Royal Life Saving Society WA staff wearing lifejackets as part of Wear Your Lifejacket to Work Day

Lifejacket World Record Attempt

If you forgot to wear your lifejacket to work today, don’t worry! You can still play your part in boosting lifejacket awareness by taking part Ready, Set, Wear It! Life Jacket World Record Day tomorrow!

North America’s National Safe Boating Council and Canadian Safe Boating Council are sponsoring this international event, which is trying to break last year’s record of 10,917 participants wore lifejackets at 257 worldwide events on a single day. Nearly 30,000 people have participated in the event since 2010.

Get your friends or colleagues together and register your event below.

The event is part of a campaign to encourage all those participating in water based activities, such as boating, fishing, jet-skiing or paddling to ensure they wear a lifejacket and also remember to have it checked and serviced on a regular basis.

On average there are 5 boating-related drowning deaths recorded each year in Western Australia, with the majority of people involved in these incidents not wearing a lifejacket at the time. Studies have found that wearing a lifejacket doubles a person’s chance of survival once immersed in water.

In April this year Royal Life Saving Society WA launched the Old4New campaign, in partnership with the Department of Transport, encouraging boaters to trade in their old lifejacket for one of the new style modern lifejackets on the market at a discounted price.

The pilot campaign was a huge success, with stocks on the new lifejackets selling out in no time. We are now in talks with the Department of Transport to plan further lifejacket upgrade opportunities in the coming months.

Boaters interested in taking part in upcoming Old4New opportunities are urged to register their interest at the link below.