Be safe around water

National and International Response Manager, Ian Duncan, wants all our people to be safe around water incidents over the coming summer.

‘We are currently in an El Niño weather system which, although not in full force, has seen three named Tropical Cyclones already (Lola, Mal, and Jasper). 

‘MetService predicts that El Niño will re-establish itself from mid-January into late summer / early autumn. As we progress into summer, and as we approach one year since the Auckland Anniversary Floods and Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, it is timely for you to review our Working Safely In Water resources on the Portal.’ 

Ian says the resources include policy and procedure for water response, and the essential Working Safely Around Water modules on Learning Station. 

‘If you have not been involved in water response recently, or revisited the site, consider a refresh of the material. 

‘Always keep yourself and your crew safe around water incidents, including donning correct PPE, maintaining situational awareness, practising the Safe Person Concept, and conducting regular Dynamic Risk Assessments. 

‘Specialist Water Rescue Teams can be requested via on-call Commanders, provided suitable risk assessments have been done and mitigations put in place.’