In a tragic case, a company and its director responsible for lifeguarding and water maintenance services at Airlie Beach Lagoon were fined $250,000 and $50,000 respectively for failing to ensure the safety of patrons after a father and son drowned (Work Health and Safety Queensland v Ellmill Enterprises Pty Ltd).

Prior to the incident, the director created a Supervision Policy that required a minimum of two staff to be on lifeguard duty, with one having to be a qualified lifeguard who was to supervise and watch attendees of the lagoon. The policy also contained a risk assessment, which was to be completed by the venue manager; however, this was never completed. Rather, the usual practice was that the number of lifeguards on duty was determined by the number of swimmers in the lagoon, a practice that was contrary to the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations prepared by the Royal Life Saving Society.

At 3:40pm on 28 October 2018, a father and son entered the water at the lagoon. As the father entered deeper water, he began to struggle as he swam with his son on his back. Soon after, the father and son became submerged under water. There were two lifeguards on duty on this day, and neither noticed the father and son in distress or become submerged under water. Members of the public notified the lifeguards of the father and son’s predicament. Despite multiple attempts, neither the father nor the son was able to be revived.

After the incident, Work Health and Safety Queensland issued an improvement notice. In response to the notice, the company developed a new supervision plan, which dedicated three areas of the lagoon that were to be supervised, specified new observation platforms, and increased the number of lifeguards on duty from two to four between the hours of 10am to 6pm.

In sentencing the company and director, the Court found that the steps taken prior to the incident were inadequate, the risk was obvious, and simple systems could have been implemented to control or eliminate the risk, including those steps put in place after the incident.