RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
February 17, 2005
CONFERENCE BIDS TO MAKE UK WATERS SAFER FOR EVERYONE
Ways to make water sites throughout the UK safer will be discussed at a national conference next month.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents event in Bournemouth will discuss industry-wide standards for beaches, inland waters, harbours, marinas and swimming pools.
Entitled Towards Water Safety Excellence, and sponsored by Sport England and the Environment Agency, RoSPA’s National Water Safety Congress will be held at the Highcliff Marriott Hotel on March 14 and 15.
Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport, will give the Government’s perspective on day-two of the congress.
Peter Cornall, RoSPA Head of Water and Leisure Safety, said: “Acceptance of poor standards is often a sign of weak safety management and in many instances can be a major cause of accidents.
“Although we have seen the number of drownings fall in recent years, there is still a great deal more that can be done by managers of all types of water sites to improve things.
“Our conference will bring together experts on national and international good practice to discuss ways in which we can improve safety at our beaches, inland waters, harbours, marinas and swimming pools.”
There are about 430 accidental drownings in the UK each year and people still do not heed warnings that they should only swim at properly supervised beaches and swimming pools.
“Many people still drown unnecessarily because they ignore safety messages or because of poorly-managed sites,“ Peter Cornall said. “There are many measures which can be put in place to prevent people from getting into danger.”
The conference is designed for leisure, tourism and recreation managers, beach and lifeguard managers, environmental and health and safety professionals, water sports and leisure managers, architects and landscape engineers, outdoor education and recreation managers and water safety product manufacturers.
Numerous special clinics will be held to allow delegates to attend presentations most relevant to their working environment.
For programme and booking details see www.rospa.com/water
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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