Leisure DB State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2024

ASK THE EXPERTS

“You have to make sure people are safe to use your plant room before they’re signed off to run it. Get it wrong and the costs are huge, both financial and reputational.” Competency “Many pools aren’t managed by a specialist. Larger chains may have a dedicated pool operator, but elsewhere it might be added to the duties of a fitness instructor or duty manager. That’s OK in principle, but you do need to choose the right people. “To take on operational duties for a pool, you need a decent level of competency in maths and science. You have to be able to learn. You need to understand flow rates, to calculate chemical volumes and so on. Not everyone can do it.” Time “Most pools require between one and three hours of maintenance every day, which has to be scheduled in. Pool testing is on top of that.

“Where the pool is managed by someone who has many other duties – duty manager, fitness instructor, sales manager – this can be a real challenge. Make sure whoever is in charge has the time to do the job properly. “Fail to allocate sufficient time and it will cost you, whether directly through replacement parts and remedial work, through pool closures, or through reputational damage if the pool becomes unsafe.” Staff availability “Staff turnover is a big issue across the leisure sector, with experience and knowledge walking out of the door on a fairly regular basis. It’s particularly challenging in pool management, where generally only a few people have been trained up. “A qualified pool plant operator should be on-site at all times; facilities should train enough team members to cover any leave, sickness and shifts in rota.

BEST PRACTICE POOL OPERATION

“To take on operational duties for a pool, you need a decent level of competency in maths and science. Not everyone can do it.”

Most pools require between one and three hours of maintenance every day. Pool testing is on top of that.

Have you thought through all the details of correctly managing and maintaining your pool? Keith Mainstone shares his top tips

“When I look across the sector, I see many larger operators ticking all the boxes of good pool maintenance and operation. However, I also see smaller operators in particular skipping a number of important details.” So says Keith Mainstone, a health, safety, training and pool operations expert of over 25 years. Here, he outlines eight areas of best practice in this important yet often overlooked aspect of facility management. Training “In the old days, pool plant training consisted of a couple of hours’ handover from the engineer once the pool was ready to use. Everyone was pretty much self-taught.

“Now most operators insist on a formal pool plant operator qualification, which is a good start. However, these courses are very generalised: they won’t necessarily provide the relevant knowledge for the specific pool you have to manage. “Every pool is different: the filtration system, chemicals used, dosing system. Hands-on on-site training will therefore be required, all delivered by the right person; don’t just put new trainees with the person who’s been there longest and assume that will suffice. “Set up structured CPD, potentially with an external expert coming in, and ringfence time for that training. Prioritise it. Think about who will audit performance and training requirements.

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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2023 STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2024