Working in Rivers/Lakes etc

[Parker]

self inflating life jacket from lifejackets.co.uk

 

 

Whats the advantage of wearing a self inflating life jacket?

 

I just wore my bounancy aid that I use for watersports as I find them more comfortable.

[Charlieh]

fair enough, i find bouyancy aids for the most part a pain to big and bulk, i wear a self inflating for most of my work on rivers, as its nice and compact and doesnt restrict my movement to much, and it doesnt rely on me having to pull the toggle like a manual one if something goes wrong and i end up in the water knocked out or unable to pull the toggle for any reason,

 

the other thing is i am often jumping in and out of my truck a lot during the course of a day anyway doing other river conservation work so its just as easy to keep something on that i can wear whilst driving as well,

 

 

EDIT: also dont mistake bouyancy aid and life jacket classification, to be rated as a life jacket it has to be capable of turning you face up in the water, so they must have 150kn of bouyancy

Edited March 31, 2010 by Charlieh

[jamesw]

it will be packed down so you can work easily then on entering the water it will inflate!

[Parker]

Fair points - I guess there's no right or wrong answer just what suits the individual.

[Charlieh]

if you were working for/with me or on some of the utility co's res's I cover you would need a self inflating life jacket, as part of my and their risk assesments, even the fishermen on most res's now have to have life jackets, bouyancy aids are only permissible in water sports because your likely to enter/get covered in water as a matter of course

 

not trying to be argumentative, but like as you say its probably a personal preference thing in your case, and if your R/A and site owner is ok with it, then their is no problem

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Do also be aware of wiels disease when working near water. any open cut or broken skin can become an entry point for the virus.

 

this is a fatal disease so always one for the R/A and one to be aware of for symptoms of the disease as it is similar to flu but often gets overlooked till it is too late.

 

check out the environment agency site as they will probably have more info, or I will post something up a bit later.

 

http://www.leptospirosis.org/

[Charlieh]

good point Hama'

 

i carry a card in my wallet that identifies the fact i work on ground where i could come into contact with wiels and also lymes disease as well if working on moorland with high levels of ticks, its also noted on my electronic nhs medical file, so if i go to the docs feeling rough or get rushed into hospital with similar symptoms they know to test for it,

[Parker]

not trying to be argumentative, but like as you say its probably a personal preference thing in your case, and if your R/A and site owner is ok with it, then their is no problem

 

Sorry if I came accross as argumentative Charlieh - I'm just trying to find out the facts/industry best practice as my emoployer couldn't give two monkeys.

 

Good point Hama. - I may been doing a lot more reed bed / tree work around watercourses so will bear that in mind when doing the RA.

[Charlieh]

your ok i didnt mean you sounded argumentative, i was trying to make sure i didnt sound like i was

 

its good your after the info,

[Parker]

haha ok

 

Yeah just want to try and improve the way things are being done because its only a matter of time before something goes wrong.

 

Thanks for the help