Trailers and marine · TM-28

Crew Safety Briefing Checklist

A free printable crew safety briefing checklist: lifejackets, where the kit is, gas, heads, engine and radio, man overboard and fire, initialled by the crew.

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One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.

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A4 45 kB US Letter 45 kB

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A4 86 kB US Letter 86 kB

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What this sheet is for

Give every crew the same briefing before the boat leaves, regulars included. Each topic is shown and ticked, and the crew initial the foot.

Who it is for

Skippers of yachts and motor boats, sailing schools, clubs and anyone taking guests out.

How to use it

Work through the list with the whole crew before you leave the berth, showing each item rather than naming it.
Cross out anything your boat does not carry, and add what it does.
Explain the passage plan, the weather and the watches, and ask who feels seasick.
Have each crew write their name, lifejacket number and initials at the foot.
Keep the sheet with the boat's log.

What is on the sheet

One page, top to bottom:

Printed under the title: Worked through by the skipper with every crew before the boat leaves, regulars included. Show each item rather than name it, tick it, and have each crew initial the foot. Cross out what your boat does not carry.

Write-on lines: Boat · Date & time · Skipper · Passage or day sail

Also printed: STAYING ABOARD · Lifejacket fitted and adjusted on each person · Crotch or thigh straps done up · When lifejackets are worn on this boat · When and where to clip on: jackstays, points · How the jacket inflates, and its manual toggle · Moving about: one hand for the boat · Seasick? Tell the skipper early · WHERE THE KIT IS, AND HOW IT WORKS · Liferaft: where it is, how it is launched · Flares: where, and how each type is fired · Fire extinguishers and fire blanket · First aid kit and seasickness remedies · Grab bag, and what goes in it at the end · Lifebuoy, danbuoy and throwing line · EPIRB or PLB, and the torches · Bilge pumps, pump handle, softwood plugs · LIVING ABOARD · Gas: on and off at the bottle, the alarm · Galley: cooking and hot drinks under way · Heads: how they work, and their seacocks · Seacocks: where they are, which to shut · Hatches, and opening them from inside · ENGINE, RADIO AND THE PASSAGE · Engine: start, stop and the kill cord · Battery isolator, and what it turns off · VHF: sending a distress call (card by the set) · Where to read the boat's position · Passage plan, weather and the watches · IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG · Man overboard: shout, point, throw, mark · Fire: people out first, fight it only if safe · Abandon ship: who decides, who takes what · Second in command named and shown the above

Table, 6 rows: Crew name · Lifejacket · Tether · Tell the skipper · Initials

Questions

Is this the briefing the law requires?

The sheet does not say what any law or club rule requires; that differs by country, by boat and by whether the trip is commercial. It is a prompt so that nothing is forgotten. Check the rules where you sail and add anything they ask for.

Why brief crew who have sailed on the boat before?

Kit moves, boats change and people forget. A regular who knows the boat well is also the person most likely to be left to cope if the skipper is the one who goes over the side.