Your Responsibilities

Following are some tips for working in, near, or on the water:

• Get plenty of rest, eat properly, and stay hydrated.
• Have regular medical exams. If you are prone to seizures, you can put yourself at added risk working in, on, or near water.
• Learn to swim if you do not know how.
• Observe all water safety rules.
• Know your personal limits.
• Check local weather conditions, the forecast, and water conditions, current, and tides.
• Use the buddy system.
• Wear your PFD and other PPE properly.
• Keep a sharp eye out for hazards for both you and your co-workers.
• Be careful around dawn and dusk when shadows affect visibility. Glare can also make it hard to see hazards.
• Understand that as little as six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet. You can also potentially drown in just a few inches of water.
• If you are walking, wading, or working in water, exercise caution and look for potential hazards under the water (such as holes, debris or snags, drop-offs, rocks, marine life, and so on).

Above all, remain calm in every emergency situation. One of the best ways you can avoid drowning is to relax and not panic. Your employer should provide you with more information about handling various emergencies. It is beyond the scope of this course to cover such topics.

If you are working around the sea shore, watch for dangerous waves and signs of rip currents (the water is discolored, choppy, foamy, or filled with debris and moving away from shore).

If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to shore; when free of the current swim to shore.

Learn the meaning of colored beach flags, if they are used in the area. Common colors are:

• Double red (the beach is closed)
• Single red (a high hazard, such as strong surf or currents)
• Yellow (a medium hazard)
• Green (calm conditions but remain cautious)
• Purple (presence of certain types of marine life that can cause injuries such as jellyfish and stingrays); it can be flown with red or yellow to indicate the degree of hazard
• Red and white quarter (danger or emergency, such as shark, pollution, spillages, rescue or search operations, and so on)

To learn more about Water Safety & Drowning Hazards visit our Water Safety & Drowning Hazards Online Training web page.