If I could be more upfront about it, I think it's more that regulations and regulation-making take a fair bit of time. Frequently new techniques and new technologies emerge, and you want to be able to accept things when they occur, long before perhaps the regulations catch up to spell out that you need a certain piece of equipment.
The chief safety officer would know by common practice and by standards technologically that are used in different countries in different circumstances that a new technique is there. Even though the regulation spells out that you have to wear a certain vest, a new vest is on the market and is actually safer. They may make that substitution without waiting for the regulations to be amended to accept the new vest, if you will.