Aquatic Risk & Safety Services

Aquatic Industry Services

LSV provides specialist safety services to support the planning, delivery, and continuous improvement of aquatic facilities and programs.

Our services include risk assessments, supervision planning, emergency preparedness, and critical incident reviews — helping facility owners and operators meet safety obligations and deliver best practice across Victoria.

Assessments
Pool Safety Assessments

LSV Pool Safety Assessments are the recognised assessment standard for Victorian aquatic facilities and provide owners and operators with a comprehensive review of a facility’s performance against industry best practice. Each assessment is:

  • Tailored to the specific facility, accounting for aquatic spaces, special features, programs and services.
  • Fully reference based against research, legislation, industry guidelines and other recognised standards.
  • Regularly reviewed by industry experts at a State and National level to ensure currency and relevance.
  • Considered best practice within the Victorian and Australian aquatic industry.

The assessment process delivers clear, evidence-based feedback and guidance enabling safety improvements and operational excellence.

Facility Design Assessments

Facility Design Assessments support the development/redevelopment of aquatic facilities by ensuring safety and compliance are incorporated into the design stage. Each assessment includes:

  • Independent LSV and industry panel review of architectural plans with a focus on safety and compliance.
  • Identification of potential supervision challenges, including dead-water zones and line-of-sight issues.
  • Advice on access and egress, barriers, safety signage and aquatic risk treatment options.
  • Fully reference based against research, legislation, industry guidelines and other recognised standards.

This service helps facility owners, operators, architects and consultants address safety during the planning and design stages, increasing the likelihood of achieving success through a design which successfully balances form and function.

Signage & Signage Assessments

Signage Assessments provide a comprehensive review of safety and emergency signage to ensure compliance with Australian/International Standards and industry best practice. 

Signage is recognised as an important risk treatment tool and is often the focus of critical incident investigations, making accurate, compliant and consistent provisions essential. Each assessment includes:

  • Review and recommendations on facility and key area terms and conditions signage.
  • Assessment of safety signage across all aquatic areas and special features.
  • Review of plant room and chemical storage area safety signage.
  • Clear identification of current compliance levels and improvement opportunities.

In addition to Signage Assessments, LSV offers a safety signage design, manufacture, and delivery service to ensure signage meets legislative obligations and facility/community needs.

Mystery Guest Visits

Mystery Guest Visits provide aquatic facility owners and operators with an independent expert, external perspective on operational performance - focusing on aquatic supervision and customer experience during day-to-day operations. Each visit includes:

  • Independent assessment of supervision practices during normal operation.
  • Evaluation of facility staff and supervisor behaviour in real-time.
  • Focused reviews during peak periods such as weekends, and summer/school holidays.
  • Optional assessment during early morning or evening shifts where management oversight may be reduced.

These unique assessments help facilities to clearly identify areas of service excellence and opportunities for improvement, ensuring supervision and customer service standards meet community and industry expectations.

Plans and Services
Water Quality Risk Management Plans

Water Quality Risk Management Plans support aquatic facility owners and operators to meet the obligations detailed in the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations. 

These regulations require operators to actively manage risk to public health, ensuring a safety and comfortable experience for patrons. Each plan addresses:

  • General duties and regulatory obligations of aquatic facility owners/operators.
  • Clarity on the facility registration requirements and management expectations.
  • Mandatory water quality standards and preventative/response testing protocols and procedures.
  • Record keeping and reporting obligations.

All plans are customised to individual facilities, support legislative compliance requirements and enable the provision of a safe aquatic environment for staff and patrons.

Emergency Management Plans

LSV provides a suite of Emergency Management Services to support aquatic facility owners and operators to plan, prepare, and respond to foreseeable emergency situations and meet legal risk, safety and emergency management obligations. Service includes:

  • Completion of Emergency management risk assessments tailored to the individual aquatic facility.
  • Development of customised Emergency Management Plans, meeting the Australian Standard.
  • Assessment of existing Emergency Management Plans to identify compliance and improvement opportunities.
  • Fully reference based against research, legislation, industry guidelines and other recognised standards.

These services ensure facilities have a clear, practical plan that meets regulatory requirements and reflects best practice in emergency preparedness.

Aquatic Supervision Plans

LSV provides a full suite of services to support the development and validation of Aquatic Supervision Plans, ensuring alignment with industry standards and risk management best practice. Services include:

  • Completion of a facility specific Aquatic Supervision Risk Assessments.
  • Dead-water mapping and glare analysis to identify aquatic supervision blind spots.
  • The development of industry leading and customised Aquatic Supervision Plans.
  • Validation assessment of existing Plan’s compliance, currency, completeness and effectiveness.
  • Mystery Guest Visits to evaluate real-time supervision performance against the custom Plan.

These services are designed to meet the requirements of the industry guidelines, research/support literature and recognised best practice. 

Critical Incident Systems Review

A Critical Incident Systems Review provides an independent assessment of systems and structures following a serious incident or near miss. Using recognised techniques and models, reviews focus on understanding what occurred and why, and how to reduce the likelihood or consequence of a future similar event. Each review includes:

  • Assessment of existing safety systems, processes and operational procedures.
  • Examination of the relevant specific area, activity user cohort and/or activity.
  • Identification of systemic gaps and improvement opportunities.
  • Practical guidance to strengthen risk controls and response capabilities

Reviews do not assign blame for an incident or near miss. Instead, they are specifically designed for the aquatic industry to support improvement and enable the provision of safer aquatic facilities and more skilled and resilient workforce.

Expert Witness Services

Life Saving Victoria provides qualified expert witness services to support coronial inquests, legal proceedings, and insurance matters involving aquatic safety. Drawing on specialist expertise in aquatic risk management, facility operations, and industry standards, the service delivers independent, evidence-based opinions that assist in the fair and accurate resolution of cases. Each engagement includes:

  • A review of relevant operational practices, documentation, and supervisory systems.
  • Assessment of the incident or issue against applicable standards, legislation, and codes of practice.
  • Expert analysis contextualised to the aquatic environment, facility type, and user group.
  • Provision of clear, defensible reporting and, where required, expert testimony.

Expert witness services are delivered impartially and with discretion. The focus is on providing informed, professional insight that supports legal processes and promotes sector-wide learning.

Royal Life Saving Australia's

Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations

For more than 30 years, the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations (GSPO) have provided nationally recognised best practice guidance to support the safe operation of public aquatic facilities in Australia.

Developed by Royal Life Saving Australia, the GSPO assists owners and operators in meeting their legal duties by outlining practical standards across areas such as supervision, facility design, water quality, plant operations, and emergency response.

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