Safety: back to basics

Stephen Worley, British Rowing’s Honorary Rowing Safety Advisor, shares some basic tips to ensure that we can all enjoy a safe return to rowing.

It is great that we have been able to go afloat again. It’s been a while so it is easy to forget some of the basics. Let’s do it safely today so that we can do it again tomorrow.

If you are rowing or coxing then keep a good lookout, Be aware of where you are on the waterway and keep to where you should be. You don’t want to have a collision with anyone or anything.

If you are coxing or coaching afloat, ensure that your lifejacket has been checked.  Give it a quick check before you put it on.  Fit the lifejacket and the crotch strap correctly.

If you are driving a launch, has the engine been serviced?  Have you checked it?  Is it reliable? What about the steering?  Does the engine stop when you detach the kill cord?  Is the other end of the kill cord attached to you?