Safety Brief Check List

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billywhizzzuk

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Hi

I wondered if anyone has a yacht safety brief check list/proforma that they wouldnt mind me cribbing from. Clearly it will differ from boat to boat, but I would like to produce something that can be laminated as an aide memoir, to ensure nothing is missed out. Many thanks
 
I have, but it's on the boat. It is hard to pitch it right for both sailors and non-sailors so I included things like "never touch the winches unless told to" and "the hot water is very hot" as well as listing where flares & lifejackets etc. are kept & how to start the engine.

My last instruction is "enjoy yourself"
 
This a little spooky. I started to put mine together some 30 minutes before you posted this. I'm looking forward to seeing what gets offered but for what its worth, this was my starter for 10

Location of Fire Extinguishers/blanket
Forward Hatch as means of escape
Location of Bilge Pump
Location of Gas taps
Location of Battery isolator
Location and use of Flares
VHF/Mayday procedure
Engine Stop/Start procedure

Regards. Malcolm
 
Mine for what it's worth - also available as a word doc if you PM me

SELENE – SAFETY & GENERAL CHECKLIST

GENERAL:

How the heads work!
Where the toilet roll is
Where the trash can is
How the cooker works
Where the coffee & tea is
Where the milk, food (&beer) is
Gas on/off

SAFETY BRIEFING:

In the boat:

Fire Extinguishers & Fire blanket & Engine Hole for fire extinguisher
First Aid kit location
VHF Radio & emergency procedures
Where the navigation lights are
Where the Seacocks are
How to get to the engine
Instant toolkit
Grab Bag and clips if not out

On Deck:

Fire Extinguisher & Warps & String bag + engine spares: impeller, oil filter, fan belt
Flares
Emergency Tiller
Life raft + Note how the dinghy comes down off the davits
Hand pump
Engine On/OFF
Clip points and jackstay
Emergency Rudder / Transom
Knife location
Full DSC VHF station available in the cockpit
Cockpit & Foredeck Rules - Lifejackets & Clips
MOB Procedure - Heave to and await instruction - I will take the helm - keep eyes on MOB

GENERAL:

About the journey - distance, time, how long, conditions to expect
Any special needs?
 
Emergency Rudder

Emergency transom!

Yes before you ask, I made one of these in case my rudder falls off as has happened to two of my friends - it is a bar of wood I made that clips onto the sugar scoop and it can take a converted Merlin Rocket rudder and / or the outboard
 
Re: Emergency!

We met up in the pub and managed to get in a few rounds before the skipper looked at his watch and warned about missing the tide.
On board I slung my gear into a bunk and while others were struggling into oilies decided to use the heads. Skip was already starting the engine and releasing lines. We were soon motoring seaward as he called for crew to stow fenders and hoist sail.
Suddenly there was a splash: he'd fallen overboard!
The boat, unattended, lurched round as bodies jammed in the companionway. I stayed where I was - I couldn't find the ***** bog-roll!
Nice one John . . .
 
Our saftey brief

Safety Brief

Make a cup of tea or coffee.
Use this as a lead in for the explanation of Gas protocol and the use of the heads.


Explain the potential causes of Fire

1. Gas Leak
- Always turn off the gas bottle when you leave the vessel and during the night.
- Always turn off the gas isolator at the stove between uses of the stove.
- Never leave a naked flame unattended.
- If a gas leak is suspected, close off the supply at the bottle, ventilate the vessel and pump the bilges. NEVER check with a naked flame!
2. Electrical Fire
- Report any strange smells.
- Check electrical wires regularly.
3. Smoking
- Do not permit smoking below. There is a strict no smoking policy in force. Also a safety aspect re ‘hot ash’ damage to clients’ eyes and the sails.

Explain the escape routes of each area.


Life Jackets and Safety Harnesses

These will be issued to the students/clients who will retain them for the duration of the course. You should ensure that they are fitted correctly and the student knows how to correct the size for when wearing wet weather clothing.

Life jackets will be worn at all times in the dinghy, and on deck when:
- there is fog;
- hours of darkness;
- poor conditions;
- at all times for non-swimmers;
- when your students/clients feels he/she requires and at all times you as a skipper think they should be worn.

