Wagga Wagga's Oasis Aquatic Centre achieves its best Royal Life Saving safety audit assessment

The Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre in Wagga Wagga has received its highest combined score during its recent Royal Life Saving Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment since joining the program.

As part of the City of Royal Life Saving Council’s commitment to water safety, the Oasis Aquatic Centre takes part in the comprehensive auditing process undertaken Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA) each year.

In the most recent audit, the facility achieved an Overall Safety rating of 99%, along with a 99% 5 Star Water Safety Partner Accreditation rating that requires aquatic facilities to pass a rigorous 40-point aquatic safety checklist pertaining to best practice standards and legislative requirements.

Thrilled with the result, saying the Oasis team should be proud of its achievement, Wagga Leisure Manager, Marc Geppert stated "this is the highest combined result the Oasis Aquatic Centre has achieved since joining this program, and it reflects the professional approach to risk management and service provision at the Oasis.

“Last year, we received a 99% 5 Star Water Safety and Overall Safety rating of 96%. The Oasis team has put a lot of work in over the past 12 months to improve that rating.

“We are particularly proud of the high scores associated with the Oasis Swim School which demonstrate that we consistently meet the required benchmarks from a curriculum and safety perspective.

“There is a mountain of work that goes into planning for our programs, ensuring that all of our program facilitators are equipped with the skills and knowledge to not only deliver a fun and engaging program, but to ensure high standards regarding water safety.”

The Oasis Aquatic Centre ensures all lifeguard and swim school instructors are up to date with the necessary qualifications.

It also conducts a hugely successful in-house proficiency program which ensures staff are equipped with real-life problem-solving skills and site-specific knowledge.

A Royal Life Saving spokesperson advised “the Oasis Aquatic Centre scores in the 5-star system are definitely on the higher end compared with other centres.

“(The Centre has) consistently performed well across the key areas required and that level of consistency is something other centres struggle to maintain.”

The Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment is driven from Royal Live Saving’s Guidelines for Safe Pool Operation and includes general operations, first aid, emergency procedures, record keeping, facility design, supervision, health and safety systems, plant room operations and chemicals, programming and specific aquatic areas such as diving towers.

Geppert added "we will continue working hard to maintain this high standard in providing a safe environment for our patrons."

Images of the Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre courtesy of ICG Construction.