Marine safety must never become a
box-tic ing exercise
Alistair Hackett, managing director of Ocean Safety, talks about the risks of a cost-conscious industry and how sailors need to make safety their real priority.
The last two years have been turbulent for the marine safety arena – as it has for many industries – however the future is positive, according to Hackett. “The core principle of the business has always been to supply knowledge, advice, solve problems for customers and provide top-of- the-range safety equipment. We must never become ‘box shifters’ of average quality product – there is too much average quality product in our industry,” warns Hackett.
“Like everything in the world, safety equipment has become more and more cost conscious,” he explains. “While the standards of regulation are constantly improving – which is a great thing – what we are finding is that more people are wanting to build product to the lowest cost possible that meets the regulation.
And whilst in some areas of the industry there is a definite market for that, this is safety equipment that we’re talking about. We should be in a position as an industry where we constantly strive to make sure that all of the kit that the industry supplies to individuals is to the very best of its ability, the highest standard that can possibly be used afloat.
“So, you constantly have this battle within industry of what’s cheapest but ticks the box and what is actually best suited for the environment it’s going to be used in. And bear in mind that we are dealing with product that’s very, very rarely used. “Don’t get me wrong. You are far better to have the equipment than no equipment at all – everybody has to tailor the budget to their own desires,” Hackett says.
While sailors can ‘tick the box’ and physically have the required equipment on board to enter a race, regatta or event, is it the best their budget allows for? And, crucially, have they spent the time understanding the equipment and does all the crew know how to utilise it effectively?
Hackett – and many marine safety experts – warn of the risks of consumer complacency whereby the public never believe an emergency afloat will happen to them. While the vast majority of sailors will cite safety as top of their priority list on board, Hackett says in reality the time spent learning about safety products, how to store, use and deploy them doesn’t reflect this.
“I’ve had lots of discussions with people undertaking the Fastnet race, entering high-end yacht races or
The Report • September 2022 • Issue 101 | 69
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