Our pool rules are designed for the safety and well being of ALL our customers, those that break these rules will be disciplined in accordance with our disciplinary procedures.
Behaviour
- No running on poolside
- No eating on poolside (except leisure pool or gallery seating areas)
- No flips or back flips off the sides of the pool
- No 360 from side of pool
- No throwing objects (except balls)
- No swearing (in terms of verbal assault)
- No chewing gum
- No fighting or bullying
- No pushing into pool
- No shoulder rides
- No consuming drugs or alcohol on the premises
- No entry for those under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- No smoking in the building or on the terrace
- No public displays of affection (PDA) – the pools are a family show, fondling, excessive touching and kissing is not acceptable
Cameras and Video Cameras
The use of cameras or video cameras are permitted on poolside only after you have spoken to a staff member and it is clear that you have the permission of the person you are photographing/videoing.
Mobile phones, regardless of their functions, are not to be used in the changing rooms.
If you want to come to the pool specifically to film or take photos, you will need the Manager's authorisation.
Underwater cameras are not permitted unless prior permission has been given by the Supervisor on duty.
Hygiene and Recovering from sickness
Pool management recommends that people wait for two weeks after a vomiting and/or diarrhoea bug before returning to any of the pools.
Any child or adult who has incontinence problems, and wears some form of incontinence pants or nappies during the day, MUST wear appropriate swimwear. This must be some form of tight fitting pants, such as bike shorts, worn under their normal swimwear. These pants must be tightly fitted around the waist and legs in order to contain any matter in the event of an accident.
Babies and toddlers must wear swimming nappies. These are sold at reception.
Gym users must shower before entering the pools or spa.
Swimmer Dress Policy
All swimmers at all times in the water must wear recognised swimwear.
- No underwear allowed
- Wetsuit style togs are acceptable
- Rash vests or special aquatic garments are preferred over T-shirts; if a T-shirt must be worn it must be clean, fitting and have recognised swimwear worn underneath
- Nappies, street clothing, soiled or badly worn clothing is not permitted in the water at any Dunedin City Council pool
- Children, five years and under, must wear tight fitting togs. We prefer, and recommend children three and under wear Aqua-naps
- The Duty Supervisor shall be the sole judge as to the adequacy, or otherwise of swimwear, and to whether any swimwear is worn correctly
- T-shirts must be tucked in while on diving boards and Hydroslide
- No T-shirts while on the towers
Personal Training
We have specific contractors on site who provide personal training in the gym and in aqua jogging. No one, other than these contractors can take clients for personal training within our facility.
Swim Teaching
Moana Pool Just Swim has the Professional Teaching Rights for Aquatic Services. No other person or business may teach swimming in a professional capacity. Any other teaching is only permitted if those customers have hired a lane for private use. Teachers with school groups and parents informally giving their kids some pointers are not an issue.
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Supervision policy
Supervision Policy - Swim and Waterslide
- Caregivers for children under 5 years must be in the water within arm’s reach, and able to physically assist at all times
- Children under 10 years must be actively supervised by a caregiver. Actively supervised means watching your child at all times and able to provide immediate assistance.
- Caregivers must be 16 years or older.
5 to 9 year olds are required to wear a wristband.
Does this apply to the waterslide?
Yes it does, under 5’s must slide down with an adult, under 10’s have someone actively supervising them at the slide exit pool.
Why does the pool have this policy?
The policy is aimed at keeping children safe. Children aged 5-9 years old are at the highest risk in the water. At Moana Pool about 90% of rescues involve children in this age range. We want to make sure our pools are safe for children and their families.
Why does my child have to wear a wristband?
This helps pool crew to quickly identify children’s age, and that a caregiver is also looking after that child. The wristbands also increase awareness and serve as a reminder that the child is in the high risk age group. These have proved to be a successful around the world.
My under-5 is a good swimmer, why do I have to keep them within arm’s reach?
Children under the age of 5 years old usually play in shallow areas, keeping them within arm’s reach means you can prevent them from going too deep and getting into difficulty.
Swimming in a controlled lesson is one thing, swimming yourself out of danger is another.
Why am I expected to provide immediate assistance, isn’t that the lifeguard’s job?
It’s pool crew’s role to supervise everyone using the facility and as a parent or caregiver, you know your child and their limits better than staff do. If you see your child getting out of their depth or moving away from your supervision you can best direct them back to a safer area.
What happens if the rules aren’t followed?
We’re working hard to ensure everyone knows about this policy and why it’s important. When we come across people not following these rules, we’ll work to educate them. However, if children are not accompanied by a suitable caregiver they won’t be allowed in the water. If there is continued failure to comply with the policy, people may be asked to leave the facility for the safety of their children and all users.
How does this affect my child at swimming lessons?
All 5-9 year olds will need to be escorted to and from lessons by a parent or caregiver. They are also required to wear a wristband to swimming lessons. The bands are available from reception. They are recyclable and can be left at reception after lessons. Under 5’s need to be accompanied for the whole lesson, under 9 years old need to be escorted to and from lessons.
My child is already supervised by the instructor in the lesson, isn’t this is a little over the top?
