Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth which provided information regarding the actions taken by Durham County Council and its partners in relation to Open Water Safety (for copy see file of minutes).

K Lough, Corporate Health and Safety Compliance Manager provided key points of the annual update to committee on water safety.  It was a positive report around the two multi-agency water groups - the city safety group (CSG) and the county wide open water safety group (OWSG).  The report showed statistics for open water incidents that had occurred within County Durham during 2023-2024.   There had been no fatalities in the city centre within this period but two within the wider county area.  There were on average 650 water related fatalities per year in the UK with an average of 200 suicide related incidents which were male dominated.  He added that the Council carried out suicide prevention work through public health and other agencies to reduce the risk.

Due to a series of incidents in the city centre some years ago, around the river and bridges, water safety awareness and rescue training was provided by the Fire Service to licensed premises and neighbourhood wardens. Training included the deployment of throw lines. Proactive work was reflected with the county wide group to assess the risks at certain locations in Durham like Chester le Street park.  Education was rolled out to schools to highlight the dangers of open water.  Schools were provided with videos to help get the message across to children. He acknowledged that it was a challenge to keep on top of it all.

Councillor D Sutton-Lloyd mentioned that in his division of Newton Aycliffe there were 22 new housing developments that all had SuDS (sustainable drainage systems) incorporated into the designs.  He was aware these could potentially cause flooding and a potential safety risk.  He asked if these were included for monitoring in the open water strategy.

The Corporate Health and Safety Compliance Manager confirmed that SuDS were considered a risk and were monitored.  There was a list of SuDS in County Durham and added to as and when these drainage systems came into existence and were assessed accordingly.  He added that it was also the responsibly of the developer to assess them to ensure that there was no risk to life.

Councillor J Miller thanked the Officer for an informative report.  He asked if there were any plans for the same techniques that were deployed within the Durham City area to be rolled out county wide.

The Corporate Health and Safety Compliance Manager explained that open water fatalities County wide were mainly suicide related.  In these cases no equipment would have been required to be deployed, only recovery from the water.  Rescue equipment assessments were carried out across the County with life rings being installed in some areas. Within Durham City throw line training had been carried out for swifter responses to incidents.  Statistics were low for the deployment of throw lines. There were plans to replace life rings with throw lines this year and noted that outside the City Centre only two life rings had been deployed in the last ten years.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer added that training had been carried out by the Fire Service within the City Centre with people who had been identified to take responsibility to attend if people went in the water.  County wide training was more difficult as there were no designated people to be responsible, only members of the public who would need to see the incident to be able to react.  He noted that if there were groups associated with open water the Fire Service would train them.

The Corporate Health and Safety Compliance Manager confirmed that the Friends of Chester Le Street Park had undertaken training. 

Councillor J Miller asked if training by the fire service to local groups was free.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer explained that there were different levels of training but this was part of the day-to-day duties of fire officers whilst in the station.

Councillor D Boyes commented that water safety was a great success story of joint partnership working.  This had been introduced by the former Officer/Chief Executive Terry Collins in 2014 in response to a number of fatalities of students who fell in the river whilst drunk.   Work had been carried out with the Committee, police and the University to have barriers installed to make the area in the city safer.  Education on water safety had also been provided to students to reduce fatalities.  He noted that it was more difficult to monitor county wide as people were often determined to take their own lives and young people could get into difficulties in open water as they were unaware of currents or reeds that dragged them down.  Education needed to be continuous with school children on water safety.  He stated it was a positive report and thanked the officer along with everyone who had been involved with the programme from the start for all their hard work and commitment.

Councillor J Charlton was unsure if this was relevant to the water safety strategy but asked if polluted waters and rivers that made people ill or contained hazards like shopping trolleys were monitored and recorded.

The Corporate Health and Safety Compliance Manager advised that polluted waters did not come under the remit of the water safety strategy but under Environmental Health. He noted that if hazards like shopping trolleys in rivers were reported there was system in place to address this with the Environment Agency.

Resolved:

That the report and the progress made to date by City Safety Group and Open Water Safety Group be noted.