Pillars of Governmental Environmental Public Health | A Guide to Scalable Environmental Public Health Programs
Characteristics of a Successful Swimming Pools and Recreational Water Safety Program A swimming pools and recreational water program gener- ally conducts damage and health and safety assessments of public swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, splash pads, lazy rivers, and other recreational water venues, as well as public beaches that can pose imminent health and safety threats. This oversight generally includes the areas sur- rounding pools and water sources such as decks, handrails, ladders, and fencing. These programs can also respond to program-specific sewage or toxic chemical spills and con - duct water quality testing of recreational water sources to determine levels of bacterial contamination.
aim for specific reduction targets, such as a 2% decrease for violations of disinfectant levels and a 10% decrease for other violations. Given the typically smaller number of pools compared to restaurants, tracking violation trends is a relatively accessible activity to monitor program prog- ress, and many programs are already implementing this approach. Violations severe enough to warrant facility clo- sure are also important to track as they could represent key indicators of program performance
Staffing
Meaningful Outcome Measures
PURPOSE
METRIC
Program effectiveness
• Percentage of required pool inspections completed during
peak operating season (May–August) annually
Workload management
• Average number of pool/recreational water inspections completed per inspector during peak season (May–August) annually * • Percentage of inspections completed at target rate • Number of critical violations identified per 100 pool inspections annually * • Number of disinfectant violations per 50 facilities per year • Number of in-compliance facilities per number of facilities per year • Number of facility closures per year
Staffing needs for swimming pools and recreational water safety programs are predominantly seasonal, with peak demand occurring in spring as facilities prepare for the swimming season. Even programs with dedicated year- round FTE positions require additional staffing during facility opening periods to accommodate the inspection workload, particularly for outdoor facilities. During colder months, workload generally decreases and focuses pri- marily on indoor facilities that maintain year-round oper- ations. This seasonal variation creates unique staffing challenges that differ from other EPH programs with more consistent year-round demands. For programs that reported needing additional FTEs beyond their current capacity, the suggested number of recreational water facilities/swimming pools, if the budget is not a con- straint, would be an average of 180 inspections annually per 1 FTE (range 60–417). This wide range reflects varia - tions in facility complexity, inspection requirements, and local program scope across different jurisdictions. Programs could consider flexible staffing models that can accommodate seasonal peaks through temporary staff, overtime provisions, or cross-training with other EPH programs to ensure adequate coverage during cru- cial opening periods while maintaining cost-effectiveness during lower-demand months.
Public health protection
* EPH professionals who participated in focus groups, key informant interviews, and/or the national field survey consistently identified this metric as moderately to extremely useful. Though not specifically discussed in the survey, the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) was established by the Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2014 and guides jurisdictions to help develop and update their pool codes based on current science and best practices. Based on this code or others like it , programs might find value in tracking the rate of in-compliance pools as a measure of success. Research has shown that some agencies
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