Description Table of Contents Author Safer Beaches: Planning, Design, and Operation offers a systematic, practical approach to planning, designing, renovating, and operating all types of beaches. This authoritative reference covers the broad topics that beach managers, lifeguards, administrators, and beach enthusiasts need to know, such as safety for nonswimming beaches and swimming beaches, water quality and beach maintenance, and funding. And it delves into the finer details that will help you balance safety and beachgoers’ enjoyment. Safer Beaches provides something rarely found in other aquatic books: practices in beach management and protection. It uses a needs-analysis approach to help you identify programming and activities that will maximize people’s experience at the beach. This practical resource will help you • understand the planning, design, building, and operational concepts and put them to use right away; • take the guesswork out of beach management by guiding you step by step through the decisions and considerations necessary for successful operations; and • avoid dangerous and costly mistakes during the planning and design stages of both swimming and nonswimming beaches. Written by a leading aquatic professional and many influential contributors, with visually rich and instructive photos and illustrations, Safer Beaches supplies you with the latest information about innovations in beach design, technology, and building methods. It thoroughly explores every key aspect of planning, designing, and operating a beach, providing you with many examples and photos to give you a clear picture of the entire process. In its expansive coverage, it explores new territory in signage, risk management, and accessibility. And it places a heavy emphasis on safety, with five chapters devoted to separate safety topics. Safer Beaches is an essential resource for all who have anything to do with managing beaches. It will help you be more effective in your job, and it will help beachgoers enjoy their recreational experiences to the fullest. Chapter 1. Beach Types and Hazards Surf Beaches Confined Flat-Water Beaches River Beaches Land-Based Beach Hazards Summary Chapter 2. Beach and Waterfront Funding Beach Funding Priorities Core Funding Sources Summary Chapter 3. Accessibility Going Beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act Policy Issues Reasonable Accommodation Attitudes Guidelines From the Recreation Access Board Summary Chapter 4. Liability and Risk Management Negligence Negligence Per Se Degrees of Negligence Defending Negligence Claims Contributory and Comparative Negligence Governmental Immunity Good Samaritan Statutes Premises Liability Recreational Use Statutes Risk Management Managing Aquatic Facilities Reducing Risk at Open-Water Races Summary Chapter 5. Effective Signage: Educating and Warning the Public Standards for Water Safety Signs Establishing Shoreline Zones Placing Beach Flags for Safety Zone Conditions Channeling the Public to Beach Access Points Using Access Points to Warn and Educate Prioritizing the Safety Message Posting and Distributing Healthy Swimming Information Summary Chapter 6. Nonswimming Beach Safety Reasons for Keeping People Out of the Water Methods to Keep People Out of the Water Overall Considerations Summary Chapter 7. Swimming Beach Safety Environmental Considerations Designated Swimming Areas Designated Wading (Nonswimming) Areas Support Features and Facilities Summary Chapter 8. Above-Water Structure Safety Types of Above-Water Structures Potential Above-Water Structure Hazards Safety Strategies for Above-Water Structures Summary Chapter 9. Operational Considerations and Safety Strategies Policy Decisions Affecting Safety and Beach Operations Universal Proactive Strategies Proactive Strategies at Guarded Beaches Proactive Strategies at Unguarded Beaches Summary Chapter 10. Water Quality and Beach Maintenance Recreational Water Illnesses (RWIs) Urban and Agricultural Sources of Pollution Other Waterborne Concerns Controlling Aquatic Plants and Animal Pests at Beaches Beach Maintenance Beach Sand Grooming Protecting Marine Wildlife Summary Chapter 11. Safety Practices at Guarded Beaches Lifeguard Requirements and Competency Psychology of Lifeguarding Strategies for Improving Vigilance and Emergency Response Summary Chapter 12. United States Lifesaving Association and International Life Saving Federation History of the United States Lifesaving Association Impact of the USLA on American Lifesaving International Life Saving Federation Summary Tom Griffiths, EdD, has over 40 years of experience in aquatic safety and is now a leader in the field. He is the president and founder of the Aquatic Safety Research Group and served as the director of aquatics and safety officer for athletics at Penn State University for nearly 25 years. In 2000, Griffiths developed the Five Minute Scanning Strategy video that assists lifeguards in being more vigilant. The strategy is now required by all Pool Management Group, Star Guard, and Ellis & Associates Lifeguards. Griffiths has been published in over 300 scientific, professional, and popular journals. He has served as the president of the National Recreation and Park Association’s National Aquatics Council. In 2008 he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Swimming Hall of Fame.
