Hi team and seasons greetings from the safety team!
As you might be aware, 2023 has been a MASSIVE year for the Belgravia Safety Team and we would like to express our gratitude and appreciation for everyone who has leveraged our technical advice, embraced our safety recommendations and initiatives, and most importantly consistently demonstrated safety prioritisation and the embedding of a great safety culture for our team and communities. What you do is inspiring and we love working with you.
Meet our Safety Team!
The safety team has expanded and includes amazing talent and passion.
Scott Vanderheyden commenced in the new National Aquatic Safety Manager role in February, following this appointment, Jamie Washburn and Ellie-May Baker embraced the newly designed Aquatic Safety Coordinator roles in September, creating a very passionate and committed aquatic safety support for operations.
Injury Management and Workers Compensation was moved to be an in-house function for Belgravia and the fabulous Meliza Smith has already taken great steps to achieving operational efficiencies and closer claims management in this space.
Following the departure of Ettienne Verster onto new horizons, Justin Laws has joined the Belgravia family by stepping into the Safety Advisor role and bringing new perspectives and a greater operational presence, which has been well received.
Finally, after a lengthy recruitment campaign, Tasha Jones has joined the team in the role of Child Safety Coordinator, bringing a rich background and commitment to Belgravia’s commitment and dedication to our child safe organisation.
Safety Successes During 2023
Below are some of the substantial safety and risk achievements that Belgravia has achieved during 2023.
ISO accreditation was achieved, and not just for safety! Whilst the ‘Think Safe Act Safe Be Safe’ system retained accreditation to the international standards, accreditation in Quality and Environment was added to the certification.
Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety turned 1! Elevated by the expertise and focus of Aquatic Safety.
The Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety has been well and truly adopted by our venues. Up to version 4 this campaign now includes the Lifeguard Ground Rules, enhanced Supervision Plan Resources, Inservice Training calendars and templates, Lifeguard induction resources, and a multitude of electronic tools including lifeguard observation, pool water treating, emergency equipment inspection functionality.
Belgravia has invested further into taking all efforts to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. Whilst child safety has always been a priority for our business, the investment into the Child Safety Coordinator role has delivered an amazing resource to ensure that we test and measure the effectiveness of our child safety risk.
Belgravia has invested in Artificial Intelligence to superpower our lifeguards! Based on risk assessment, we have been approved to trial the use of Artificial Intelligence for aquatic supervision in two of our venues. Whilst maintaining existing lifeguard deployment plans, this tool will help to manage an array of risks associated with aquatic supervision and psychosocial risk factors. This is a new and very exciting aspect of not only our venues but for the entire aquatic industry.
System enhancements are vast and heavily supported by the Belgravia systems team. From completely electronic contractor safety management via LinkSafe to improved incident reporting and auditing tools, electronic corrective actions and dash-boarding, we have greater visibility of ideal performance and challenge areas than ever before – allowing for better focus and operational support.
As for the statistics, below is a super quick overview—what a testament to our reporting culture!
- Over 6500 incidents were reported throughout 2023.
- Over 250 aquatic rescues were reported.
- 513 Health and Safety Audits completed across the group (that’s a whopping 98729 audit questions responded to).
- 14 Safety Alerts were issued.
These statistics don’t even touch on the inductions, in-service training, toolbox talks, risk assessments, Lifeguard Observations, venues/club inspections and team member and guest wellbeing check-ins conducted over the year.
Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety Video Competition
As part of our celebration of the Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety turning 1, Belgravia ran a competitions for venues to submit a video to show how they have implemented the Alert, Aware and Active methodology within their aquatic operations.
We received 8 high quality submissions from:
- Lawnton Aquatic Centre – QLD
- Nuriootpa War Memorial Swimming Pool – SA
- Whitlam Leisure Centre – NSW
- Keilor East Leisure Centre – VIC
- Prince Alfred Park Pool – NSW
- Warragamba Swimming Pool – NSW
- Waikerie Swimming Pool – SA
- YAWA Leisure Centre – VIC
And while all submissions were amazing, there could only be one winner – Keilor East Leisure Centre!
The team of Penny Palman, Lauren Shaw and Kierran Voelkl submitted 3 videos showcasing various elements of the Triple A methodology and how it works at Keilor East! Keilor East continually demonstrates a strong safety culture winning the 2023 WHS Award at the Belgravia Conference, and this is another feather in their cap of a proactive safety approach and strong team buy-in!
All our video submissions can be found here.
As we head into the busy festive season I want to thank everyone for their efforts in uplifting our safety culture. Please enjoy your friends and family, and always ‘Think Safe, Act Safe and Be Safe’ to ensure a great start to 2024!
Happy Holidays from the Safety Team!
Liz van Deventer