Students/clients should know where to clip on the harnesses to ‘D’ rings and the jackstays. Be sure the students/clients know how to clip on before leaving the cockpit companionway and not to unclip until they return inside the cockpit companionway.

Daily Engine Checks

This should be incorporated in the course syllabus.

- Check raw water inlet and the sea cock is on.
- Check and clean raw water filter (fish trap).
- Isolate the batteries.
- Check oil level and consistency.
- Check gearbox oil.
- Check water level in the header tank.
- Check belt tensions.
- After starting check water is running through the engine by looking for water from the exhaust outlet outside.
- Check the engine engages into forward and reverse before you leave the berth.


Explain all Safety Equipment and Locations

Below Decks:

1. Lifejackets

a) Where stowed
b) All crew members to fit and about inflation
c) Light operating procedure
d) When to wear

2. Harnesses

a) Where stowed
b) All crew members to fit
c) When to wear
d) Attaching points ie jackstays

3. Gas

a) Heavier than air - precautions
b) Gas taps – whereabouts and usage
c) Gas bottles – location of stowage
d) Routine before and after using cooker
e) Routing in the event of gas spillage



4. Fire prevention

a) No smoking
b) Cooker - no chip pans
c) Cooker – never leave a naked flame

5. Fire extinguishers & Fire blanket

a) Location – all cabins, saloon, engine space and aft locker.
b) Explain types
c) Method of operation

6. Flares & Emergency Radio Aerial

a) Where stowed
b) Types carried
c) Methods of operation (later briefing if desired)

7. First Aid Box

a) Everyday box - location
b) Sealed kit – location and limit of use.
c) Medical First Aid Manual - location

8. Heads

a) Operating procedure
b) Seacocks

9. VHF Radio (Main and hand held)

a) How to switch on and tune
b) Squelch
c) Changing channels
d) Press to transmit
e) Indicate distress instruction poster

10. Emergency Lighting

a) Emergency torches - location
b) Emergency spot light - location
c) Usage



11. Epirb

a) Location and usage
b) Operation

Above decks:

12. Heaving line

a) Location
b) Operation

13. Lifebuoys, Quoit & line, Danbuoy

a) Location
b) Usage
c) Test lights

14) Liferafts

a) Where stowed
b) Painter explaination
c) When to launch
d) How to launch
e) How to board
f) Contents

15) Engine

a) Batteries
b) Throttle/gear position
c) Starting
d) Stopping
e) General overview

And please keep a check on expiry dates of the above equipment.



Check the location and operation of the vessel’s sea cocks





Action to be taken in an Emergency

Make sure the crew are aware of the action required in an emergency, to join the rest of the crew on deck in suitable dress with lifejacket and harness on.




Action to be taken in the event of a Person Overboard

Make sure this is explained before departure and demonstrated at the earliest possible convenient moment. Discuss boarding order.

• Shout MOB.
• Hove to / stop the vessel.
• Talk to the crew in the cockpit and make sure they are harnessed and attached to a strong point.
• Check there are no lines over the side.
• Start the engine.
• At this point you will be close to the person in the water. If possible, run the engine in reverse until you are alongside the person. If not deploy the danbuoy and life ring to the casualty.
• Recovery method depends on the casualty, conditions and the vessel. The most important thing is to get the casualty attached to the vessel.
• Call a mayday unless the action of doing so inhibits the rescue operation.
• Cancel mayday after the recovery.
• Phone principal and file an incident report form.

Note: Marchwood Sailing Club, at the top of Southampton water, is a good place to train MOB in windy conditions or at night as it is floodlit!!


Before Departure

Make sure you have the most recent forecast.

Fully brief the crew of where you are going and what you intend to do including tidal streams, charts and weather.

Check fuel, gas and water.

Make sure you have discussed with the crew what they wish to achieve and what they expect.

Fill in the log book daily. Enter engine hours and log pending.

Update qualifications issued to the candidate in the Student Log.

Have a final check of the vessel ensuring everything is switched off. Start forward and work aft : sea cocks, electrics, gas, water, fridge lid left off, boat locked and secure, sail cover correctly fitted, wheel cover on and wheel locked, aft locked locked … and one last check on the berthing lines!

