A culture of safety starts with clear laws

During the warm summer months, swimming pools become our oasis around the country. Not only do they allow us to enjoy the outdoors when the mercury climbs, but swimming pools are easily accessible for all sectors of society. Recent incidents including two drownings in community pools in Dubai have demonstrated the need for properly trained lifeguards and clear rules about bystanders intervening in the case of a drowning swimmer.

Understandably there have been several renewed calls for compulsory lifeguard training. As this paper has argued in the past regarding security guards in residential areas, our security sector is critical to the overall safety of the country. All too often security guards (and lifeguards) are not empowered to carry out their jobs to the fullest of their ability. Compulsory and regular training of lifeguards coupled with a better sense of authority will ensure that pools remain safe.

But what happens when a child falls into a pool and a lifeguard is not present? What is the responsibility of an adult who witnesses such an event? Such a situation would fall under a Good Samaritan law and the UAE (along with the rest of the GCC) doesn’t have such legal provisions. The current law is somewhat confusing as a person who intervenes to help, say, a drowning child could, under one interpretation of the law, be held legally responsible if the child were to die. The effect is a reticence by bystanders to get involved even if they could save a life.

As it stands, it is critically important for hotels and any other facilities that operate swimming pools to understand the complexities of the law and inform those using the facilities of the provisions and the limits of liability. While a more robust certification programme for lifeguards that requires regular training and testing will help reduce the number of accidents in our pools, more clarity is needed concerning Good Samaritan provisions.

This issue is best left to the Federal National Council to debate. Ministers are able to provide further details about the limits of liability and inform concerned residents how they should behave in the case of an emergency. Our safety depends on clearly defined laws and certified professionals guarding our buildings and pools.