QEII facilities affected by illness

20 April 2007

Staff illness forced the closure of facilities at QEII Park last Sunday (15 April).

The Teach Pool and Diving Pool were closed for a period of three hours on Sunday as a result of there being insufficient lifeguard numbers to guarantee a safe operation, says Acting Recreation and Sports Manager Kevin Collier.

"The problem was compounded by the school holidays and staff on leave."

He says in operating the business it is imperative that the health and safety of customers and staff was always the first priority.

"QEII regrets the inconvenience caused to some customers because of the closure of these facilities.

"Steps have been taken this week to alleviate the risk of this event happening in the future."

Mr Collier says work is underway to pool the casual lifeguard databases of all Council aquatic facilities and to implement additional lifeguard recruitment and training programmes.

"Low unemployment rates mean New Zealand is facing a shortage of both skills and general labour. This has impacted on facilities attracting and retaining strong databases of casual lifeguards."

He says lifeguards must be highly skilled and qualified. "They must hold a National Pool Lifeguard Award, a current first aid certificate and to be effective in the role, have exemplary customer service, communication and conflict resolution skills."

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