October 1, 2025: Industrial drowning fatalities
Good Morning, and welcome to October.
Does your facility do any special programming for Thanksgiving (Canada) or Halloween? Now is the time to think about these things, if you haven't already.
In other news, some weeks the news in our industry has no apparent theme, but this week is not one of them. There has been a rash of workplace/industrial drowning fatalities, either the actual occurrence or public disclosure. People outside of water safety & drowning prevention don't always realize that drowning isn't always associated with an intent to swim. If you don't have plans to enter the water, you may be even less prepared to react when it happens unexpectedly.
State could be sued over drowning deaths of two Fish and Wildlife workers
There's got to be a more efficient way to count fish.
2 rushed to hospital after falling into empty pool in Weston
This is not categorized as a workplace injury yet, however I think the state of the roof in the photo allow us to conclude this was likely a work crew. A similar, serious incident occurred in Alberta with a lifeguard in 2020. I discuss it in this video.
US Labor Department issues more than $900,000 in penalties to 2 companies after worker drowns in Georgia river
Bridge painting over water.
Idaho Falls city worker drowns at wastewater treatment plant
Poor quality journalism: "Idaho Falls spokeswoman Kimberly Felker declined to confirm if Rogers' death was from natural causes or a workplace accident" only to later state there was an apparent drowning.
Canada is not immune to these incidents, either. I shared this incident in Alberta a few weeks ago. Most states & provinces have legal requirements to disclose workplace health & safety fatality investigations. As an example, you see can see Alberta's here with 3 water-related fatalities in 2022; 2 in 2021; 1 in 2019 (2 if you include the grain drowning); 1 in 2017 all from the pop-out menu at the bottom of the page, or even more if you dive into the records from before 2017.
The headline of the week award goes to....
(click the photos to read the articles)
Here's all of the aquatic industry news that crossed my eyes & desk this week:
3-year-old in serious condition after drowning in Dead Sea
I don't mean to make light of this, but it's really hard to drown in the Dead Sea (I've been there - the buoyancy is insane). There are also very real consequences of Dead Sea poisoning due to very high levels of salt & minerals.
Wichita pool added to National Register of Historic Places
The pool was originally designed just for Black people.
Experts warn against Quebec's move to delay implementation of new pool fence rules
Truthfully, I cannot believe we're still talking about - and not implementing - this law?! What about the homeowners who already HAVE complied at great personal expense? It feels like this video, where you're penalizing the top performers.
Estate sues woman who was watching child who drowned in swimming pool
This is a legal method I haven't seen before.
These Sask youth say leading an activity program for people with disabilities is pure joy
Tauranga City Council sank $4.7m into scrapped pool plans
Yes, $4.7m is a lot of money, but we can't get caught up in the sunk cost fallacy. Making a change now means the community dodges are far worse financial bullet when they can't afford to build - or maintain - a $105m+ complex.
New £200million indoor waterpark arriving in the UK
Great Wolf Lodge is hopping the pond.
Verdun's Natatorium avoids demolition
The facility first opened in 1940.
Work progressing on Lac La Biche's new swimming pool
I'm passionate about this project because I worked in LLB from 2013-2016 when this project was in the very early stages!
Plans Approved to Build London’s First Wave Pool
"Wave pool" is confusing - they mean outdoor, inland surf pool.
World’s deepest pool to be built at UK airport – but you can’t swim in it
Unlike Deep Dive Dubai and Y-40 in Italy, this facility will not be open to the public. The Diveheart Pool Project is also trying to get off the ground near Chicago, but I'm unclear the funding status of the project.
Council defends price of public swimming pool pass after backlash: 'Nearly $1,000'
Drop in theme park demand not the thrill ride hoteliers want
I've been hearing anecdotal information from contacts that traffic - and spending - was substantially down this year at water parks. This just confirms what they've suspected: "Forbes reported in late August that overall spending at U.S. theme parks was down 5% year over year."
National Aquatic Industry Workforce Report 2025
This is from Australia, but there's always things we can learn from every corner of our industry.
Southampton City Council unveils new life-saving equipment at Riverside Park
Venice Fire Rescue deploys drone with lifesaving equipment for water rescues: 'It's a key issue'
It's amazing to see how technology can expand lifesaving services. Peel Region (outside of Toronto) has an AED drone pilot project run by my friend Paul Snobelen to speed up the chain of survival.
Thanks so much for being here!
Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.
PS. The audio version of last week's newsletter will be available here shortly due to tech issues.
We are shipping all Certified Pool Operator (CPO) class materials via UPS while Canada Post has gone back on wildcat strike. Please note we've recently added a CPO Fusion on Thursday, October 16 to supplement the nearly sold out October 27-30 live Zoom class.