Legal and Functional Assumptions for Water Safety System During a Pandemic
Purpose: The aim of this article is to examine the legal and functional conditions for the opening and running of the 2020-2021 bathing season, when there was a unique challenge to both the government authorities regulating safety, the local authorities organising the bathing waters and the lifeguard bodies carrying out water safety tasks. All parties organising the process worked strongly together to prepare the season taking into account current developments. The findings of the Polish model of water safety were juxtaposed with the latest developments in drowning prevention included in the UN Resolution of 2021. Approach/Methodology/Design: Desktop-based research that consisted of a document and database review of available information, from international, national, regional sources. Time frame for the research: was set up for the years 2020-2021 with introduction showing the development of water safety system in previous decades. Findings: Many recommendations of UN resolution have already been implemented in Poland, such as international cooperation through a civic organisation such as WOPR operating within ILS, the training process (although the systemic one is implemented not within the framework of state regulations, but more broadly by WOPR within the framework of ILS programmes) or current work on the improvement of legal regulations. Practical Implications: The legal and organisational analysis carried out has allowed the preparation of a new functional model that could be implemented in a pandemic situation. No one is able to determine how long and which restrictions will remain in place. Originality/Values: Given the characteristics of the pandemic period associated with rapid change and considerable uncertainty, it seems necessary that the difficult decisions associated with new legislation and the resulting procedures could be prepared for a pandemic standard regardless of whether it is SARcov-2 or a possible other threat of a similar, crisis nature in the future.