Suggested safety checklist

[Wadidiz]

(This is also posted under another topic concerning safety and the use of barrel bags. I hope the moderators will allow this to be where it will get the most feedback and discussion as I believe this is very vital issue for the future of paintball.)

Here is a safety checklist I am putting together. I would appreciate any and all feedback on what should be included, excluded or revised.

Here is what I have so far:

FOR RENTAL GROUPS

1. Only competent, sober personnel shall host, instruct and supervise the rental customers and make sure the customers behave in a safe and sportsmanlike manner and follow the safety rules.

2. Customers shall be provided with complete mask systems that are approved for paintball use, are in proper working order and have never had a solid hit in the goggles (according to JT's safety warning). The lenses should be relatively fog-free in order to minimize the customers' tendency to pull them off at the wrong times and must fit properly and comfortably on the customers.

3. All markers shall be plugged or have the muzzles covered by a barrel bag (in the case of electronic or other light-triggered markers) any and all times that the markers have tanks attached to them and are in the presence of unmasked people.

4. All areas where unmasked spectators are allowed to watch games or otherwise be present in the vicinity of paintball games, and all safety zones where people are allowed to be unmasked, shall be properly netted with safe and adequate netting that is high enough to avoid any possibility of paintballs going outside the playing area and striking unmasked people.

5. The consumption of all alcoholic beverages or any other intoxicant shall be expressly forbidden before or during paintball playing. Any customer who is or appears to be intoxicated will be forbidden from participating in the games.

6. There shall be signs that warn of paintball playing and with instructions to put goggles on around playing areas at reasonable (what distances should it be?) intervals.

7. All markers shall be in proper and safe working order and shall have been chronographed so that they do not exceed 300 feet per second. The barrels of the markers shall be kept clean so that the said velocity is not exceeded.

8. All customers shall be properly briefed about the use of their equipment, the safety rules and how to safely play paintball.

9. All propellent tanks shall be approved for the pressures that are applied and shall have a certification that has not expired and are fitted with adequate burst-disks or other overpressure-release systems. All tanks shall be properly maintained and inspected.

10. CO2 tanks shall always be filled using a scale (våg) so as to avoid over-filling. Air systems shall never be overfilled.

11. A chronograph shall be readily available to all personnel to facilitate the control of markers at any time.

12. There shall be a minimum of 2 instructors on the rental fields, with the rental groups at all times. More shall be availbable for larger groups.

13. The rental customers shall have a fun and safe time!

14. No sets of equipment shall be rented out for off-site use without qualified instructors present at all times and following the standards listed above. (The only exception would be for individual rental of pieces of equipment to experienced players, for example for tournaments, or practice.)

15. All fields or courts of play shall be free from any obstacles that would likely cause injury, especially hard objects that protrude into the playing area and that might be fallen upon. All indoor courts shall be maintained in a reasonably non-slippery way, or knee protection shall be provided to the customers.

16. A first-aid kit/station or first-aid kits/stations shall be made available at all times during the playing of paintball, and their availability and location shall be prominently displayed with standard first-aid signs. All personnel shall be informed about the proper procedures for dealing with eventual accidents. There shall always be some kind of communication system (such as mobile telephones, walky-talkies or other types of communication equipment) near the location of the actual playing so as to facilitate quick access to emergency dispatchers (through 112 (EU) or 911 (USA) for example).

________________________________________________

FOR WALK-ONS AND RECREATIONAL GAMES

In addition to all the above standards that should reasonably be applied:

1. A properly functioning chronograph shall be placed out for safe, easy and convenient use by all customers.

2. All markers used shall be chronographed before play.

3. All customers shall be instructed that their markers are subject to chronographing at any time, at the discretion of the park personnel, or at the request of any customer.

4. All paintball playing shall be done under the supervision of and in the presence of park personnel. There shall be at least one park personnel on fields of play at all times. Personnel shall enforce proper safety and sportsmanlike behavior at all times.

5. All markers that have tanks attached shall have their muzzles bagged at all times in goggle-free areas.

6. Any customers who violate the safety rules or behave in an unsportsmanlike way shall be warned once. Thereafter the offending customer will be asked to leave the park. Any customers who have been asked to leave the park 2 times shall be banned from the park. (Customers who have been banned should perhaps be named and/or described to the other paintball parks.)

7. Only markers that have trigger guards, that are semi-automatic only (except for mutually-agreed exceptions to semi-automatic playing), and that are otherwise normally considered safe for tournament use, shall be allowed.
__________________________________________________


That's all I can think of for now. We can take tournament safety another time.

What do you think?

Steve
+46 70 450 4231

 

[nickp]

"12. There shall be a minimum of 2 instructors on the rental fields, with the rental groups at all times. More shall be availbable for larger groups."


I would think you would be better stating a player to marshall/Instructor ratio...

I think 1 Marshall/Instructor, per 6-8 player, 10 at a push

 

[Liz]

All seems eminently sensible to me (with the one exception detailed below). The majority of sites I've played/marshalled/spectated on in the UK do seem to follow this near enough, as I think most of this is in the UKPSF guide which has to be followed to get UKPSF approval.

