Drowning prevention

Buoyancy Aids, Life Jackets, and Immersion Suits

Life jackets or buoyancy aids should be worn where there is a foreseeable risk of drowning when working on or near water.

Life Jacket:

• personal safety device which, when fully inflated (if inflatable), will provide sufficient buoyancy to turn and support even an unconscious person's face upwards within five seconds (ten seconds if automatically inflated);
• the person’s head will be supported with the mouth and nose well clear of the water.

Some people are reluctant to wear life jackets as they find them bulky and restrictive. However, either an automatically inflatable life-jacket or a type which is inflated by a manual pull-cord should overcome these problems. These are usually compact and allow for a full range of movement.

Buoyancy Aids:

• are worn to provide extra buoyancy to assist a conscious person in keeping afloat. However, they will not turn over an unconscious person from a face-down position.

Key points to note about life jacket/buoyancy aids:

It is important to consider all relevant factors when selecting suitable equipment:

• Body size;
• The weight of the person using it;
• The water and weather conditions;
• The likely rescue time/recovery time;
• The need for accessories - body harness and line, gloves, etc.

Equipment must be repaired at regular intervals:

• Check for wear, tear, and damage;
• Check the inflation mechanism regularly as it may fail to operate if it is subject to rough handling or incorrect storage;
• Check the seals on the immersion suit are intact

Equipment should be repaired or discarded if damaged.