Life Saving Victoria introduces new Safety Endorsement Program for pools

As part of the Victorian Safer Public Pools program, facilities can now be awarded a recognised safety endorsement from Life Saving Victoria (LSV). 

A new three-tiered (bronze, silver, gold) award structure has been developed and endorsements can be issued if Pool Safety Assessment criteria are met.

Achieving and maintaining formal endorsement should be the aim of every public pool facility with the award structure a component of the new Safer Public Pools - Code of Practice. The Code was developed in partnership by LSV and the Victorian Government, following Coronial recommendations.

The scoring system has been designed to enable all facilities the opportunity to be endorsed, regardless of factors such as facility design. The performance standards required to achieve endorsement are: 

Public swimming pools include Council owned, learn to swim and educational venues.

These pools are recommended to undertake Assessments on a systematic basis. The appropriate frequency should consider risk exposure (attendance numbers) and recommended assessment frequencies are:

• Over 100,000 patron visits per year - Assessment every year
• 20,000 to 100,000 patron visits per year - Assessment every two years
• Under 20,000 patron visits per year - Assessment every three years

The details of facilities that have/haven’t undertaken assessments will be displayed as part of the Victorian public pools register, which will go live in the next few weeks. This will encourage schools and other hire groups to attend facilities going through the Assessment process, over those that aren’t.

Assessments are designed to provide owners and operators an overview of their safety standards. They’re undertaken by accredited Auditors and tailored to individual facilities, considering water spaces, features and programs. To assist facilities in preparing for Assessments, LSV provides the summary questions and details of the documents required for audit at the time of booking.

Undertaking Pool Safety Assessments has multiple benefits including:

• Assessing the current safety standards against industry best practice
• Providing independent expert information and advice
• Demonstrating due diligence and a commitment to continual improvement 
• Supporting the training and educational needs of facility staff
• Ensuring access to updated information and advice
• Enabling industry benchmarking 

For further information call 03 9676 6950 or email: assessments@lsv.com.au

Click here for more information on the Safer Public Pools - Code of Practice.

Image shows action from the 2017 Life Saving Victoria Championships.