Health and Safety Editorial - BHHPA

As the expectations of families and couples holidaying in the UK increase, there are greater demands on holiday parks to excel in site facilities and amenities.

Prospective clients are now asking for at least the same level of comfort as they enjoy at home and more and more for a level of luxury in which to indulge for their week or short break.

The potential of the lodge sector of the resort industry to provide this is now being realised as many conventional caravan parks are, albeit slowly, converting to lodges as the older caravans become un-rentable. The luxury with which lodges are associated is undeniable as plasma screens, beautifully fitted bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms and extra space enhance the visitor experience.

The addition of a spa to the balcony of such lodges would appear to be the ultimate addition for indulgence, with most of the holiday operators confirming an extension of the conventional season and an increase in the weekly rental income for ‘lodges with an outdoor hot tub.’

This increase in the holiday season and rental income is an excellent way to satisfy the demands of the now ‘enlightened’ visitor; however the responsibilities for park owners and managers must be fully understood to ensure the safety of clients and compliance within the HSE Guidelines. The HSE have published the Guidelines for ‘spas and spa baths’ and this is the framework within which all parks should operate.

Available from the HSE website, the guidance is intended to help those designing, manufacturing, supplying, installing, displaying and most importantly managing spa pools meet their legal responsibilities under health and safety legislation. It is not law but is the document upon which all prosecutions for negligence are based and is the basic requirement for water hygiene and safety. It is my understanding from research done within the industry that many park operators are unaware of this directive.

The spa industry in the UK is relatively new and the understanding of spas fairly limited amongst the general public. A park owner must therefore be ‘up to speed’ and knowledgeable as the client is putting his trust and potentially his health in his hands.

The lodge park staff must have a basic understanding of water chemistry and be able to test and interpret the results of the spa water tests. Any company supplying spas to the holiday industry should offer full training for staff either on or off-site. Any incident of infection or Legionnaires Disease will not only kill off the demand for these luxury items but potentially the customers using them.

There are many spas on the market in the UK at the moment and most additions will be chosen by price alone. This is normal for other items such as patio furniture but a spa is a totally different product. Most spas available are designed for the domestic market i.e. private use, and therefore are not covered by HSE Guidelines. The holiday resort industry is not a private or domestic market therefore many products are not suitable for this type of application. Most domestic spas will have open filtration, filter cycles, no automatic chemical feeding and high suction levels on the filtration system.

A recent law suit in the US saw a spa manufacturer prosecuted due to a child being trapped by the bottom drain of a spa.

An open filter system draws water over the cartridge filters when the spa automatically enters a filter cycle. This can suck loose objects including long hair, small hands and feet into the skim filter. A spa with this type of filtration system will also require hand-dosing of chemicals unless a very expensive dosing plant is added. This is not acceptable in the resort industry as a background of chemical (chlorine or bromine) must be maintained at all times. A family using the spa in the morning may find the background level very low by the evening unless a member of the maintenance staff has been and hand dosed the spa.

There are solutions to the above problems and park owners considering the addition of spas to their lodges should be asking for certain features to be standard from their spa supplier.

These features are:

·         Fully sealed 100% filtration unit

·         Anti-entrapment assurance from the manufacturer

·         Automatic chemical dosing

·         24hr filtration as opposed to a spa with preset filter cycles

·         Renter proof controls to prevent access by clients

These features will address most of the main issues mentioned although there are a number of questions a potential buyer should be considering such as the support offered by the spa company from a repair, parts and accessories viewpoint.

It has been known for park operators to be handing out refunds to customers because the spa has a fault and cannot be used during the rental period. The market is being driven by demand from customers requiring a quality holiday experience – the industry can exploit this growing demand and benefit from higher rentals, longer seasons and increased repeat business but only if parks installing spas put quality and customer welfare before price.

Written by Neil Jackson TnISPE(cert), Managing and Operations Director, Resortub Europe. 

References:

Management of Spa Pools: Controlling the Risk of Infection. London: Health Protection Agency. March 2006.

Legionnaires ’ disease: Controlling the risks associated with using spa baths. HSE Information Sheet, no date.

Click on the link below to download your own copy of the HSE Infomation sheet:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/spalegion.pdf

Turned Inside out By a Hot Tub, Pick Me Up Magazine, January 2008.