Safety at Toulouse

[Syd (NSPL)]

I've just been reading through the praise that the Cup has been receiving on this forum and I've got to agree that this event was awesome. Every aspect of the tournament was spot on with some excellent touches from the organisers. Every aspect but one...

...safety. I was disgusted at the sheer lack of respect for players, judges, staff and dancers eye, ear and mouth safety. How many times do we have to bring the subject of goggles being removed up? This wasn't the occasional lifting of a mask, but repeated removal of gogs by judges and players between every game. How there wasn't an injury, I can't even imagine.

The main issue here is not with players, but with the judges and staff, which ultimately falls on the shoulders of the organisers. Despite safe "tents" for judges where they could have a much needed breather, virtually every marshal (particularly on fields one and two) removed their goggles between games when players were on, coming on or leaving the field. Some players didn't event have barrel socks attached when this was happening. I even saw a judge remove his goggles quickly during a game to remove his head gear when shots were flying through the air only ten feet away. The gogs went back on quickly enough, but with markers firing 11 balls a second, this is not good enough. Also, one the ladys starting a game even had her goggles off a couple of seconds after sounding game on - she was using a gas-powered fog-horn, not a whistle!

Then there were the dancers. These girls were hot as hell, but they were on and off the field constantly with no regard for their safety. Thankfully, the players were very responsible and no accidents happened, but (and I hate to coin this much-used statement yet again) it only takes one incident to cause serious damage to our sport. Especially when there is as much media at an event as there was in Toulouse.

This is my only criticism of an otherwise superb event, but it is a major one. I could not believe my eyes most of the time - I thought this sort of thing was in the past and didn't expect it from an event in the Millenium Series.

I welcome comments on this issue - from players, judges, organisers, anyone...

 

[thedog]

yes, safety is paramount on the paintball field, but you can never have 100% safety, ever. i think the marshalls were right to remove their goggles when players had barrel plugged their guns or no players were on the field. if you want to be really hard on safety, make every spectator in the stand wear a goggle, every vendor wear a goggle as well, remember markers are transported by hand from the field to the players area all the time.
this just isnt an option, you must draw the line somewhere!

 

[Syd (NSPL)]

Think you missed my point. Virtually every time goggles were off, someone on that field didn't have a barrel sock on their marker. Even in the finals when the teams were lining up for the crowds to give them a cheer.

 

[cjohns]

I agree 100% that safety is the biggest concern, but I don't think that what you said is all true. I was on the field during the finals and the marshalls were very good about telling people to put their goggles on when they needed to be on and were also good about telling players to keep their barrel socks on. I never saw a marker that wasn't socked before the cheerleaders came onto the field or left the field. They were a few instances when the marshalls did come over and tell myself and the rest of the media to put their goggles on because it was time to do so. There are always a few infractions, but I think you are being a little harsh about the way it went down. I think the main concern for safety were the 2 naked dudes who ran across the field when AA-Strange and SC Ironmen were about to start

 

[Wadidiz]

Time to get serious about safety...

Thanks for your post. I'm bringing up this discussion again in Sweden because of an incident at a recent tournament in which someone lost their eyesight due to a hole in the netting. A prosecution is forthcomimng in this instance. I have also read about some eye doctors' association in America that are relating substantial increases in eye injury to the increased popularity of paintball. I, like you, have been saying for years the obvious: we could only be one eye shot away from having paintball banned altogether or severely regulated.

I have been treated like an anal retentive nerd on many occassions because sometimes I dare to speak out about this. I'm over it now. We have to act now! More of us have to put our images on the line and stop the ridiculous skimping on safety before our governments force us to do it.

I suggest that every tournament organizer appoint a hard-boiled safety marshall whose primary task is to see to it that there are no safety violations by handing out warnings, penalties, even fines, to those who disregard safety. We must review and inspect the recreation sites and write and speak out about those who cut corners by being too tight to maintain barrel plugs and barrel socks.

We must get serious or this sport is history.

Check it!

 

[Syd (NSPL)]

Lots of Laughs! ) Yeh, that could have been very painful.

I have to say that I watched all of the finals from the stands and what I said originally is true - I saw socks off of barrels and individuals without goggles on before or after virtually every game. And I was sober, so no chance I was seeing things! ;o)

However, I agree that the marshals did frequently enforce safety as well. Overall, I feel they did a fantastic job. But they made a difficult task impossible when on the first day of the event, they let themselves or others lift there goggles in full view of everyone watching. The situation steadily degraded throughout the tournament and thats when it started to get dangerous.

I don't want to be seen as slagging this event off, because I loved every second of it. Hope I'm not coming across that way - in all, I'd agree that it was the best tournament I've ever been to.

 

[JohnJ]

Make players and vendors wear masks because players walk past them with markers - get real.

I agree you have to draw the line somewhere and that somewhere is clearly stated in the rules. Enforcing the rules by severely penalty pointing on the first infraction will send out a clear message to everybody and the bonus is there's no argument against it.

Whether the organisers like it or not they have a duty of care under law and by not ensuring that goggles are worn when appropriate they are failing in that duty and are liable to prosecution - whether someone gets hurt or not.

As you might of gathered it p!$$£& me off when somebody breaks what to the vast majority of us is a basic requirement of the game.

Remember you can chew with false teeth, walk with a wooden leg but you can't see through a glass eye.

JJ

 

[Flash-Bugout]

I hate to say it, but I agree with the safety comments from Toulouse - on whay too many occaisions I saw players on field without barrel socks/bungs while ungoggled people were about.
Also, on fields 1 and 2, far too many players walked from the chrono area to the field without socking their marker.

What really peeved me tho, was the end of Saturday, some American players running off past the "other 3 fields" to use up their last couple of pots in a "practice" as they put it. I wasn't aware of a netted off practice area down that path........

Also, and this really pi$$ed me off -
a marshal (or at least someone in marshal clothing) trying out a marker by firing it down the hill behind the "other 3 fields" at cars driving up the road.
He really should have been strung up by the unmentionables....

Apart from that tho - cool tourney

 

[Syd (NSPL)]

Still no comment from the organisers or anyone within the Millennium - I hope they've read this and taken the comments on board.