New supervision regulations for children at Whanganui Splash Centre

The new rules at the Splash Centre will come into effect when Term 3 begins in late July. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui Splash Centre is making changes to its child supervision regulations.

The Pool Alone Policy will come into effect when school Term 3 begins in late July. Whanganui District Council’s community and customer experience general manager, Marianne Cavanagh, said the parent or caregiver-to-child ratios had been updated.

“When Term 3 begins, children under 8 years of age will be required to be actively supervised at all times, whether they’re in the water or not, by a parent or caregiver aged 17 years or older. The previous minimum age for a person acting as a caregiver was 16 years,” Cavanagh said.

“We’re also updating the adult-to-child ratios when supervising children under 8 in the water. One adult with two children under 5 will need to accompany their children in the water for all pools, except the toddlers’ pool.”

Cavanagh said it would be similar when one adult was responsible for three children under 8 and one under 5.

“The adult must accompany these children in the water.”

Active supervision means watching young children at all times and being able to provide immediate help, as well as staying close enough for caregivers and children to see and hear each other. The parent or caregiver must avoid looking at their phone, reading a book or any other distracting activity while supervising children under 8.

“The primary role of our Splash Centre lifeguards is to oversee the pool environment and our customers to prevent accidents, incidents and hazards from occurring,” Cavanagh said.

“This includes constantly scanning the pool to identify if anyone is in trouble, addressing unsafe behaviours and ensuring children are supervised correctly by their caregivers. This core lifeguard function ensures the safety of everyone at the facility – responding to incidents or emergencies to minimise harm is our lifeguards’ secondary role.”

Cavanagh said the ratio of lifeguards to customers at the Splash Centre was a maximum of one to 50. Active supervision of young children by parents and caregivers was essential as the first form of prevention when avoiding any potential incidents of harm.

Signs publicising the policy changes will be displayed prominently around the pools when Term 3 begins on Monday, July 22.

The updated Pool Alone Policy, and other Splash Centre information, is available on the Whanganui District Council website.