https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUzTIKAbI3kTo: All IDPA Members
From: Joyce Wilson, Executive Director, IDPA
Date: March 25, 2015
Re: Safety: Our Highest Priority
Many of our members have seen a video on social media this week in which a competitor was allowed to shoot much of a stage while another competitor was downrange collecting brass. This video was not filmed at an event in our sport, but it provides for us an opportunity to remind our members, Safety Officers (SOs), Safety Officer Instructors (SOIs) and Match Directors (MDs) that safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Safety, and the process for ensuring the range is clear prior to Load and Make Ready, will continue to be stressed in SO classes, and I encourage Match Directors at all Tiers to remind SOs of their process. Many of our SO Instructors have already expressed an interest in using this video as part of their teaching toolkit, not as an indictment of the match official, shooter or bystander, but as a learning opportunity and a reminder that safety is our highest priority.
Our Safety Officers have a big responsibility in ensuring that shooters will not be in harm’s way while running a stage. It has always been standard protocol that the CSO, PSO or SO be the last person off the stage to ensure that no one is downrange. This event serves as a reminder that complacency is the enemy of safety.
Shoot safely!