Risk Management Magazine

In all of these horrific occurrences, the current or wave action usually causes the boat, person or object to drift farther than expected and the retriever drowns. Obviously, these individuals couldn’t swim as well as they thought. Many people aren’t aware of the differences of swimming in natural waters (lakes, rivers, oceans) and swimming in a pool.

I never gave much thought to off-duty safety. For me, it was just something I always had to hear about before being released for a long weekend. The message was always the same: Have a plan, wear your personal protective equipment (PPE), take a buddy, and on and on and on. Fortunately, I eventually got the message — but it nearly cost me my life.

Ask anyone who regularly pulls a trailer and they will have at least one story about it coming off its hitch, pushing them through a busy intersection, losing its brakes or suddenly getting blown into another lane of traffic. Most of these stories have a humorous side and an uneventful ending. For inexperienced drivers, however, some of these events end in disaster.