PropellerSafety.com

Propeller Safety Meetings

Propeller Injury Avoidance Meetings

The U.S. Coast Guard has sponsored several meetings on Propeller Injury Avoidance. Recently, they have often been combined with meetings on Carbon Monoxide issues. USCG propeller safety meetings are usually administrated by ABYC as part of a contract with them.

The National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) – a group sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard, the State Boating Lawyers Group and The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA): Boats & Associated Equipment Committee have also held several meetings with discussions of propeller injury issues.

A list of the most relevant meetings and links to minutes of those meetings when available is provided below. Many of the minutes to these meetings are no longer online. We have copies of most of them.


  • NBSAC 92 will be held November 6-8, 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. Subcommittee conference calls were held in advance of the meeting. USCG is saying they will be switching to one “in person” NBSAC meeting per year to be held each November due to funding cuts. We supplied three public comment letters to this meeting.
  • NBSAC 91 will be held May 8-9, 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. Subcommittee conference calls are planned for three dates in mid March through early April.
  • NBSAC meeting scheduled for November 8-9, 2013 has been cancelled. USCG is concerned the charter may not be renewed in time. USCG says it is against the law for NBSAC to meet without an approved charter.
  • September 2013 IBEX we assume USCG’s biannual accident mitigation meeting / workshop was cancelled as we heard nothing about it.
  • 91st NBSAC previously scheduled for April 12-14, 2013 in the Washington D.C. area has been cancelled. Subcommittee meetings will be held via teleconference/webinar in mid-late April. We are guessing this was a budgetary driven decision. We checked Homeport on 17 April for something else and noticed NBSAC is holding a series of webinars as a virtual meeting. The Boats & Associated Equipment meeting was held the day before (April 16). It would have been nice if they had alerted us. We see the site was updated April 10th. It now shows the Strategic Planning meeting scheduled for Thursday April 25, and the Prevention Through People meeting scheduled for April 29. Additional details and login info are on USCG’s Homeport site in the NBSAC announcements section.
  • USCG Accident Mitigation Meeting for February 2013 Miami Boat Show has been cancelled.
  • November 9-11, 2012 National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) Meeting to be held in Watsonville, California.
  • October 2, 2012 Coast Guard Accident Mitigation Workshop at IBEX / Louisville Kentucky 4pm-5:30pm Room BIRMC-EH-2. Agenda includes status of final phase of the Propeller Guard Test Project, and four issues not directly pertaining to propeller accidents.
  • April 13-15, 2012, National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC) Meeting, Arlington, Virgina. 89th NBSAC Meeting. The agenda says their discussions will include status of the USCG Regulatory Engine Cut-Off project, and the Propeller Strike Injury Avoidance Project (includes the Propeller Guard Test Protocol). We suspect ABYC/CED may hope to have finished the guard test protocol and present the final draft at that time. As of September 14, 2012, the minutes of NBSAC89 had not yet been posted.
  • February 16, 2012 Coast Guard Accident Mitigation Workshop at Miami Florida Miami Beach Convention Center during the Miami Boat Show. They discussed status of the USCG Rulemaking on Engine Cut-Off Switches and the Rulemaking on Recreational Vessel Propeller Strike and CO Poisoning. They also discussed status of the Final Phase of the Propeller Guard Test Protocol. We posted the Propeller Guard Test Protocol presentation and the rough draft of the protocol on our Propeller Guard Test Protocol Rough Draft Released by ABYC / CED for Public Comment page.
  • 12 Dec 2011 USCG / ABYC Propeller Strike Webinar – explored the intended direction and final stages of the propeller strike mitigation project (developing the test protocol) and announced their intent to develop a manufacturer and a consumer guide to selecting propeller guards (like a Point of Sale Guide). The webinar asked for comments from viewers after which we completed and sent in our Developing a Consumer Guide for the Selection of Propeller Guards and Other Propeller Safety Devices post and its association materials we had been working on for several years.
  • 14 October 2011, National Boating Safety Advisory Council to meet in Washington D.C. Among many other items, the meeting was to include a report from BIRMC’s liaison to NBSAC. Minutes were still not posted as of 31 Jan 2012.
  • 17 October 2011 Coast Guard Accident Mitigation Workshop. IBEX 2011. Louisville Kentucky. 3:30-5pm Room 105B. Agenda – Update on status of rulemakings (cut-off switches, prop strike and carbon monoxide poisoning casualty prevention), Status of Propeller Guard Test Protocol, Foot Throttle Grant, Product Assurance Branch Organization. Contact ABYC if interested in attending.
  • 1-2 April 2011 NBSAC 87th Meeting Arlington Virginia. This meeting primarily focused on the issue of mandating the wearing of life jackets.
  • 17 February 2011 Accident Mitigation Meeting: Carbon Monoxide and Propeller Injury Avoidance. Miami International Boat Show. USCG announced the retirement of Richard Blackman and introduced Lou Novak who has assumed Mr. Blackman’s responsibilities as USCG point of contact for the Accident Mitigation Workshops. Guy Taylor presented the 3PO guard with its swing-up / flapping rear shield, the limitations of guards were discussed, Bill Daley of CED reported on the tank testing of propeller guards at CRESE / SUNY Buffalo, and “the question was posed whether a boat hull would create different outcomes.” Operator responsibilities and boater education were also discussed. Appendix C of the minutes contains “The Effectiveness of Guards in Mitigating Propeller Strikes” (the CED report on tank testing at CRESE). This round of tank testing included what they called an expanded testing in response to two points raised at IBEX in September 2010: (1) bigger sample size with 3PO octagonal guard, (2) testing the Australian Safety Propeller.
