Safety
This section aims to give everyone involved in the sport the information and guidance needed to paddle safely and to help ensure the safety of others.
Download British Canoeing's comprehensive guidance document Paddlesafer below. Safety Officers: sign up to our regular safety newsletter on this page.
You can also access links to Safety Alerts, Incident Reporting, and Event Safety below.
Download Paddlesafer Guidance
Paddlesafer is British Canoeing's safety guidance. It is a directory of safety information and guidance for use by all organisations, paddlers, volunteers and coaches within the sport.
It contains guidance on best practise, templates, checklists, information sheets on specific subjects, and specialist guidance.
Each year the directory will be reviewed and updated in line with the latest information and developments within the sport.
Safety Alerts, Incident Reporting and Event Safety
Safety Alerts - Ongoing up to date safety information, on current issues or safety concerns. Case studies of incidents highlighting practise that can benefit others paddlers. View Safety Alerts
Incident Reporting - By reporting incidents and near misses you can help us to learn more about what is happening in the sport and how to improve safety. View Incident Reporting
As part of our commitment to support paddlers we offer a service for anyone who has witnessed, been involved or has been affected by a paddlesport incident. Please use the contact details below if you would like to talk to one of our trained TRIM Practitioners who can offer support or signpost to an appropriate agency. Please email [email protected]
Event Safety - A system of event safety under which all British Canoeing organised events operate. View Event Safety
If you wish to report incidents which are related to anti-doping, safeguarding or inclusion and discrimination, please use the below information to make a report.
- For Safeguarding concerns, contact [email protected] within 24 hours of your initial concern, and mark your email confidential. More details of how to report a concern can be found here.
If you or someone else needs immediate medical attention or you or someone else is at risk of immediate harm or danger, call emergency services for the police or ambulance (999 or 112) immediately.
- For Anti-Doping concerns, visit the Paddle Clean page, where you can find several ways of making a report.
- For Inclusion and Discrimination concerns, please contact [email protected] outlining the details of the incident, or your concern.
Safety Newsletter Sign Up
Remain up-to-date on safety issues with the periodic British Canoeing Safety Newsletter. Sign up below. We will only use your details to send you this communication, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time using the links in the newsletter. Visit the British Canoeing privacy centre for more on how we manage you data.