I have been involved with boating safety regulations for more than 35 years, having sat on national and state government advisory committees. It was surprising and somewhat disappointing that decisions were politically driven. In particular, they were based on perceived risk and anecdotes. I helped move the culture towards evidence-based risk assessment. Below are some papers on specific topics.
Wearing of lifejackets
Global benchmarking of regulations
Use of Coroners’ findings
How much regulation should we have?
Yacht safety regs discussion paper
“Green Book” cruising safety recommendations
Effectiveness of crotch straps and flares
A curious combination for a paper, it came about following a practical safety session which raised questions about the usefulness of lifejackets without crotch straps, and the reliability of pyrotechnic flares.