Key industry bodies have launched a pool plant chemical incident register in a bid to help the sector improve standards of chemical handling and tackle the dramatic rise in accidents and incidents.
Chemical incidents in the UK have risen dramatically over the last few years, particularly since covid, with the three year average between 2021-2023 up by 62%*. The surge has prompted the formation of the Pool Chemical Forum, hosted by the CBA (Chemical Business Association), which includes a cross sectional group of prominent industry bodies including the Institute of Swimming (IOS), Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Association (SPATA), Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group (PWTAG), Royal Life Saving Society UK, Brenntag UK and ukactive.
The Pool Chemical Forum aims to gather meaningful information about incidents in commercial and domestic settings, which will be independently and anonymously collated and shared with the pool industry approximately once a quarter. The Forum hopes this will improve best practices and training within the sector.
Tim Doggett, CBA, CEO said:
“Health and safety is at the heart of what we do at the CBA. The launch of the Pool Chemical Forum and its incident register will help identify the root cause of accidents, allowing the sharing of lessons to be learnt, enabling preventative measures and furthermore, establishing guidelines to ensure the safety of professionals. This is made possible by bringing together major leaders in the sector, encouraging and inspiring improvement, collaboration and knowledge transfer.”
Daniel Ekema, Pool Plant Programme Leader, Institute of Swimming says:
“Unfortunately incidents and accidents are a fact of life, but these can become more frequent where processes are not in place or followed, perhaps through a lack of understanding and awareness or training.
“Not all incidents are reported, perhaps due to fear or concerns about repercussions, and so we hope this anonymous register will help the sector to gather more meaningful information for a broader understanding of how accidents occur at pools, spas and other water features, both in commercial and domestic settings. The Pool Chemical Forum’s learnings from this data will help us to better understand day-to-day accidents that may be occurring, which will help us at the Institute of Swimming to better develop our Pool Plant training programme to help keep everyone safer.”
The Chemical Incident Register asks simple questions in an easy-to-use questionnaire format. The register can be completed by people responsible for pool plant safety at a pool or by someone else observing unsafe practices or accidents. All data collected will remain strictly anonymous, devoid of any identifying information regarding sites, companies or individuals.
Access the Register
*Water Incident Research Hub August 2022