It struck me that this knee-jerk response from the BBC clearly showed that whilst it is very happy to reap the benefits of 'risk-taking' - Top Gear is highly successful - it was not prepared to deal with the consequences.
If you're going to undertake risky activity, then you have to be prepared for the consequences - no matter how small the likelihood of it occurring are.
This is nothing new from me, I'm sure I've bored you silly on several occasions about this. In this case, it seems the programme makers, the presenters and everyone else involved with the programme were aware of the risks, prepared to deal with them, and fortunately, Richard looks like he's going to make a very good recovery. Unfortunately, other parts of the BBC - probably the bean counters - are now questioning the future of it. My message to them is to get real - they've reaped the benefits of this programme for sometime, now it's time to pay the cost. But cancelling it all together is wrong.
I've lost friends through kayaking, climbing and motorbiking. Each time, someone who had no idea of the risks involved has told me that I should give up the activity because it's ' clearly too dangerous'. Thankfully, I've learnt to ignore these and continue to kayak, climb, whatever I want to do. I do this with eyes open to the true risks involved - knowing that I'm far more likely to die driving to work than from anything else, but accepting that there are very real risks to my life in the activities I partake in (fortunately very rare).
Jeremy Clarkson has written an excellent article on the accident, the recovery and the issues it has brought to the surface. WARNING: Don't read it if you think risky activity shouldn't be allowed to happen - you might be offended.
Risk taking brings benefits - my life is richer for the kayaking, climbing, snowboarding that I do. I'm sure Richard Hammond finds his life enriched by his activities, and look at how much all of our lives and the lives of endangered animals were enrichened by the life of Steve Irwin.
Risk taking allows us to develop, to benefit - let's hope the constant pursual of a nanny state doesn't forget that.
In the late 1980's the UK's river access issues came to a boil over the River Seiont in North Wales. Cars were scratched, tyres let down, and stones were thrown at paddlers. This all led to a mass tresspass protest.
Simon Dawson has an excellent photo-log of the trespass, which as he says 'turned into a bit of canoeing folk lore'. As kayakers, we should all be reminded of this - lest we forget.
Nearly 20 years later, things are only just starting to get better. There's a sense amongst kayakers that this time things will really happen, things will really change. The Scottish have changed their laws allowing kayakers to paddle on Scottish rivers unchallenged legally. The Welsh Canoe Association is pushing harder for similar law changes in Wales, and the the BCU's River Access Campaign is challenging in England.
In the words of Bob Dylan, maybe 'the times, they are a changing'..
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I'm off to Anglesey this coming weekend - I'm running a sea kayaking weekend for some friends of mine from Salford Uni Canoe & Kayak. As is usual when I go to Anglesey, low pressure is massing out in the Atlantic.
It seems everytime I head to North Wales with a sea kayak, everyone else is heading for rivers or surf beaches. Still, there will be opportunities for playing in some of the tidal races, and sea kayaks in surf are always great fun!
Here in Weymouth, there has been an dramatic increase in the popularity of sit-on-top kayaks (SOTs). A drive along the esplanade will result in numerous sightings - either on car racks, or in gardens. Throughout the summer months, these have been mostly used for pottering around on the water, often by families looking to enjoy the calm waters of Weymouth Bay and soak up the Sun.
However, now Autumn has arrived, bringing with it autumnal swells on the beach, these are now being taken out into the surf - and they hunt in packs...
I'm not too bothered about what you take out into surf - I mean, I currently have two surf boards, and a composite surf kayak and have been seen surfing on body boards, in sea kayaks, on surf rescue boards, in RIBs and would love to get out into the surf on a kiteboard.
However, I do have some concerns about safety. I'm not too fussed that often SOTS are paddled in surf without buoyancy aid and/or helmet and without decent wetsuits - each to their own when it comes to personal protection. Through experience, they'll either by the kit or learn to deal with implications of not having the kit, or Darwin's rules on species evolution will rule.
I do get concerned however that SOTS don't seem to understand the rules/etiquette that the rest of us play by out in the surf - and this will result in them injuring someone else. Now, this is an accusation that used to be often thrown at surf kayakers, and is something that I know all of us surf kayak coaches have done our best to improve.
