	UNDER 5 WATER WISE FORUM Water Safety New Zealand is pleased to announce that it will be convening a forum for members to review the proposed Under Five Water Wise project. Practically all drownings that occur in the under five age group are preventable. 75% of these occur in the home in either the bath or home swimming pool. Vigilant supervision along with education and engineering efforts are always the key to preventing immersion incidents. The proposed strategy incorporates numerous objectives geared at sealing off the potential gaps and enhancing not only safety for small children around water but also giving them skills for life. Parents, caregivers and whanau play an important role in ensuring child safety, be it as a supervisor or decision maker in taking children to the pool for water confidence lessons or water play. The challenge for water safety and child safety organisations is to complete the equation by targeting proven interventions at parents, children and educators to reduce what is a tragic drowning statistic in New Zealand. WSNZ is working with Plunket to develop a much needed resource for parents of small children regarding safety around the home, along with ACC to finish the development of Early Childhood Education kits in English and Reo. Click HERE to register your interest in becoming involved in the forum.

	NEW POOL SAFETY STANDARD A committee of experts in the pool safety and manufacturing industry have begun developing a Standard to help prevent young children from drowning in residential swimming pools, spas and hot tubs. A major report found last year that New Zealand has the highest rate of youth drowning among OECD countries and drownings among one to four year olds are most prevalent in home swimming pools. Pool owners, tenants, parents, architects, designers, pool and spa manufacturers and local authorities will be among the groups interested in the Standard, which will limit unsupervised access to residential swimming pools, spas and hot tubs by establishing layers of protection for young children against the potential for drowning and near drowning. In developing the Standard, the committee will address the lack of clarity and other outstanding issues in the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987, which does not give clear guidance around compliance issues or how a pool beside a house can use modern safety designs that are available. American standards and Australian standards will also guide the committee throughout the project.

	BATH SEATS Plunket and SafeKids have begun the process of working towards having bath seats and bath rings banned from sale in New Zealand with the support of Water Safety New Zealand. Both products contribute to supervision being compromised by promoting complacency. Meaning parents and caregivers are more likely to leave the bathroom to attend to other duties as they assume baby is comfortable and secure within the seat. In 2005 there were three bath drowning deaths in New Zealand. A bath seat was involved for two of these.

	POOL FENCING RESEARCH The University of Otago Injury Prevention Research Unit has just completed a Literature Review into International Pool Fencing Legislation. The study was commissioned by Water Safety New Zealand with the following aims: To compare the impact of New Zealand legislation and regulations to reduce the likelihood of children drowning with those of other countries; To compare overseas experiences of enforcement and compliance issues with those of New Zealand and; To summarise and contribute to the debate on layers of protection. The need for research to compliment the Under Five Water Wise project is vital. Practically 100% of drownings in this age group are preventable. The conclusion of this research included the requirement to eliminate ambiguities in responsibility, legislation, enforcement and compliance. Four-sided fencing was determined to be the most appropriate and effective measure to prevent unintended access of preschool aged children to the swimming pool area.

	POOLSAFE QMS UPDATE The New Zealand Recreation Association and Water Safety New Zealand are pleased to announce the following ACC PoolSafe QMS appointments: (New) ACC PoolSafe Assessor Mr Julian Todd joins Dave Henderson, Scott Brearley and Denny MacArthur as a PoolSafe Assessor. Julian is currently the Wellington Pools Manager for Wellington City Council and brings 15 years of experience in the Recreation and Aquatics industry in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand to his role as an assessor. ACC PoolSafe Regional Assessors The PoolSafe Regional Assessor role is a new initiative, designed to “promote and uphold the ACC PoolSafe QMS throughout your region” and increase the coverage and promotion of the PoolSafe QMS nationwide. Regional PoolSafe Assessors will conduct “Spot Checks” at every facility within their region over a 12 month period, as well as promoting the ACC PoolSafe QMS to pools not already involved. The PoolSafe Regional Assessor role is for a fixed 12 month term and will provide an on-going professional development opportunity for people within the Aquatic Industry. It is also hoped that some Regional Assessors will eventually become (National) PoolSafe Assessors. The following PoolSafe Regional Assessor appointments have been made: Judy Tipping and Craig Rouse (Auckland & Northern), Peran Hutchings (Central), Alison Law (Wellington), Ann Bergman and Steve Prescott (Marlbourgh Canterbury & Otago/Southland). *The above appointments are the beginning of a number of changes to the ACC PoolSafe QMS that NZRA and WSNZ are in the process of developing. These changes and regular PoolSafe updates with be coming to you via this e-newsletter each month – so stay tuned.

Hey Teacher! Visit BOB: the Water Safety New Zealand online education portal. Heaps of great learning resources available at the touch of a button.	Click the Big Orange Button to go to the site!