Alan Jones
AT Sailing Ltd
 
The crew briefing should last no more than 15 minutes and when demonstrating the cooker I put on the kettle for a cup tea.
The following is the inside briefing.
The outside briefing includes how to start the engine and put it into gear,how to attach lanyards <how to stow fenders and lots more which is of a less formal nature.
Don't forget thes people are your guests if you scare them or bore them too much they have the option of going home so KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)

SHEMESH CREW BRIEFING

GENERAL

LIGHTING COOKER GAS TAP LIGHTER
SINK DRAIN SEACOCK
USE OF WATER ..WATER METER
FRIDGE
IMPELLER
TOILET USE
SEACOCKS IN HEADS
LOCATION OF BUNGS

---------------------------------------------
SAFETY

LIFEJACKETS LANYARDS
FLARES GRAB-BAG TORCHES KNIVES
---------------------------------------------

VHF

MAIN SET
HAND HELD
MAYDAY CALL
POSITION FROM GPS OR NAV6
 
Al, jeez ,that's not a briefing it's a two day course /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
What can one say?
"Comprehensive" springs to mind.
Fair play to you, I don't think you,ve missed anything.
Thanks for that ---"briefing" example.
Definately some notes in there I can use.
Cheers /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
army%20officer%20visor%20hat.jpg


Achtung, here iz zee breefink, you may not use ze gas

better stop there I think

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
The trouble is that Al runs the boat commercially and it is argued that you have a duty of care to ensure that the crew are briefed properly. At the subsequent court of enquiry you can't allow for the barrister to start asking questions about like "...so you didn't even bother to tell them about the methods available to cut the rigging free in the event of being pitchpoled in Plymouth sound?"

In practice when I take people sailing commercially I try to cover the bits in 'bite size chunks'. In other words enought to get us going and then try to cover other areas as we go along. The inital flares brief might be "...and we've got a box of flares under the chart table seat" but we might get the flares out over a cup of coffee later on to have a look at them and see what they do.

People can only take in so much information, and you're wasting your breath after a while.
 
Yeh, I can see that Al runs the boat commercially.
Whilst completing a commercial course (12 peeps 20 miles off type) recently, obviously the Safety Brief debate /discussion arose.

Some Skippers "I aint letting anyone in My wheelhouse " attitude etc etc, you can imagine the scenario.
When the Barrister question arrives, yep peeps change their attitude!
Even the Trip Round the Bay and Back in Time for Tea needs to be performed with all briefing and safety aspects well tuned.
Cos these days everybody is looking to blame somebody and claim a pound of flesh etc etc.
There aint no thing as an accident these days , it's got to be someones fault!
However Als briefing in total, would take as long as the trip round the bay!
I suppose there are briefings and briefings to suit the circumstances of said trip/ voyage.
Cos of the World we live in, no longer is a brief (commercially) any use.
Tiss a Short Education needed?
I like your bite size chunks idea.
Uknowingly I seem to do similar to you.
The briefing actually never ends, continuous reference to all things safety as the trip and day unfolds. 15 minutes before departure is enough for anybody to retain, then tweeking as we go along.
As said I like Als "Brief", some bits in there I will use.
Or maybe the best solution is to take a qualified Brief along too! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Just back from Skiing. Copies of my Sailing Briefing will be e mailed soon.

A lot of other contributions (especially Als) are good, like Al I operate at times commercially but everyone has a duty of care and some eager legals will argue that the amount does increase if it is reasonable for others to rely on your expertise even if no money changes hands - beware Yachtmasters!!

Length of a good briefing is a problem. I try to keep it to just the essentials starting with boiling a kettle!! - keep spout turned away!! etc & turning on Gas but cover other aspects like using winches and retaining all fingers as we go along!!

Before starting the briefing I mention that I have a indemnity form that I insist everyone signs. This mentions that they agree they have received a safety briefing from a prepared list and that they have asked for clarification of any points they don't understand. I then find people pay far more attention to the briefing!!

When demonstrating VHF mention the sad "Ginger" experience in the Solent a few years back when they all got on their mobiles as the skipper floated away face down. It helps get people to pay attention when they realise the importance.

I also always try to get others to do everything even though its slower and they all have to be shown as this way they do learn.
 
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