RNLI to Blame?

SaltIre

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A very good point and is one of my bugbears is the blatant signs with no information to inform the public and treating then as stupid ,
A good sign showing them the dangers and what to look out for , this helps the public make a better decision
They need to make sure they accommodate everybody's needs. There may well be aspies roaming free, without their "I'm an Aspie" badge, whose emotional detachment from reality must be taken into account.
 

FlyingGoose

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They need to make sure they accommodate everybody's needs. There may well be aspies roaming free, without their "I'm an Aspie" badge, whose emotional detachment from reality must be taken into account.
OFC as so it should be , Rules are Rules and Signs are Signs and I will be the first to point out there failings , thank god the world had Aspie's that's all I can say
Prominent people with Asperger's
1. Susan Boyle
2,Courntney Love
3,Sir Anthony Hopkins
4,Andy Warhol

Need I say anymore , the world is a richer place with us around . :love:
 

oldmanofthehills

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They need to make sure they accommodate everybody's needs. There may well be aspies roaming free, without their "I'm an Aspie" badge, whose emotional detachment from reality must be taken into account.
You clearly have no idea about Aspergers. Several friends have it. They are unable to automatically read emotions from others behaviours. They all have degrees, make good researchers, sympathise with those in trouble and are emotionally warm. They can gush a bit as dont see the sign to stop.

They risk being conned by glib fraudsters more than you or I but are just as capable of reading a sign board.

You are maybe thinking of psychopaths or the narcissistic like our dear PM and his mate, who read the rules but think it applies to someone else.
 

ylop

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But AFAIA. lifeboat crews are volunteers
Most (but not all crew are volunteers - e.g. most ALBs will have some paid mechanic, some of the tower crew in London are paid etc). However importantly the beach lifeguards (which this thread is about) are all (or at least mostly) paid.
 

Capt Popeye

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But AFAIA. lifeboat crews are volunteers
Just as much of a duty of care to them. They don't become disposable because they aren't paid.
Most (but not all crew are volunteers - e.g. most ALBs will have some paid mechanic, some of the tower crew in London are paid etc). However importantly the beach lifeguards (which this thread is about) are all (or at least mostly) paid.
Ah yes well a volunteer eh ?

What is a Volunteer these days, well as I understand it there were radical changes to how Charities work and what constitutes a Volunteer a few years ago. The Old idea of a Lifeboat Crew Volunteering and turning up at a 'shout' willing and able to 'crew' the Lifeboat still makes very effective Fund Raising, but things changed, the changes (according to the Charity that I am involved in) required that anybody wishing to Volunteer, (even those already Volunteering) had to APPLY to become a Volunteer and their application be considered by a Committee; so just turning up at an Office /Shop /Lifeboats Station and saying that you are prepared to Volunteer became obsolete; the New Volunteers are classed as Employees Unpaid, you are under the Charity Control and Management, must abide by the Employee Rules and Regulations etc etc; are scheduled as and when by the Charity Managements, in the case of Lifeboat Crews the Call Outs are via Coastguads and RNLI Station Managers to Crews; (think that thats the lineage ?).

This has been the Root Reason for disgruntlement at some Lifeboat Stations around Gt Britain; The RNLI now have extra Managers employed to administer the Instructions both up and down the chain of comand; might suggest that the RNLI have recruited more Graduate Charity Managers now to monitor and control the Employee /Volunteers, so no wonder there is friction between what was a Real Volunteer and the local Managements. The ideology is or can be quite different, maybe not compatable ?
 

Juan Twothree

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Ah yes well a volunteer eh ?

What is a Volunteer these days, well as I understand it there were radical changes to how Charities work and what constitutes a Volunteer a few years ago. The Old idea of a Lifeboat Crew Volunteering and turning up at a 'shout' willing and able to 'crew' the Lifeboat still makes very effective Fund Raising, but things changed, the changes (according to the Charity that I am involved in) required that anybody wishing to Volunteer, (even those already Volunteering) had to APPLY to become a Volunteer and their application be considered by a Committee; so just turning up at an Office /Shop /Lifeboats Station and saying that you are prepared to Volunteer became obsolete; the New Volunteers are classed as Employees Unpaid, you are under the Charity Control and Management, must abide by the Employee Rules and Regulations etc etc; are scheduled as and when by the Charity Managements, in the case of Lifeboat Crews the Call Outs are via Coastguads and RNLI Station Managers to Crews; (think that thats the lineage ?).

This has been the Root Reason for disgruntlement at some Lifeboat Stations around Gt Britain; The RNLI now have extra Managers employed to administer the Instructions both up and down the chain of comand; might suggest that the RNLI have recruited more Graduate Charity Managers now to monitor and control the Employee /Volunteers, so no wonder there is friction between what was a Real Volunteer and the local Managements. The ideology is or can be quite different, maybe not compatable ?

Hmmm,where to start?

Just because someone is a volunteer doesn' t give them carte blanche to act as they like.

Every organisation has is own rules and regulations. The RNLI's volunteer code of conduct is here:

https://rnli.org/-/media/rnli/pages...hash=48B325E96D32BE361072C2E8394A2CD2C29B5125

in case you're interested.

A lifeboat at sea isn't a good place for someone to start doing things their own way.

When someone applies to join an RNLI station, their application is discused at a meeting of the existing crew. It's never been a case that anyone can turn up and jump straight into the boat. Apart from anything else, we have to train them first.

I don't really get your point abaout the call out coming from the CG, then the launch being approved by the Station Manager or one of his deputies. That has never changed. All these people are unpaid, by the way.

You mention overbearing management leaading to disgruntlement among volunteers, but as I've mentioned on here before, the incidents at a few stations that have been highlighted in the past have actually been down to a lack of oversight from outside the station, rather than too much.

The Lifeboat Station Manager is a volunteer, often an ex-crewmember, but probably not a "manager" as such in their working life. Hence when there are issues on station of bullying, drunkenness or whatever else, they sometimes haven't been dealt with effectively, which has led to the problems snowballing out of control. Particularly if the station bully is a relative of the station manager, as has been the case in at least one of the incidents that made the press.

Most of the rules that we have to follow as volunteers are actually fairly sensible, and are there for a good reason. Some of them are the law.

We still moan about them, but that's just human nature.
 

Stemar

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Well said.

I hope my Offshore subscription is, from a selfish point of view, a waste of money, but the day that hope is dashed, I'd rather like you lot to know what you're doing, be sober and not be throwing punches at each other! In other words be well trained. The days when all the volunteers were fishermen who knew the sea in all its moods and knew the area are long gone - like most of the fishermen. ISTM that these days, volunteers are as likely to be the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker. I presume they mostly have some experience on the water, but not what it takes to be an effective lifeboat man or woman.

Two or three punchups, literal or verbal, on stations make good headlines. Someone blames management and the Wail* goes on about the malaise at the heart of the RNLI. The other 230-odd, plus all the local ones like GAFIRS quietly getting on with the job don't sell papers, so they get forgotten until "Our heroes", who couldn't organise a booze-up in a brewery in last week's edition, "save shipwrecked crew"

*Not just the Wail - they're just an easy target
 
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