Hong Kong, China Rowing Association

	Water Safety
	Training Courses Arrangement under Bad Weather Conditions

Code of Practice for Water Safety (Revised as at May 2007)

Water Safety

Water Safety at Night

With warmer weather approaching there is likely to be an increase in evening rowing activity. The Association wishes to reinforce the guidelines and rules relating to rowing during the hours of darkness, and this notice serves to remind all rowers and coaches of the essential precautions to be taken to ensure the safety of all river users during times of reduced visibility.

Boat Safety

Coaches and crew members should thoroughly check their rowing equipment before every outing to ensure it is safe to use, does not leak, and will float even after a capsize. Every boat must be equipped with a rubber bow-ball. Do not use rowing equipment which cannot be used safely or is in need of repair.

Lighting

During the hours of darkness every boat must display a red light at the bow end, which should be clearly visible to another crew from a distance of not less than 100 metres. If the light is battery-powered, the batteries must contain sufficient charge to ensure that the brightness of the light remains adequate during the outing. A flashing light may be used, but the interval between flashes must not exceed 0.5 seconds, and the light should be illuminated for at least the same period as it is dark.

If at all possible, rowers should be encouraged to wear brightly coloured or reflective clothing or headgear, in order to improve their visibility to other river users.

See and be seen

Note: The Association is currently reviewing the adequacy of the current lighting requirements, and it is very likely that improved lighting requirements will soon be introduced, requiring a fixed white light to be displayed on the bow, and a red light on the stern.

Traffic Pattern

All crews must strictly observe the established traffic pattern on the Shing Mun River, as follows:

-	Keep to the left hand side of the river channel (facing the direction of travel)
-	Keep close to the river bank, unless overtaking, but take care, especially during periods of low tide, to avoid any obstacles. Take particular care when passing the landing stages at the Shatin Rowing Centre and Jockey Club Shek Mun Rowing Centre, where other crews are likely to be approaching or leaving the landing stage.
-	Keep well clear of the centre of the river. Try to observe a 50 metre wide “no go” zone down the center of the river.
-	When turning round or crossing the river crews must pay particular attention to any other crew in the vicinity, and must give way to crews who are rowing up or down the river.
-	Coaches must not allow their crews to row on the wrong side of the river to facilitate coaching or in order to issue instructions. If communication is a problem, coaches should consider the use of electronic communication such as walkie-talkie or radio.
-	Coaches and crews must be aware at all time of other river users. Remember that there may be canoes or dragon boats using the river at the same time. The Association has no control over these other users.

Audible Warnings

Rowers are positively encouraged to shout out a warning to any crew which appears to be on a course which could result in a collision or a near-miss with their own boat, providing this is issued in a polite manner. A suitable warning in English would be “LOOK AHEAD”. A similar warning in Chinese would be perfectly acceptable. The important thing is to shout out in good time so that the other boat can safely stop before any impact.

Enforcement

The Association has empowered its staff to prevent any crew or rower from boating if that crew can not satisfy the member of staff that it can meet the above requirements. Any crew or rower that continues to row when instructed to stop by a member of the Association’s staff will be penalised, probably by the rowers being banned from rowing for a certain period.

Coaches and rowers are encouraged to report any crew which is in breach of the above regulations to a member of staff in order that follow-up action can be taken. Photographic evidence of any breach will be particularly useful. Water Safety should be the first concern of all rowers, and it is the duty of all participants to keep rowing a safe sport.

Any coach who blatantly disregards the above regulations may be suspended from coaching for a period of time depending on the severity of the case. The Safety Committee in conjunction with the Coaches Committee shall determine the period of any such suspension.

Any coach or crew which, as a result of its breach of any of the above guidelines, causes an accident involving injury or damage to equipment shall be held fully responsible for their action, and the Association will accept no responsibility whatsoever under such circumstances.

David Sorton
Chairman of the Safety Committee

14 April 2004.

REMEMBER


-	Make sure your equipment is SAFE and in GOOD CONDITION.
-	DISPLAY a BRIGHT RED LIGHT after sunset.
-	Wear BRIGHT or REFLECTIVE CLOTHING after dark.
-	SEE and BE SEEN
-	Know the TRAFFIC RULES - OBEY THEM
-	STAY AWAY from the CENTRE of the river
-	LOOK OUT for other river users AT ALL TIMES
-	SHOUT A LOUD WARNING if there is DANGER of a COLLISION.

BE A SAFE ROWER.
YOU MIGHT SAVE A LIFE!

Training Courses Arrangement under Bad Weather Conditions

These guidelines are applied to the Galaxy Rowing Courses, Youth Development Program and School Continuous Training, which is organized by the HKCRA and subvented by the LCSD. All of these courses and training are operated under supervision and agreement by the designated coaches.

5. Bad Weather Condition within the locality (e.g. heavy rainfall, mist and strong monsoon warning)