In the last two months, I have visited over 20 holiday sites on the Mediterranean, North African and Atlantic oceans, writes Allen Wilson. The majority of these visits were proactive; to inspect sites and provide safety advice to operators. Unfortunately, some have been reactive; investigating accidents, outbreaks of diseases and incidents ranging from minor to fatal, all of which could and should have been avoided. Sadly, there have already been a number of deaths of children under the age of eight in overseas pools this year. All of us involved in water leisure should take the responsibility to practice what we preach in our line of work. There is no better safety measure than parents watching their own offspring. Let me say that again. There is no better safety measure than parents watching their own offspring. Lifeguards cannot reasonably provide one to one supervision for a child, otherwise pool operators would need up to 800 lifeguards on duty in some of the larger water parks and holiday pools.
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