If your patrol is uncomfortable with the level of risk associated with a particular activity, control measures will need to be implemented to reduce the level of risk to a tolerable level before the activity can be undertaken. For each risk assessed, lifesavers should consider how to make the level of risk as low as reasonably practicable, then choose an appropriate control measure.
Some risks can be controlled easily with appropriate actions taken immediately, while others will be complex and require more time, consultation and planning to resolve. You should prioritise areas for action and focus first on those hazards with the highest level of risk.
Control measures
When determining the most suitable risk control measure, you need to consider various options and choose the control/s that most effectively eliminates the hazard or minimises the risk. A level of risk can be reduced by a single control or a combination of different controls.
The ways of controlling risks are ranked from the highest level of protection and reliability to the lowest. This ranking is known as the hierarchy of risk controls (see Hierarchy of controls diagram below).
Hierarchy of controls
Once a risk is controlled, it is important that there is ongoing monitoring and review to see if the likelihood or consequence has changed and ensure that the control measures are working as planned. For example, is the prohibited area signage still effective as an administrative control to prevent beachgoers entering an IRB storage shed, or should a coded lock be added to the storage room’s door as an engineering control?