PHOTOS OF DE-FAULTED LIFEJACKETS

Maintenance and servicing of your lifejacket

SOS Marine has compiled a database of problems the SOS Servicing Department comes across on a daily basis to better understand and educate people on life jacket safety.

 SOS Marine ask you to think about the “car analogy”

You take your car to the garage to have it serviced. But, you check the oil, tyres, coolant, screen-wash as regular maintenance etc.

The same applies to lifejackets. Lifejackets need to be maintained and serviced regularly.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM SOS MARINE as many marine rescue teams speak of how hard their duties are informing families of their tragic loss of lives on the water and see that it all could be avoided by wearing a working lifejacket. These rescue teams serve our communities by giving of their time to respond to emergency at any time to save our families.

Let us all improve safety and wear a working lifejacket. A lifejacket may well be your last line of defence against drowning and it is all very well donning a lifejacket but on our inspection a startlingly large percentage of lifejackets would not have worked properly or at all if needed.

Please view some of SOS Marine`s servicing department lifejackets found in shocking conditions;

• Lifejackets that are just neglected with rusted cylinders that would not save lives
• No automatic firing cap and manual puller hidden away, lifejacket not packed correctly
• Incorrect cylinder used
• Incorrectly assembled operating mechanisms
• Operating mechanisms with pieces missing
• Damaged bladders
• Rips, tears and burns
• Out of date lifejackets
• Rotting, damp and mouldy
• Used and never re-armed jackets
• Loose or detached CO2 gas bottles
• Holes created by pin badges being worn!

Your life jacket it is a piece of safety equipment that needs to be maintained