Why the BSS?

Just because a boat was fine four years ago, that doesn’t unfortunately mean it’s still ‘safe’

- Mark Douglas

I remember some years ago a Fenland farmer telling me in no uncertain terms that he didn’t think much of the Boat Safety Scheme. He had kept his small cruiser on his farm, took the precaution of having a BSS completed before launching and popped her in the water – it promptly sank…

In many ways, I think this short story illustrates a misconception many people have, possibly not unreasonably given its title, as to what the BSS inspection is for. For many, a boat passing the BSS means it is ‘safe’ which it isn’t necessarily, particularly if you take the farmer’s view that a boat that floats is safer than one that doesn’t.

The reality is that a boat having just passed its BSS is known to be ‘safer’ at that moment in time in a number of specific areas. So, to understand why the BSS focuses only on certain things let’s just quickly reflect on the history of the scheme.

The Boat Safety Scheme, as we know it today, has its roots way back in 1980. British Waterways, who were responsible for many of the waterways, felt compelled to introduce a set of minimum installation standards. To begin with these were only mandatory for hire boats as they were licensed, hence BW had a responsibility, and tended to be used by people who were unaware of the ‘dangers’.

The main dangers or risks to the hirers, and most importantly the general public, was from fire and explosion, not sinking, and therefore reasonably this is what they focused on.