Fire Safety Stick & Boat Safety Scheme: What You Should Know

What is the Boat Safety Scheme?

The Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) is a safety certification system for boats on UK inland waterways, similar to an MOT for cars. It sets minimum standards for fuel, gas, electrical, and fire safety to reduce the risk of accidents, fires, and pollution. Most boats on rivers and canals need a valid BSS certificate, usually renewed every four years, to get or keep a navigation licence.

What is the Fire Safety Stick?

The Fire Safety Stick (FSS) is a lightweight, compact fire suppression device that uses a potassium-based discharge to stop fires. It’s easy to activate, leaves no damaging residue, requires no servicing, and has a long shelf life. Making it popular for homes, vehicles, and boats as a fire safety tool.

Other case studies:

Couple’s Caravan saved by neighbour with Fire Safety Stick

South Yorkshire Police join the growing number of emergency services to adopt the Fire Safety Stick

Does the Boat Safety Scheme allow the Fire Safety Stick as an alternative?

The Fire Safety Stick has quickly become a popular choice for those looking for a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-use fire suppression tool. Unlike traditional extinguishers, the Fire Safety Stick uses a unique potassium-based discharge to interrupt the chemical reaction of a fire, effectively putting it out without leaving behind corrosive residue or damaging sensitive equipment. For boat owners who value space, weight savings, and ease of use, it presents a very attractive solution.

However, as it stands today, the Fire Safety Stick is not recognised as a replacement for traditional fire extinguishers under the Boat Safety Scheme (BSS). The BSS is a mandatory certification for most inland waterways craft in the UK, designed to ensure boats meet essential safety requirements. At present, the scheme requires boats to carry conventional fire extinguishers of an approved type and rating.

Boat Safety Scheme extinguisher requirements: https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/

That means that, even if you carry a Fire Safety Stick on board, you must still have the required extinguishers to comply with BSS regulations. The Fire Safety Stick can certainly be kept alongside them as a first-line defence or additional measure, but it cannot yet be counted as your primary means of fire protection in the eyes of the scheme’s assessors.

Looking to the future

We, along with many in the boating community, hope the BSS will be updated in the future to recognise the Fire Safety Stick as an acceptable alternative. Its long shelf life, zero annual servicing, mess-free and compact design make it especially well-suited to boats, where space and reliability are at a premium. For those who would prefer a lighter, cleaner, and simpler fire safety solution, the Fire Safety Stick could provide significant benefits.

Until then, the message is clear:

• Carry the required extinguishers to remain compliant with the BSS.

• Feel free to add the Fire Safety Stick as a supplemental tool, giving you extra confidence should you ever need to respond to a fire.

The Fire Safety Stick represents an exciting step forward in fire suppression technology. With time and further recognition from safety bodies, it could well become the compact fire solution of choice for boaters everywhere.

Case Studies & Testimonials

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