Published: 5th February 2026
Managing heat risk in aquatic facilities - Implications for lifeguarding and safe operations
Suggested citation: Houston, R., Jackson, S. & Moran, M. (2026). Managing heat risk in aquatic facilities - Implications for lifeguarding and safe operations. Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, Sydney.
Background / context
Heat is a recognised workplace health and safety hazard. In Australia, extreme heat is widely acknowledged as the deadliest natural hazard in terms of loss of life and has significant impacts on health, safety and work performance. National data show that extreme heat accounts for the majority of extreme weather-related injury hospitalisations, with more than 7,000 heat-related hospitalisations recorded over the past decade, averaging around 700 per year.
While aquatic facilities play a vital role in reducing community exposure to heat risk, heatwave events can significantly increase workplace heat hazards for the staff responsible for operating them. During heatwaves, aquatic staff may be exposed to prolonged periods of elevated temperature and humidity while working outdoors in direct sunlight, within hot and humid indoor pool halls, or in plant and service areas where heat load can be high and ventilation limited. These conditions often coincide with extended operating hours, increased patron demand and sustained periods of high workload.
Lifeguards are subject to additional and distinct heat-related risks during heatwave events. They are required to maintain continuous supervision of the water, often from concourses or pool surrounds that can be significantly hotter than adjacent areas. Unlike patrons, lifeguards are generally unable to enter the water to cool themselves or reduce core body temperature. During heatwaves, access to shade, air-conditioned relief areas or regular task rotation may be constrained by operational demands, further increasing heat strain during prolonged periods of vigilance.
Heat exposure under heatwave conditions can place additional strain on hydration, thermal comfort and cognitive performance. For safety-critical roles such as lifeguarding, this reinforces the importance of proactive and structured heat risk management, particularly during forecast or declared heatwave events.
Separately, occupational abuse, aggression and violence remain recognised hazards in public-facing aquatic facilities and may become more prevalent during heatwaves due to increased patron numbers and elevated community stress. While occupational violence is addressed elsewhere, the coincidence of heatwave conditions and peak demand reinforces the need for additional operational support and controls for frontline staff during these periods.
From a risk management perspective, heatwave events should be treated as predictable triggers for enhanced controls. Measures such as increased staffing, shorter rotations, scheduled cooling breaks, access to shaded or cooled relief areas, hydration strategies and strengthened supervision and escalation arrangements should be planned in advance and implemented when heatwave conditions are forecast.
Purpose
This article interprets Safe Work Australia’s guidance on managing the risks of working in heat to aquatic facilities, with a particular focus on lifeguarding. It outlines what reasonable due diligence looks like for owners and operators, identifies common heat exposure scenarios in aquatic environments, and describes practical, proportionate controls.
Legislative context
Under the model Work Health and Safety laws, persons conducting a business or undertaking have a primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others who may be affected by the work. This includes managing risks associated with environmental conditions such as heat.
Safe Work Australia’s Guide for managing the risks of working in heat provides practical guidance on how to identify, assess and control heat-related risks in the workplace. This guidance applies across all industries, including aquatic and leisure facilities, and is supported by similar resources published by state and territory WHS regulators.
Heat exposure is treated as a hazard requiring systematic risk management. The duty to manage heat risk applies regardless of whether work is undertaken indoors or outdoors, and regardless of whether exposure is seasonal or intermittent.
Understanding heat as a workplace risk
Working in hot or humid conditions can place strain on the body and impair both physical and cognitive performance. Heat exposure can lead to a range of heat-related illnesses, including heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, the latter being classified as a medical emergency. Even before clinical illness occurs, heat can reduce concentration, slow reaction times and impair judgement.
Safe Work Australia guidance recognises that heat risk is influenced by a combination of environmental conditions, the nature of the work, clothing or personal protective equipment, and individual factors such as hydration, acclimatisation and fitness. Importantly, willingness or motivation to work in heat does not remove the duty to manage the risk.
In safety-critical roles such as lifeguarding, even modest reductions in vigilance or decision-making capacity can have serious consequences.
Due diligence in an aquatic facility
Reasonable due diligence for managing heat risk in aquatic facilities typically includes:
- understanding when and where heat exposure may occur
- considering the interaction between heat, workload and supervision demands
- implementing controls that prevent or minimise heat exposure and/or impacts
- providing information, training and supervision to workers
- monitoring conditions and reviewing controls during heat events
Heat risk management should be integrated into broader safety management systems and operational planning, not treated as an ad hoc response to hot days.