SOTS are an enigma in paddlesports - the BCU doesn't seem to have thought to much about how to address/integrate the sudden increase in them. I can't imagine for one moment that the British Wave Ski Association would want to 'own' them. So, in the meantime who's going to educate these users in the ways of the world, particularly the ways of the surfer. Last week I was dropped in on by a SOT - a first time experience. How long before an injury occurs??
HSC tells health and safety pedants to "get a life"
Bill Callaghan, the chair of the Health & Safety Commission, has recently spoken out on those who use 'health and safety' as an excuse to not undertake activity. Mr Callaghan says:
"My clear message is that if you are using health and safety to stop everyday activities get a life and let others get on with theirs."
He goes on to say:
"There are also some instances where health and safety is used as a convenient and lazy excuse to justify unpopular decisions or cover up management failure. But our research shows that behind many of the stories, there is at least a grain of truth - someone really has made a stupid decision"
Thankfully, the HSE have produced guidance on the principles of sensible risk management, about what risk management is and is not, and if you are involved in managing risks (read- are in charge of any activity) then you should read these. My particular favourite is:
"Enabling individuals to understand that as well as the right to protection, they also have to exercise responsibility "
On honeymoon in Iceland, I was fortunate enough to spend a day being instructed in the noble art of ice-climbing. Naturally, I was intrigued as to the qualifications of the instructor - who was equally intrigued as to the reasoning behind my enquiry. I told him about the UK's love of qualifications, of its paper-chasing to prove that you are suitable to act as an instructor. He in reply pointed out that in Iceland, to be an instructor you only have to be very good at the sport as the individual is responsible for his or her own actions. What a refreshing change - this certainly made me question his ability further and resulted in me making up my mind as to whether or not I wanted to learn to ice climb with this guy, which I did. I took responsibility for my own health and safety.
People forget that there are three types of risk associated with any activity - expected, unexpected and catastrophic events
Expected risks happen frequently, and we can do a lot to prevent or deal with them. Often, they're not significant and whilst they might spoil the day, they won't spoil your life. When snowboarding, I frequently wipe-out and carry the bruises and soft-tissue injuries to prove it. These aren't going to stop me boarding though.
Unexpected risks happen infrequently, however it's not hard to imagine them, and it's our responsibility to each other to ensure we know what to do if they did occur. In January, I landed a jump very badly when snowboarding and was taken off the slope with a suspected spinal injuryFortunatelyly, those around me remained calm, knew what to do and just got on with it - it was unexpected but as a group we knew the risk was there. Equally avalanches, cable car failures, plane crashes etc
Catastrophic risks are those things that can only just be imagined. The nature of a catastrophic risk is that once it'occurreded it becomes an unexpected risk - it should be within your consciousness. I bet every government now has a plan to deal with a 9/11 incident, though who could have imagined that?
Thankfully, even our Health & Safety Executive are getting fed up with the 'health & safety' preventing people getting on with enjoying their lives. I blame it on the risk managers...
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Just came across this relatively new forum for all surfers of kayaks, waveskis and I guess what ever else you can paddle out into surf with. It certainly looks active - and I'm glad to see some healthy kayaker v waveskier discussion going on.
Having owned and surfed surf kayaks, wave skis and surfboards it's important that we're all just trying to do the same thing out there - have a good time, and score a few good waves.
I've just discovered the email-to-blogger option provided by www.blogger.com who power my blog. I can see this will make my life a lot easier, and I can see how this will lead to more prolific content - so watch out world. Still, at the end of the day, for all I know I could just be talking to myself. I frequently am..
The south coast yesterday saw some of the best surf it has seen for quite some time. Rumours were flying about that a certain south coast reef break was clean and overhead. Bournemouth pier had several feet of clean surf hitting it. And, the weekend looks good with a swell hitting the North coast, then another swell hitting the south coast.. It's time to dust off those surf kayaks and get out there - the holiday makers have gone home, and the autumn/winter swells have started arriving already.
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