  • 14-16 January 2011 NBSAC 86th Meeting Arlington Virginia. Propeller Guard Test Presentation by CED (13 megabyte PowerPoint presentation.)
  • 15-17 April 2010 NBSAC 85th Meeting in Arlington Virginia. Considerable focus on mandatory wearing of life jackets with some coverage of propeller safety issues.
  • 29 September 2010 USCG Accident Mitigation Workshop Carbon Monoxide and Propeller Injury Avoidance. IBEX.Louisville Kentucky. CED Investigative Technologies reported on their recent testing of the propeller guard protocol, more specifically on the ballistic gelatin tests ran at SUNY (State University of New York at Buffalo) CRESE (Center for Research and Education in Special Environments).
  • 11 February 2010 USCG Accident Meeting: Carbon Monoxide and Propeller Injury Avoidance. Miami Florida. Prepared by ABYC. Featured the Safety Propeller from Australia and an ABYC video on proximity of people boarding via swim ladders to the propeller. They placed the ladder boarding video online. Our link checker noticed the video went offline about May 25, 2012. It was an enhanced version of the rough footage shown at NBSAC the previous April.
  • Boating Industry Risk Management Council (BIRMC) Meeting. 13 October 2009. IBEX. Miami Beach Florida. Several propeller safety topics were covered. Meeting was open to members and specific invited guests only.
  • April 4-6, 2009 83rd NBSAC Meeting in Orlando Florida (we attended)
  • 2 February 2009 USCG Accident Mitigation Meeting: Beyond the BARD.
  • 7 October 2008 USCG Accident Mitigation Meeting: Carbon Monoxide and Propeller Injury Avoidance. IBEX. Minutes prepared by ABYC.
  • 14 February 2008 USCG Recreational Boat Accident Mitigation Meeting. Miami International Boat Show. Minutes prepared by ABYC.
    • Appendix B – Boat Rental / Livery Safety Briefing Package
    • Appendix C – Prop Injury Mitigation Device Test Protocol
  • Oct 20-22 2007 NBSAC 80th Meeting in Arlington VA
  • 11 October 2007 USCG Carbon Monoxide and Propeller Injury Avoidance Meeting held in Miami FL at IBEX.
    • Minutes
    • Appendix B brief report on USCG propeller guard protocol test results for three guards.
    • Appendix C Handheld Shower Systems Carbon Monoxide Alert
  • April 2007 NBSAC meeting Power Point Presentation from that meeting concerning the status of 10163 (a long standing Coast Guard propeller safety regulatory docket item). We checked with the USCG and they said it was fine to post it here so we did.
  • 21- 23 April 2007 NBSAC Dubuque Iowa 79th Meeting
  • 16 February 2007 USCG Propeller Injury Avoidance Issues Meeting at Miami Boat Show
  • 2 November 2006 USCG Propeller Injury Avoidance/Carbon Monoxide (CO) Update Meeting at IBEX Miami FL. The minutes (beginning on page 2) lay groundwork for USCG testing of propeller guard influences on boat handling characteristics.
  • 1-4 April 2006 NBSAC Las Vega 77th Meeting
  • 21-22 March 2006 USCG Meeting of the Propeller Strike Injury Avoidance Workshop in Arlington VA
  • 17 February 17th, 2006 USCG Carbon Monoxide (CO) / Propeller Injury Avoidance Update Meeting at the Miami Boat Show
  • 12-15 Nov 2005 76th Meeting National Boating Safety Advisory Council in Arlington VA
  • 20 Oct 2005 USCG Propeller Injury Avoidance Issues Meeting at IBEX (as the hurricane was preparing to come in). They published minutes and some presentations.
  • 8-11 April 2005 75th Meeting National Boating Safety Advisory Council in Knoxville TN.
  • 18 Feb 2005 USCG Carbon Monoxide (CO) / Propeller Injury Avoidance Update Meeting at the Miami International Boat Show minutes
  • 21 Oct 2004 announcement from ABYC- The U.S. Coast Guard will be conducting a Prop Injury Avoidance Seminar arranged by ABYC at IBEX in Miami FL on Wednesday October 27, 2004
  • 9-12 Oct 2004 74th Meeting National Boating Safety Advisory Council in Arlington VA.
  • 13 Feb 2004 – Workshop on Propeller Injury Risk Avoidance issues held at Miami International Boat Show. Details of the event were announced 4 Feb 2004 in the Federal Register Pgs. 5359-5360. The event was sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC).
  • 15 April 2002 National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA): Boats & Associated Equipment Committee Minutes. Del Mar California minutes
  • 28-29 Oct 2002 – Development and Discussion of Regulations to Prevent Propeller Strike Injuries (see Pages 22-34) discussion held at 70th Meeting of the National Boating Safety Advisory Committee. San Mateo California. Page 23 contains four propeller safety resolutions reached by the NBSAC at their 24 Apr. 2001 meeting. Those resolutions were altered after a lengthy discussion and the final version appears on Pgs. 33-34.
  • 15 May 2001 Congressional Hearing on Boating Safety. Recreational Boating Safety (107-20) Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. House of Representatives. One Hundred Seventh Congress. First Session. 15 May 2001. Propeller injury issues were addressed as a part of this hearing.
  • USCG held a series of five Meetings / Hearings were held around the country in 1996 addressing the propeller guard issue. They were called “Propeller Injury Preventing Public Meetings”. Minutes of those meetings were originally posted on USCG Docket 10299 which was not moved across to the new docket system. We archived a copy of them before the move.
    • 22 April 1996 Panama City Florida
    • 29 April 1996 – San Francisco California. NAVSAC and NBSAC Joint Council Public Comments Section
    • 1 May 1996 Rockland Maine
    • 6 May 1996 Washington DC
    • 19 May 1996 New Orleans Louisiana
  • USCG NBSAC site has links to other NBSAC Meetings, several of which discuss propeller safety issues.