Club rules

in our club, infractions are reported to an officer. at the next meeting, one of the officers will mention the infraction in general and ask that everyone be careful.... it is also mentioned in our newsletter, but not as a personal matter.... all the officers are aware of the person(s) involved and they are more alert to what is going on when they are at the field....

If any person continues to violate any particular issue, the officer talks to the person.... last resort is more serious if it does not get straightened out........

If it is a significant safety issue, most members would (and do) talk to the person involved at the time to keep them from getting injured.....

I am my club's (AMA chartered) current Safety Officer. We have around 90 members of which probably 30 to 40 are active flyers so one safety officer is adequate. We have a policy that all members are responsible to:

1. Observe all safety rules. New members must acknowledge that they have read, understand and will abide by the club rules when they apply for membership. This is done with a form that they must sign.

1. Observe that other club members are observing the safety rules and if a problem is seen (such as repeated flying behind the "no-fly" line) remind them of the rules in a non-confrontational manner. Further rules violations are reported to either myself or another club officer for follow-up. If after being reminded of the rules by myself or another club officer the member in question continues to ignore the safety rules, then corrective action will be taken by the Executive Board up to and including suspension of membership.

Our club's safety rules are not arbitrary. They are practical rules based on the AMA Safety Code and hard lessons that have been learned over the years. I think because we make safety a "foreground" issue at our events, meetings, and get-togethers, we have had little problem with people blatantly ignoring the rules. Our basic rules are posted in plain site at the field, too.

As you have observed it takes more than just having a Safety Officer to instill a respect for safety in the club "psyche". It has to be an on-going effort of the club management (elected officers), senior, and more active members to create a safety consciousness in the club as a whole.

I've also observed from past involvement in other clubs that once the safety "reins" are loosened it becomes quite difficult to tighten them up again.

On 7/11/2003 1:49 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

When our safety officer isn't there, there are usually 2 or 3 of the older "established" (been in the club for over 3 years) members there. If someone is violating the safety rules, one of the "established" members will say something to the person. The second time it happens, something is said again AND it is reported to the safety officer. The

3rd time (or depending on exactly what rule is being violated, the 2nd time) they are banned from flying at the site until there is a club meeting and it is vote on if they are to remain a member. There is also a list posted on the field bulletin board of banned fliers.

A prime example of a "2nd time and you are banned" is purposely flying over the pit area.

The first thing you should do is go over the safety rules of your club and the AMA at the next club meeting. Granted all members will not be there but the ones who are can now recognize a safety violation. This is not something you will fix overnight. I am president of our club and am working hard to get us into a safe mode. You also need to have a "punishment" so that your word means something. We have an agreement that all members are safety officers and we don't have an elected officer. The hard ones are the older guys, and I am one, that have done something so long one way they can't see the danger in it. If you would like to take a look at our safety rules check them out on the web page @

No, I will not rise to the bait other than to observe that this person has obviously twisted and misinterpreted everything I wrote to fit his own very warped view of the world.

It didn't take long to shut your mouth up.

I'd like to express my appreciation to Arne Reil, CurtD, Ted Campanelli, EFulmer and Jim Branaum for your thoughtful responses. It is a BIG help!

Thanks again!

Dave

I found Curt's anwer good, though there is of course more than one way to skin a cat. Large clubs do need some form of gentle steering towards safe and responsible behaviour of all members. Our hobby does have certain dangers, not to be neglected.

What is your problem with that?

Bousch,

Please follow your own advise.

Although CurtD's approach may or may not be the best solution for every club, it was given as an honest attempt to spread helpful knowledge.

You appear to be one of those for which "legislation of common sense" is necessary.

-Bill

We had a conversation about this at our most recent club meeting. The General direction given is that we have 350 Safety officers. Eveeryone in the club is tasked with makeing sure that our safety rules are enfoced. this avoids the club officers being the heavies all the time. Our club president made a very good point when he said if you see people who look/act as though they dn't know the safety rules, they probably don't! Take another member (preferrably an "old hat" with you and go and tell the person about the rule they are breaking and why it's dangerous. Most of the time you will get a "gee I didn't know that" kind of response and things will straighten out on the spot. You may occaisionally get a response like the one provided by Mr. Boushe. when that happens, thank them for their time and report them to a club officer. they probably aren't people you want in your club anyway. :-) I agree with another poster who said that if you don't have safety in place, you have an uphill battle getting put back in place. it will take an effort on the part of all the club members who do follow the rules to assist in making people aware of them. over time, Safety will grow in peoples minds and become a workign part of club practices again. Good luck! Mark