Wilson, Glenn Anthony

39y · Male·Drowning

Glenn Wilson, a 39-year-old dory operator, drowned after his fishing vessel capsized while attempting to retrieve an anchor stuck in reef. The dory had significant design and maintenance defects, including inadequate buoyancy, poor freeing ports, and water ingress vulnerabilities. Wilson was not wearing a lifejacket. The vessel's stability was compromised by modifications for live fish tanks and poor maintenance. Critical failures included: absence of formal risk management for known hazards (stuck anchors), inadequate safety management system implementation, no mandatory personal flotation devices, poor vessel construction standards for auxiliary vessels, and lack of communication systems between dory and mother vessel. The coroner found that formal risk assessment, mandatory lifejacket wearing, vessel design standards, and effective safety management systems could have prevented this death.