Life Jacket Website
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The Life Jacket Association website provides information about life jackets to recreational boating safety professionals and the public. The website was launched with grant funding from the US Coast Guard. For professionals, it offers training tools, outreach materials, and information on legal requirements and new life jacket labels. For the public, it explains life jacket styles, purchasing tips, and state laws. It aims to educate about the importance of life jacket use through comparison of old and new label systems. Frequently asked professional questions center around terminology changes and ensuring state law and compliance updates with the new labels.
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Life Jacket Website
- 2. Awarded to NASBLA through USCG Non-Profit grant program. Hosted on lifejacketassociation.org
- 3. Educating the boating public about the importance of life jacket wear Life jacket’s role in mitigating risk associated with boating What types of life jackets are available Intended use of different life jackets as guided by the legacy and new life jacket labels Legal requirements associated with life jacket wear that vary by state. Support and assist the state recreational boating safety programs in:
- 4. Phase One – Grant Funded Provide information to front line recreational boating safety education and enforcement professionals. Resources for RBS professionals to refer the boating public to for additional information on life jackets.
- 5. Phase Two – Life Jacket Association Expanded information for public, manufacturers, retailers, use outside recreational boating (commercial, sport, etc.)
- 6. Content of the website – Phase One
- 7. Training Tools Videos Terminology Device Comparison Explanation of Labels Check Your Knowledge Recreational Boating Safety Professionals
- 8. Training Tools Outreach Tools Graphics & Materials Videos Research Statistics Recreational Boating Safety Professionals
- 9. Recreational Boating Safety Professionals Training Tools Outreach Tools Legal Requirements State Comparisons FAQs
- 10. Public webpages Which Life Jacket Do I Buy? Styles & Intended Uses What to Look For When Purchasing Life Jacket Laws by State Frequently Asked Questions Additional Resources
- 11. What Questions Do The Professionals Have? Most Center around the New Labels
- 12. #1: Why were labels changed? The USCG believed that the legacy labels were confusing to the boating public and did not effectively communicate important safety and regulatory information to users and law enforcement personnel. This rulemaking supports the efforts of the U.S. - Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC). The RCC workplan calls for the developments of a “North American Standard for lifejackets.”
- 13. #2: What are the effects on the States? Laws and regulations will have to be updated Terminology changes from “Types (I, II, II, IV, V)” to “wearable” and “throwable”
- 14. #3: How should compliance be determined through new labels? Compliance can be determined by Coast Guard Approval number and any special limitations listed on the label.
- 15. What are special limitations? Icons do impact USCG approval status of the device when worn during that activity.
- 16. #4: Do activity icons impact USCG approval if the device is worn during that activity? Yes
- 17. LJA has the opportunity to get this information to the public in a way that can be understood What’s next? How can our community better educate the consumer? Hannah Helsby hannah@nasbla.org
Editor's Notes
- Introduce yourself and your role
- NASBLA was awarded a project through the US Coast Guard non profit grant program to create a series of webpages to address important information related to life jackets, specifically in response to the updates to the labels. Once completed – these webpages will be hosted on the life jacket association.org website.
- The purpose of this grant funded project is to support and assist the state and territory recreational boating safety programs in educating the boating public about the importance of life jacket wear, a life jackets role in mitigating the inherent risks associated with boating, what types of life jackets are available, the intended uses of different life jackets as guided by the legacy and the new U.S. Coast Guard life jacket labels, as well as the legal requirements associated with life jacket wear that vary by state.
- It is extremely important that consistent and verified information is easily available, to educate and train front line recreational boating safety educators and enforcement professionals. This project will fulfill that need and go a step further in also serving as a resource for RBS professionals to refer the boating public to for additional information on life jackets. Phase One of this project is being done through a US coast guard nonprofit grant. Because it is being funded under the recreational boating safety program, the focus has to remain on assisting and educating the states and support them in their efforts. - - - - What about info for the public – boating safety education? Education and enforcement are same things public need to know.
- The unofficial phase two of this project will come after the grant work have been completed. Upon completion of the project, the information will be hosted on the lifejacketassociation.org website. At that time, the LJA board has made it a priority to maintain these webpages and continue to expand on the foundation provided by adding additional information that is targeted to manufactures, retailers, those using life jacket for purposes other than recreation, and continuing to publish useful information for the general public. All this is being done with the intent of providing verified yet digestible information for all life jacket users to help them make informed decisions when choosing a life jacket.