My one exception is point 15 -
"15. All fields or courts of play shall be free from any obstacles that would likely cause injury, especially hard objects that protrude into the playing area and that might be fallen upon. All indoor courts shall be maintained in a reasonably non-slippery way, or knee protection shall be provided to the customers."
This is impossible to do for woodland fields, as any tree, log barricade, fallen branch or even bush could potentially "cause injury" e.g. if you trip over a root or run into a tree when not looking, and the very nature of the field means it's full of "hard objects that protrude into the playing area ".

 

[Recoil]

Originally posted by Wadidiz 5. All markers that have tanks attached shall have their muzzles bagged at all times in goggle-free areas. [/B]

They are all pretty good, however this one is not quite right imho.

I beleive that some guns will retain gas once the tank has been removed, Angels and Cockers both do to my knowledge and as you are trying to cover all the angles it would probably be wiser to say ALL markers are to have bags at ALL times in safe areas..

 

[nickp]

having an eclipse cocker (which I am trying hard to sell) I can varify that when I take may armegeddon off there is still enough gas in the marker to fire a paint ball!!

 

[Liz]

Originally posted by Recoil


They are all pretty good, however this one is not quite right imho.

I beleive that some guns will retain gas once the tank has been removed, Angels and Cockers both do to my knowledge and as you are trying to cover all the angles it would probably be wiser to say ALL markers are to have bags at ALL times in safe areas..

Pretty difficult if you need to take your barrel off to clean it or something!

Noticed another one that's got a few difficulties with practicality.
2. Customers shall be provided with complete mask systems that are approved for paintball use, are in proper working order and have never had a solid hit in the goggles (according to JT's safety warning). The lenses should be relatively fog-free in order to minimize the customers' tendency to pull them off at the wrong times and must fit properly and comfortably on the customers.

Define "fit comfortably" Everyone has differently shaped heads & faces so different goggles will be comfortable on different people. It just isn't practical for a site to have a selection of different goggles to suit everyone's taste.
Also, can't see how you can tell if a hit was "solid" or not once the customer has smeared the paint everywhere, or from how close the hit was taken. I don't think any site could afford to replace every set of lenses that had any type of hit on them just in case it was "solid".

 

[Wadidiz]

Wow! This site rocks!

Thanks for all the great feedback. Since I wrote this list myself last night, based on my experience over the years, I struggled over the wording in many places. This is very helpful.

I would think you would be better stating a player to marshall/Instructor ratio...

That seems reasonable, nickp.

My one exception is point 15 -

I need some help with the wording here, Liz. I think you know what I'm looking for. Is there a Web site where I can get the UKPSF safety regulations?

I beleive that some guns will retain gas once the tank has been removed, Angels and Cockers both do to my knowledge and as you are trying to cover all the angles it would probably be wiser to say ALL markers are to have bags at ALL times in safe areas..

I see what you mean, Recoil. I had a former workmate who had his eye permanently injured from just such a Cocker he was working on.

It would be a good start, here in Sweden, to just get all the paintball parks to require plugs or bags for their tanked markers.
I think you're right. We should go the whole way here.

Define "fit comfortably" Everyone has differently shaped heads & faces so different goggles will be comfortable on different people. It just isn't practical for a site to have a selection of different goggles to suit everyone's taste.

What I mean by this, Liz, is that the marshalls/instructors shall see it as their responsibility to do their best to ensure the best possible fit so that the customers will be less likely to want to remove them. Maybe some help needed with the wording there also.

Also, can't see how you can tell if a hit was "solid" or not once the customer has smeared the paint everywhere, or from how close the hit was taken. I don't think any site could afford to replace every set of lenses that had any type of hit on them just in case it was "solid".

This is the toughest one, Liz. The paintball manufacturers give warning that the goggles are significantly weakened for every hit, and that furthermore, the weakening is invisible to the naked eye.
I hear you that no-one replaces their lenses after a hit on the goggles. What is the rule of reason here?

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Liz]

I don't think the details are published on the web site, but you can contact Steve Bull (Bully) or Jonathan Hayes (Hotpoint) through these boards or by going to www.ukpsf.com. They have both done loads for the sport in this country & are very helpful.

Regarding goggles fitting, maybe something along the lines of "adjusted for optimum fit by a marshall experienced (or trained) in fitting paintball goggles".

Um, um, um, hits on goggles is probably the hardest one to define. I've seen site goggles (on a site now defunct) that were so scratched up you couldn't see anything through them, & even cracked lenses. Then again, especially as you are specifying lenses that avoid fogging up, the costs can be prohibitive what with the price of thermal lenses these days. I doubt you could specify anything hard & fast (or measurable) here, but maybe something relating to "significantly weakened e.g. by a direct close hit, in the judgement of a senior/experienced marshall". Bit weak I know, but better than nothing.

Trouble is, if you make rules & guidance too stringent then none of them will be followed 'cause of the difficulty in complying with some.

 

[Marchborne]

May be a nit-pick, but...

Not to get too picky here, but one suggestion:

"10. CO2 tanks shall always be filled using a scale (våg) so as to avoid over-filling. Air systems shall never be overfilled."

Gotta define "overfilled." Maybe substitute "High-pressure air systems shall not be filled past their rated pound-per-square-inch capacity." Or somesuch.

 

[Liz]

Marchborne

I think he WANTS us to nitpick this time. It's the kind of thing that really has to be got right & Wadidiz has started the ball rolling.