us to be able to predict when injuries are likely to occur. The next step is to lenghten the gap between injuries as far as possible by
paying attention to the above points in particular. Wild Water Racing remains a very safe sport - vigilance will keep it that way.
 
Non-Water Safety
 
There was a minibus accident with the Junior and Senior Squads in France earlier this year. The BCU have produced a report and some recommendations. The recommendations are not just
specific to the accident itself. Broadly speaking the recommendations reinforce the MIDAS approach to Minibus driving which is to be followed by all. In 2006 most athletes will fly to
international destinations, not least because this is cheaper than feeding and accommodating them en route.
 
An athlete was also knocked over by a car whilst training on land. Fortunately, no serious injury.
 
Happy and Safe New Year.
 
Maitland Hyslop
 

Wild Water Racing Safety Policy Document

Main document in Word® format
or as a PDF file

Annex A - The Art of Wild Water Racing

Annex B - A model for assessing river risk (Excel© file)

Annex C - River risks (Excel© file)

Annex D - Safety Report (Word© or PDF)

Wild Water Racing Safety Review

Main document in Word© format
or as PDF file


2004 Safety Record

2005 Safety Record

Incident report from the US regarding problems with overhanging trees.