The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a winter Boat Safety campaign to alert boat owners in the south of England of the dangers of maintaining boats in the winter months when there is less daylight.

 
Inspectors have so far made 31 visits to boat owners in the Boat Safety campaign in Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, where the campaign is being targeted – and 19 enforcement notices for both prohibition and improvement in safety practices have been issued.  

Many boat yard owners use the colder weather and darker evenings as an opportunity to carry out annual maintenance checks of their vessels onshore. The HSE campaign is urging them to take care when working in confined area with poor lighting.

HSE Principal Inspector Steve Hull – who is leading the Boat Safety campaign – said that the main purpose of the inspections was ‘to help and advise’.

‘The Boat Safety campaign is about reminding owners of boat yards or marinas of their responsibilities in ensuring that their  employees are working in as safe environments as possible,’ said Mr Hull.

However, he added that the HSE ‘would not hesitate to prosecute’ in cases of ‘poor practice’ where health and safety was being ‘put at risk’.

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