Lifeguard Supervisor Required

AQUATIC FACILITIES that are required to have two or more QUALIFIED LIFEGUARDS per the zone plan of BATHER surveillance responsibility in MAHC Section 6.3.3.1.1 shall have at least one person located at the AQUATIC FACILITY during operation designated as the LIFEGUARD SUPERVISOR who meets the requirement of MAHC Section 6.2.2.

The LIFEGUARD SUPERVISOR fulfills the role of making QUALIFIED LIFEGUARDS accountable for performing well and making sure the rotations are conducted properly. It is critical that QUALIFIED LIFEGUARDS perform their duties as trained and that the risk factors that affect the QUALIFIED LIFEGUARD'S ability to perform have been mitigated. In addition, someone should be responsible for maintaining equipment and knowing when an AQUATIC FACILITY should close and how to mitigate hazards. This level of skill is different from that of the QUALIFIED LIFEGUARD, and each of these skills is important to have on-site anytime the AQUATIC FACILITY is open. The MAHC considered requiring a LIFEGUARD SUPERVISOR for all AQUATIC FACILITIES; but for a single guard facility, there is no requirement, as a QUALIFIED LIFEGUARD doubling as a supervisor would be a redundancy. The SAFETY PLAN should address the means of providing oversight and direction to QUALIFIED LIFEGUARDS at single guard facilities.