Following is the text of a letter sent to Anthony Turner, Surf Life Saving Illawarra Director of Lifesaving, after the Club meeting on Monday 6 July 2015.
Anthony
At tonight’s meeting of the members of Corrimal Surf Life Saving Club, we resolved that we will not sign a Lifesaving Agreement that includes the requirement to undertake Saturday patrols.
In response to your request of “clearly outlining your reasons that the proposed hours are not acceptable” – how many more times do we have go over the same thing? On behalf of Corrimal Surf Club, I have sent several emails explaining why Saturday patrols are, in our opinion, unreasonable, unsustainable and an unnecessary workload on our members. I have participated in several Branch Council meetings where Saturday patrols have been discussed and shared the same views.
Plainly and simply, this issue is about removing the completely unnecessary duplication of effort and lightening the burden currently placed on our volunteer lifesavers by putting an end to Saturday patrols. Each Saturday during this period we have three professional lifeguards conducting patrols. Our contribution is neither needed nor wanted, particularly when you consider the additional resources the lifeguards have at their disposal each working day – roving Lifeguard Supervisor, Lifeguard Jet Skis at nearby beaches, lifeguards at neighbouring beaches.
We do not understand why Saturday is such a special day that warrants 3 lifeguards and 3 lifesavers being on duty at the same time. Each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during this period, 3 lifeguards manage to patrol our beach effectively without any additional on-beach support. On Sundays and public holidays, 3 – 5 lifesavers achieve the same result. Is something happening at our beach on Saturdays that you know and we don’t? I spend a lot of time on our beach all year round whether its surfing, running on the beach, surf boat training, doing patrols or just walking the dog, and from experience, beach attendance does not significantly alter between Monday and Saturday. Sunday, as expected, is typically our busiest day. Essentially, if it’s a nice day, there will be plenty of people on the beach and in the water. If it’s a particularly busy day on a Monday, do the lifeguards get more support on the beach – no is the answer. Same deal with lifesavers on Sundays and public holidays. What’s the deal with Saturday?
Show us relevant, accurate information that demonstrates that we have heightened risk on Saturdays and we’ll consider it. We will not accept beach attendance data as an argument for doing Saturday patrols because the data currently available is not accurate and we do not use this data to determine patrolling member numbers. Good decisions aren’t made from bad data. Or tell us the real reason that SLSNSW want us to do Saturday patrols without hiding behind the “data argument”.
The requirement to conduct Saturday patrols puts an unnecessary additional strain on our patrolling members. The majority of our members are trying to find an appropriate balance between their family, work, other personal non-surf life-saving commitments and the “duty-based” and competition-related commitments associated with surf club life. A significant number of our patrolling members work Saturdays, whether it’s a Uni student working part-time or a member in full-time employment that works a 7 day rotating roster or simply, like most in the construction industry, they have to work most Saturdays. They plan their days off around family commitments and surf sports competition days. In their surf club life, Saturday is play day, Sundays and public holidays are generally the days we commit to patrols.
We are volunteers and enough is enough! We do more patrolling related duties than ever before – Sundays, public holidays, 24/7 emergency call outs, Support Operations Group activities (jet ski patrols, Duty Officers roles), water safety at non-surf life saving events, etc. We spend more time in the training room than ever before getting new awards that are mandated to meet minimum patrol requirements, upgrading skills to previously earned competencies and qualifications, etc. for the privilege of doing patrols. Turning up for a patrol on Saturday when there is already a competent crew of lifeguards at the beach does not make sense and we are not going to play ball.
Knowing how strongly our Club felt about Lifesaving Agreements requiring us to do Saturday patrols, I attempted to have this matter resolved many months ago and disappointingly, we now find ourselves in a “Ground Hog Day” situation however on this occasion, it is unlikely that Corrimal Surf Life Saving Club will respond in the same way should sanctions be threatened by Surf Life Saving NSW. We are therefore seeking an urgent resolution to this matter before commitments are made by members, supporters and sponsors for the upcoming season.
Regards
Tony Cartwright
President
Corrimal Surf Life Saving Club
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