Belgravia Leisure enhancing pool safety standards through the Royal Life Saving Mystery Guest Assessments

Belgravia Leisure has recommitted to a new season of ensuring the highest standards of aquatic safety are meet at all their facilities in NSW, ACT and Tasmania, by renewing their Aquatic Safety Partner Agreement with Royal Life Saving.

This agreement includes the provision of Aquatic Facility Safety Assessments and Mystery Guest Assessments as well as the production of a Benchmark Report that allows the team at Belgravia to measure their safety performance against industry best practice.

The Royal Life Saving aquatic industry services team will conduct 282 Mystery Guest Assessment (MGA) site visits over the next 12 months and 41 Facility Safety Assessments on behalf of Belgravia Leisure.

Recognising the importance of these services, Scott Vanderheyden, Manager - Work Health & Safety of the Belgravia Health and Leisure Group, stated “we have engaged Royal Life Saving to complete our third-party Mystery Guest Assessments for three years and we have seen year on year improvement of our venues through the process.

“Our team use these MGAs as an opportunity to continually improve their supervision practices, review supervision plans, deliver additional team and individual Lifeguard training to ensure they are ready and prepared in the event of an incident taking place.”

Vanderheyden noted that “our NSW and ACT venues have utilised these assessments to increase their awareness of Lifeguard performance, especially when management are not in the venue, and are continually striving for month-on-month improvement.

“At an organisational level, this provides myself with increased comfort that our team are delivering the supervision standards that we expect, and where gaps appear we can implement corrective actions immediately to mitigate any operational risk."

Key benefits of MGAs include:

• Operational Insight: Get an unfiltered look into how the facility functions during regular operations, revealing potential gaps or areas of improvement in the Lifeguard Supervision Plan.

• Peak Period Analysis: Especially crucial during busy times like the summer, school holidays, or other high-risk periods, MGAs capture the real-time lifeguard performance.

• Off-Hours Evaluation: For facilities that may lack managerial presence during early mornings or evenings, MGAs ensure that high standards are maintained round-the-clock.

Royal Life Saving Aquatic Industry Development Manager, Jason Phillips recognises the importance of such a reporting tool for aquatic facility managers, adding “staying attuned to lifeguard performance is an essential element of a quality Supervision Plan.

“The MGAs bridge the gap between management perceptions and the reality on pool deck, providing a platform for continuous improvement by ensuring Lifeguard supervision remains a high priority for aquatic facility operators.”

Mystery Guest Assessments (MGAs) offer aquatic facility operators a unique opportunity to assess operational practices and lifeguard behaviour from an expert’s viewpoint.

By tapping into the customer journey through an aquatic facility, MGAs provide invaluable insights that can spotlight areas of excellence or indicate where improvements are needed.

For more information on how MGAs assist aquatic facilities contact risk@royalnsw.com.au

Image credit: Belgravia Leisure/Royal Life Saving.