RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
January 22, 2002
DROWNINGS DOWN, BUT MORE HELP NEEDED TO REDUCE DEATHS
[Water Safety Factsheet] [Pond Safety Fact sheet]
New RoSPA figures show a dramatic reduction in the number of accidental drownings in the UK - and the Society is now looking for bright ideas from experts to save even more lives in the future.
Statistics released today show 439 people drowned in 2000 compared with 569 in 1999. Deaths among the under-15s fell from 54 to 40, and child drownings in garden ponds and water features showed a decline for the first time in several years, from 10 in 1999 to eight in 2000.
Peter Cornall, RoSPA Water Safety Manager, said: “We are pleased to see this fall of more than 20 per cent in the number of drownings, but it is too early to start celebrating.
“The reduction may be a one-off, similar to figures we saw in 1993 when there was also a significant improvement on the previous year. Sadly, that improvement was not sustained in following years.
“But we hope the figures indicate that parents in particular are getting the message about the dangers of ponds and other water features in gardens.
“The big drowning problem is still young men swimming in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds and canals. A relatively poor summer in 2000 may have resulted in fewer people putting their lives at risk by swimming in these types of inland open water to cool off.
“It is vital that people understand that the only safe place to swim is at a properly supervised swimming pool or beach. We also want to see greater emphasis on water safety in swimming lessons.”
RoSPA is staging a national conference at the Plymouth Hoe Moat House (Sept 30-Oct 1) to seek new solutions to water safety problems. The aim is to identify good examples of site management and water safety operations, so that best practice can be adopted more widely throughout the industry.
The conference will look at topics including research, safety management, design and technology, education, the environment and regulation. Experts interested in speaking at the event should send a 500-word outline of their proposed subject to Peter Cornall at RoSPA, 353 Bristol Road, Birmingham B5 7ST.
“By supporting this conference and exchanging ideas, water safety professionals dealing with inland and coastal sites will have the opportunity to further reduce the number of UK drownings,” Peter Cornall said.
