Motorsport marshal

Motorsport marshals contribute to enjoyable, efficient, and safer motor racing. They are responsible for the safety of competitors and are stationed at various points of danger around race tracks to assist them in case of any collisions, accidents or track problems. Marshals are also known as course workers, corner workers, corner crews, turn marshals, corner marshals, track safety workers, or other equivalents around the world.

A rally marshal holds much the same duties, but are present at rallies. They are usually housed in posts along the stage of a rally at junctions, to be of aid if a car has an accident.

Motorsport marshals can be either paid or volunteer workers depending on the organization they work for.

Anyone wishing to apply to be a marshal would usually be advised to attend a training session that takes place at their nearest circuit. Normally this would be a two-day session with the Saturday being reserved for flag training for experienced marshals wishing to become flag marshals and a session held for those of all levels on Sunday.

During the Sunday session in the early morning, after a briefing session, marshals are usually split into two groups, newcomers & inexperienced and those who are more experienced. During a newcomer session, they would be advised on what to bring to the race. The afternoon session would normally consist of fire fighting exercises, where marshals would work in pairs, one holding the blue (Dry Powder) fire extinguisher, which they use to reduce the flame to a manageable size first, then the second one extinguishes it completely with the white (AFF Foam) extinguisher. After that session, the newcomers would be shown one of the observer posts which they will be stationed at during the race.

Once the training sessions are completed they will be debriefed. At the end of a training day a potential marshal would be given a list of meetings they wish to work at. In order for them to do so, they must fill in the sheet and send it off or speak with a marshal from that particular track who could provide them with a contact to give them an entry ticket to get in.

Workers attend sessions that are technically titled Racing Safety Schools, but more informally are known as Crash and Burn Schools. These schools are usually 8 hours long on a Saturday, but can be two-day events, usually 8 hours on Saturday and 4 to 5 hours on Sunday. The classroom session covers such things as:

After the classroom session, students practice fire fighting (especially important since many novice workers have never so much as touched a fire extinguisher) and extrication, the proper term for removing a driver, presumed to be injured and possibly unconscious, from his or her wrecked car. Drivers often lend their cars for these important practice sessions, letting novices inspect the car's safety and performance components.

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Wikipedia