NSW: Coroner s recommendations

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2000
NSW: Coroner s recommendations

SYDNEY, Dec 12 AAP - New South Wales coroner John Abernethy's recommendations from
the inquest into the fatal 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race:

* All yacht crew members wear an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)
when on deck, in all conditions.

* All competing crews be trained in the use of personal EPIRBs.

* All competing yachts carry a 406 MHz EPIRB, and not a 121.5 MHz EPIRB.

* All inflatable life rafts on yachts should comply with international safety standards.

* Rafts should carry safety equipment including flares, bailer, hand pump and sea sickness
tablets.

* Weather forecasts should contain likely maximum wind gusts and wave heights as well
as averages.

* All yachts' batteries be closed or gel cell type.

* Crews on deck in rough weather wear clothing that will protect them from hypothermia.

* Crews use personal flotation devices other than the `Mae West' type.

* Crew members carry personal strobe lights when on deck in all weather conditions.

* Yachts carry on their hulls or decks markings that identify them to air rescuers.

* At least 50 per cent of crews should have completed a yacht safety and survival course
every three years.

* WorkCover NSW reports on the practice of paying some crew on racing yachts and the
ramifications which may flow.

* The NSW government considers ordering the withdrawal from the market of all harnesses
and lanyards bearing the name `Tuff Marine Australia' or any derivation of that name.

* The government consider requiring that all harnesses used by yacht crews have a crotch strap.

AAP gl/mjm/de o

KEYWORD: SYDHOB AT A GLANCE

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