Avoid lifeguard shortages by working with a pool company

Avoid lifeguard shortages by working with a pool company

Peak season has finally arrived, and with it comes hot days when many community members will look to their community pools to cool down.

However, many would-be swimmers around the country are finding themselves at a loss. A number of community pools, including ones in Austin, Texas, and Indianapolis, Indiana, are being forced to close their doors due to a lifeguard shortage.

Ensuring safety
The primary concern for pool management is safety. This means implementing best practices, adhering to pool compliance regulations and providing a lifeguard during hours of operation. Lifeguards are the first line of defense against drowning and are essential in any public or semi-public aquatic facility.

Therefore, the decision to close down a pool due to a lifeguard shortage is a responsible one, though unfortunate. Such instances can be avoided if facility operators work with a pool company that provides trained and certified lifeguards. Managers won’t have to worry about the tedious process of posting open positions, contacting applicants, scheduling interviews, hiring new lifeguards, then providing training and certification.

Finding new lifeguards takes a lot of time and effort. It’s not just a matter of letting people know that lifeguard positions are available – it’s a matter of advertising them. This means applying marketing concepts to the hiring process, which is already a long process to begin with.

Outsourcing the work
Passing on the responsibility of finding, hiring, training and certifying lifeguards allows managers to focus on the many other aspects of preparing a pool for peak season. This way, they can ensure that the many tasks will be tended to without having to worry about how and when they’re going to find lifeguards.

There’s also the benefit of being able to find a replacement lifeguard for last-minute call outs, which are unavoidable. If a facility relies only on itself for a small group of lifeguards, it may be hard-pressed to find someone else who can properly monitor safety at the pool. There may be other members of staff who are certified lifeguards, but taking them away from their usual work means setting other areas of operations back, which will be difficult to catch up with during peak season.

Whether your facility only has a few lifeguards or you’re looking for additional help, speaking to a reliable pool company early on can help ensure that your doors always stay open.