Water Sports Safety
The list of water sports that people engage in is very extensive and their popularity is ever increasing. Some participants will be members of clubs and channel their activity through organised club trips and events, others will be 'casual' users, who use their own equipment on accessible waters without supervision.
Water sports take place in a wide variety of environments; at sea, at the beach, on lakes, in rivers and streams and in swimming pools. Many people participate in water sports, the British Marine Federation (BMF) estimates that 451,000 boats are kept in the UK and about 3 million people, over the age of 16, enjoy boating and watersports. Here you can read the research - Watersports Participation 2003 (
PDF format 125kb) - carried out by the BMF in conjunction with the Royal Yachting Association.
The National Water Safety Forum is concerned primarily with water safety in water sports rather than other issues, like funding or qualifications. By illustrating the risks involved in water sports the object is not to deter people from participating but to encourage them to get adequate training and education and reduce the likelihood of injury.
The range of water sport activities is diverse and different safety concerns will arise. For example the safety requirements and considerations for someone engaged in fishing in the canal will be much less extensive than those for someone engaged in off-shore yacht racing. There will therefore be some common safety issues, like conflict of use, but the environment in which the sport is being practiced will have a bearing on the safety advice necessary. In these pages it is only possible to highlight general safety points but readers will be steered towards sources of information and relevant governing bodies wherever possible.
Latest |
| National Water Safety Congress 2008 more info |
Watersports and Leisure Participation 2006 report |
| MAIB safety digest - Autumn 2006 |
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