Location and donning of personal LSA
Governing: LSA Code Chapter II (MSC.48(66)); STCW Table A-VI/1-1. Builds on: L2.1.
Your lifejacket and immersion suit are the only life-saving appliances that are yours alone. The LSA Code sets what they must do. Knowing those standards tells you how to use them.
Lifejackets
An LSA Code adult lifejacket must:
| Requirement | Figure |
|---|---|
| Allow a jump into water without injury or dislodging | from at least 4.5 m |
| Lift an unconscious person's mouth clear of the water | at least 120 mm, body inclined back at least 20° |
| Turn an unconscious person face-up | within 5 s |
| Carry a whistle | secured by a cord |
| Carry a light | at least 0.75 cd for at least 8 h, white |
| Be highly visible | with retro-reflective material |
Yachts carry both inherently buoyant (foam) and inflatable types. Inflatables are lighter and more comfortable for crew working on deck, but depend on a gas cylinder, a firing head and regular servicing.
Donning
- Check it: straps, whistle, light, and on an inflatable, the cylinder and firing indicator.
- Put it on over outer clothing and fasten every strap, especially any crotch strap.
- Tighten so it cannot ride up over your face.
- Check your neighbour's.
WARNING — Inflatables and enclosed spaces Never inflate a lifejacket inside a liferaft canopy, a tender cuddy or a corridor you still have to escape through. An inflated jacket can trap you under a deckhead or a capsized raft.
Immersion suits
Cold water kills faster than drowning. The LSA Code requires that an immersion suit:
- can be unpacked and donned without assistance within 2 minutes, allowing for clothing and a lifejacket;
- covers the whole body except, where the design allows, the face;
- allows a jump from not less than 4.5 m without damage or undue water ingress;
- lets you climb a vertical ladder, swim a short distance and board a survival craft;
- with a lifejacket if required, turns the wearer face-up within 5 s.
Where a suit is designed to be worn with a lifejacket, the lifejacket goes over the suit.
Thermal protective aids
A TPA is the bag-like garment packed in liferafts and lifeboats for the injured and the cold. It must function from -30°C and, if it impairs swimming, be removable in the water within 2 minutes. It is for use in the craft, not for jumping in.
Entering the water
If you cannot step into a raft or be lowered dry-shod:
- Check below for people, wreckage and the raft.
- Hold the lifejacket collar down with one hand, cover mouth and nose with the other.
- Look ahead, keep feet together and step off, feet first.
- Surface, get your breathing under control (see L3.2), then move away from the side and towards the raft.
CAUTION — Height matters The 4.5 m design figure is a test standard, not an invitation. The lower you enter the water, the less likely you are to be hurt. Use ladders, nets or the lowest deck available.
TIP — Try your own suit Every crew member should try on their immersion suit at least once aboard. Wrong sizes and stuck zips are found in drills, not in the dark.