Safety first for surf volunteers
As surf lifesavers take their surveillance beyond patrolled beaches from this weekend, every one of the volunteers will be wearing a lifejacket.
WA is the first State to implement the mandatory policy Surf Life Saving Australia handed down last year.
In a bid to keep their lifesavers safe, Surf Life Saving WA has already issued 800 personal devices to its volunteers on inflatable rescue boats and jetskis.
SLSWA community safety manager Chris Peck hoped the move would highlight the risks of being in the water.
He said the mandatory lifejacket policy was added protection for lifesavers who patrolled on jetskis and boats. "People are accessing the coast-line like never before, so they're going to places where we're not," Mr Peck said.
"We're trying to get some coverage over those locations by having our rescue boats or our jetskis periodically going past and providing surveillance or prevention activity."
Mr Peck said because lifesavers in rescue boats would be away from patrolled beaches and the direct surveillance of other lifesavers, they would be compelled to wear a personal floatation device, with a radio, locating beacon and fins, to increase their safety.
The drivers of SLSWA's 35 jetskis will also wear the lifejackets, 1000 of which were provided as part of a sponsorship deal with resources company Woodside. The partnership also includes sunhats and rashies for Nippers.
Surf Life Saving Australia's policy came after the deaths of two young lifesavers at Kurrawa beach on the Gold Coast in 2010 and 2012.
