1. Water Safety and Drowning Prevention
What more can be done to reduce the drowning burden in Scotland

2. 55 drownings per year What is the drowning burden?
Source: WAID

3. 55 drownings per year What is the drowning burden?
Source: WAID

4. What is the drowning burden?
Country
Drownings per million
Scotland
10.4
Source: WAID

5. What is the drowning burden?
Country
Drownings per million
Wales
13.1
Scotland
10.4
Northern Ireland
6.0
England
5.2
Source: WAID

6. Why do people drown?
Community provision
Industry provision

7. What is the current situation?
The entitlement to swim is externally driven by Scottish Swimming, there is no clear central policy
Swimming is not part of the school curriculum
25%-30% (<45%) children can’t swim when they leave primary school
Water safety is not a compulsory part of the curriculum, and is rarely included
Access to open water is plentiful, this is where most drownings occur

8. What can we do? School swimming
Improve and support swimming and self-rescue standards in the curriculum for excellence (could it be mandatory or a recommended activity?)
Improve access to pools for schools
Signpost towards lifesaving clubs, leisure centres, other aquatic activities
Water safety education in school
Improve and support water safety education in the curriculum for excellence (Health and wellbeing syllabus)
Support the use of the RLSS UK cross curricular resources

9. “Look both ways before crossing”
What is the safety message?
Road safety
“Look both ways before crossing”
Water safety
“???”