Discover Sailing Centres and clubs have responsibilities to report safety incidents so we can all learn from them and improve safety.

At the 2022 Club Conferences there was a strong focus on safety, particularly the importance of reporting safety incidents. The presentation there stressed that the purpose is so that we as a community of people with a shared responsibility for safety, can learn and improve.

Many clubs have done this and set the standard for honesty and self-scrutiny. Reports are readily available on the Australian Sailing and World Sailing websites. There are many resources available to help clubs do this important self-review.

Discover Sailing Centres and clubs who are undertaking domestic commercial vessel operations need to be aware of their obligations to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

• As soon as reasonably possible after the incident they should notify AMSA using form 18.
• Within 72 hours after becoming aware they must submit a report to AMSA using form 19.

No different to Australian Sailing, AMSA needs a collective effort to make the industry a safer place. By reporting incidents under domestic commercial vessel operations, AMSA can make more informed decisions on what strategies to use and how to avoid repeating events.

We’re also excited to let you know that Australian Sailing has reorganised all of its safety resources to make it easier for you. Check out the new Safety Hub here!

AMSA’s information about marine incident reporting is here.
Discover Sailing Centres can learn out about operating procedures here.
Incident reports are available here.

By Glen Stanaway