Identifying realistic heat exposure scenarios in aquatic facilities
Outdoor aquatic facilities
Lifeguards and other staff may be exposed to direct solar radiation, reflected heat from pool surrounds, high air temperatures and humidity, and limited natural shade. Exposure can be prolonged during peak attendance periods, competitions or special events.
Indoor aquatic facilities
Indoor pool halls can be hot and humid, particularly where ventilation is inadequate or poorly balanced. Elevated air temperatures, warm water, high bather loads and humidity can increase heat strain, even without direct sunlight.
Plant rooms and service areas
Plant rooms may have elevated temperatures due to equipment, limited ventilation or confined layouts. Heat exposure may occur during maintenance or fault response tasks.
Peak season operations
Heat risk often coincides with extended opening hours, staff shortages, consecutive days working in heat, overtime, and increased cognitive load due to crowding and heightened supervision demands.
Typical risk controls in aquatic facilities
Environmental and engineering controls
Expected controls include provision of shade at outdoor facilities, effective ventilation and air movement in indoor pool halls, temperature management in plant rooms, and access to cool or air-conditioned rest areas. Where practicable, design features should minimise radiant heat and improve airflow at working height.
Work organisation and operational controls
Operational controls include scheduling physically or cognitively demanding tasks outside peak heat periods where possible, increasing staffing or supervision ratios during extreme heat, rotating duties to limit continuous exposure, and adjusting programming or capacity when conditions create unacceptable risk.
Breaks, hydration and recovery
Facilities should provide frequent, planned breaks, access to cool drinking water, and encouragement of regular hydration. Breaks should be built into rosters and not left to individual discretion during busy periods. Where possible, rotating staff through cooler or air-conditioned areas and providing electrolyte supplemented hydration options is recommended.
Training and supervision
Supervisors and staff should be trained to recognise early signs of heat stress, such as dehydration and muscle cramps, and understand escalation processes. Workers should feel supported to report heat-related concerns without fear of negative consequences.
Use of practical assessment tools
WorkSafe Queensland provides a Heat Stress e-Calculator that allows supervisors to consider environmental conditions and work intensity when assessing heat risk. Such tools can support decisions about additional breaks, staffing adjustments or operational changes during hot conditions.
Heat and performance in lifeguarding
Heat exposure does not operate in isolation. In lifeguarding, heat can interact with fatigue, high cognitive demand and sustained vigilance. As heat strain increases, scanning effectiveness, concentration, memory, reaction time and decision-making may be affected.
Managing heat risk is therefore closely linked to maintaining safe supervision standards. Controls that reduce heat exposure also support sustained attention and safer lifeguarding outcomes.
Managing uncertainty
Heat conditions can change rapidly. Where uncertainty exists, owners and operators should take a precautionary approach. This includes monitoring weather forecasts, observing environmental conditions on site, consulting staff about how conditions are affecting work, and adjusting operations when necessary.
Documenting decisions, thresholds and responses to heat events supports continuous improvement and demonstrates due diligence.
Conclusion / Summary
Heat is a foreseeable and increasingly significant workplace hazard for aquatic facilities. Safe Work Australia’s guidance makes clear that heat risk must be actively managed through planning, design and operational controls.
For aquatic facilities, particularly those providing lifeguarding services, effective heat risk management supports both worker health and the integrity of safety-critical supervision. Strong environmental controls, sensible work organisation, access to breaks and hydration, and clear escalation pathways are central to meeting WHS obligations.
Managing heat risk is not about individual tolerance or resilience. It is about informed, proportionate systems of work that recognise heat as a legitimate safety risk and respond accordingly.
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Extreme weather related injuries in Australia over the last decade. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/extreme-weather-injuries
Safe Work Australia. (n.d.). Guide for managing the risks of working in heat. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/guide-managing-risks-working-heat
Safe Work Australia. (n.d.). Working in heat. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/hazards/working-heat
Safe Work Australia. (n.d.). Model Work Health and Safety Act. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/model-work-health-and-safety-act
Safe Work Australia. (n.d.). Model Work Health and Safety Regulations. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/model-whs-regulations
WorkSafe Queensland. (n.d.). Heat stress. https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/safety-and-prevention/hazards/hazardous-exposures/heatstress
WorkSafe Queensland. (n.d.). Heat Stress e-Calculator. Office of Industrial Relations e-Tools. https://onlineservices.oir.qld.gov.au/etools/views/calc/heatStress.xhtml