- We wanted to take this opportunity to share briefly what type of information we are including in phase one.
- The first section of the new webpage will be targeted to State RBS professionals and will focus on training to include short videos, definitions on terminology, an overview of the categories of devices available, an extensive amount of information about the labels and an opportunity for individuals to “check their knowledge” online through some interactive questions.
- Outreach and marketing tools will also be available that can be used to support the states efforts in educating the public or teaching content internally. What videos/tools? Who is going to create/approve to make sure they are in compliance? Jim, microlearning, BSX,
- Finally, NASBLA will work with the states to host verified information that covers legal requirements related to life jacket wear that vary by state. We will also work with the states to address any common questions they receive related to the legal requirements surrounding life jackets. Other states can reference this as well for research purposes or share the information with stakeholders and the public.
- In support of the states work in educating the public, the webpages will address important information targeted at the boating public. The information provided will be offered in a way that will assist them in selecting the correct life jacket for their situation and activity.
- So that is phase one and the work that will be completed under the grant award. Part of what we wanted to do today is share some of the questions we have seen continue to arise from the states. Most of these questions center around the new labels. As we go through a few of these, I invite you to think about what questions you get frequently that if answered, would help professionals and the public, make better informed decisions about life jacket use and wear.
- Why were the labels changed? The U.S. Coast Guard believed that the legacy labels as they were, were confusing to the boating public. The removal of the type codes also allowed work to advance in the effort to harmonize the labels in North America, with the intent of development of a North American standard for life jackets.
- What are the effects on the states? - The most tangible effect on the states is that state laws and regulations will have to be updated to remove the reference to the type codes, and shift language to the preferred terminology of “wearable” and “throwable”.
- How should compliance be determined through new labels? The baseline for compliance is if the device has a USCG approval number and the individual is following any special limitations listed on the label. However…. Any special limitations – conditional approvals i.e. inflatable life jacket is approved if worn Approved upon certain conditions
- This question is probably the most discussed question because of the introduction of the activity icons. Specifically, the states need further clarification on how these icons do or don’t impact compliance, and whether these icons fall under “special limitations” for intended use. <<>> All of you I am sure are familiar with these new activity icons that are now seen on the label… These icons indicate that a device may not be designed for use during certain activities – such as water skiing, towed water sports or personal watercraft.
- Activity icons do impact USCG approval if worn during that activity. If you are wearing a PFD that is not approved for use while on a PWC or while partaking in towed watersports, and the label shows that it is not approved for that activity, then the life jacket is then no longer USCG approved. Life Jackets must be worn in accordance with the manufacturer’s labeling in order to be USCG approved. Are all 5 icons on each device every single time? Are they crossed out or not? Only limitation – this is answer we have. Better answer
- We just wanted to make you aware of where we are at within the process and how this can be useful to the LJA and it’s members. We are not going to solve all of these problems today, but I hope to get the conversation started. The states and federal entities are often restricted in what they can talk about, ensuring their statements align with state and federal legislation. Once phase one of this project is complete, and all of the information is collected for the front line RBS Education and Enforcement professionals, LJA then has the opportunity to educate the public on this information in a way that is understandable to them. What decision making process should the consumer be going through when making a decision on a life jacket? How can our community better educate the consumer? How many labels are out there? How many options? Can we index these labels? What can we learn from looking at all of the labels? These are the questions we could be answering. This is just the start of what NASBLA and the Life Jacket Association hope will be an extremely useful tool for the states, the life jacket industry and the public that will help everyone working together to increase life jacket wear and acceptance. The LJA and its membership will have the chance to make the greatest impact on the consumer with this information once it is compiled, so how do we do that? What comes next? If you have any additional ideas or questions feel free to contact a member of the LJA board or reach out to a member of the NASBLA staff.
- I have hidden this slide – but this is language from the notice of proposed rule making on the federal register. It reads like the “PFD’s be used in accordance with any limitations specified on the approval label” may have been new language added?? Tom – if being used on approval, label says not approved, not intended for that use- not approved by uscg