There are a number of children who move through to the leisure pool after lessons, so Pool Crew need to be able to easily identify these children.
Can’t I just keep the band for the term?
If your child is a regular pool user, you may choose to keep your child’s wristband for them to use each time they’re at the pool. However if you think it may get lost at home, you can pick one up from reception each time and leave it behind when you go.
I have another question, who do I contact?
You can email dcc@dcc.govt.nz or call 03 477 4000.
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Breath holding policy
Purpose
The Dunedin City Council is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all users of our swimming pools. Breath holding activities and resulting shallow water blackout events have been identified as a very high risk with extremely serious potential consequences. As a result the following rules have been put in place to best protect users from serious harm.
Scope
The policy aims to provide clarity for users and pool staff around breath holding activities that people may want to attempt while using the facility. It covers all possible breath holding activates including specific bookings and events.
Definitions
Breath-Holding, in terms of swimming: Any activity that involves a swimmer holding their breath underwater, particularly attempting to ignore the urge to breathe.
Freediving: The sport or activity of diving under water without the use of breathing apparatus, especially in deep water.
Spotter: Can be in or out of the water, no specified ratio for spotters to swimmers, the spotter must be confident they can effectively watch all swimmers they are supporting.
Policy
- Dive/Lap Pool (4.6m deep)
- Breath holding activities will no longer be permitted in the Dive/Lap Pool without a booking being made.
- Bookings for breath holding activities can only be made by recognised Free Diving groups or groups that have Worksafe accreditation for free diving/breath holding. Staff must be made aware of the intention to breath hold during the booking.
- Main Pool (0.91m-1.7m deep)
- Breath holding activities are only permitted in the main pool if the person has a spotter following them on the surface at all times. Staff must be made aware of the intention to breath hold.
- Breath holders may not exceed one length of the pool without coming up for a breath when the pool is at 25 meters and must be wearing fins.
- Breath holders may only exceed the 25 meter rule when the pool is at long course and fins are being worn for training purposes and or competitions.
- One length one breath.
- Old Dive Pool
- Breath holding activities will no longer be permitted in the Old Dive Pool without a booking being made.
- Bookings for breath holding activities can only be made by recognised Free Diving groups or groups that have Worksafe accreditation for free diving/breath holding or underwater hockey players wishing to train surfacing from depth. Staff must be made aware of the intention to breath hold during the booking.
- Underwater hockey players must have someone in the water watching from the surface able and prepared to offer assistance at all times while this activity is being undertaken.
- Dive/Lap Pool (4.6m deep)
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Health & Safety Information - Birthday Party bookings
Birthday Party bookings for children from pre-school aged through to Primary & Intermediate age (0-12yrs)
Moana Pool is fun and exciting for children of all ages, but it can also be hazardous. Children brought to the facility with you are primarily your responsibility. To access Moana Pool, you must have a sufficient number of actively supervising caregivers. These caregivers must carry out their responsibilities as outlined in our supervision policy below.
Facility staff and lifeguards are here to oversee all customers and will provide assistance to your caregivers if needed. The following information is provided to help prepare you for your visit.
Contact Information
Email & Web: moanapool@dcc.govt.nz Phone: 03 4719780: Activities Coordinator, Duty Supervisor (DS) Supervision Policy Information- YOU MUST
- Be aware of any of the children’s medical conditions & how to contact their caregivers quickly if necessary.
- Check with parents the children’s swimming abilities BEFORE coming to the pool.
- Organise sufficient numbers of supervising caregivers, 16 years or older, to ACTIVELY supervise children in your party group (see our supervision ratios below)
- Ensure supervising caregivers know their RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Active Supervision (whether you’re required to be in the water or not) means eyes on the children under your care at all times and be able to provide assistance if required.
- Be proactive and authoritarian. Caregivers should stand & scan the water & proactively interact with the children they are responsible for. Keep children within their comfort zone and in an area suited to their abilities.
- Respond quickly to children who are in need of assistance.
- Alert the lifeguard nearest to the situation if assistance is required.
- Supervision Policies and Ratios:
Our supervision policies are mandatory but the ratio of caregivers to children is our recommendation. This is based on what schools and other group bookings must provide.
Children under 5 years & any non-swimmers (any age):
- Policy: Children under 5yrs must always be within arm’s reach of a caregiver. This means being in the pool with them. Caregivers must be 16 or older.
- Ratio: We recommend you provide a ratio of at least 1 caregiver for every 2 non-swimmers.
Children 5 to 9 years old: This age group will be required to wear a wrist band
- Policy: Children under 9yrs must be `actively supervised’ by a caregiver 16 or older at all times.
- Ratio: We recommend you provide a ratio of at least 1 caregiver for every 5 children aged 5 to 8years with half of the caregivers being in the water.
Children 10 to 12 years old:
- It is recommended you have a minimum of at least 1 caregiver for every 10 children.
- ALL caregivers MUST be actively supervising the children from poolside.
If you require more information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask our Programme Coordinator or our Duty Supervisor.
MINIMISING THE RISK OF ACCIDENTS What could happen? How could it happen? How can you/we prevent this from happening? In an emergency… Physical injury: - Minor: cuts & scrapes
- Moderate: sprains & strains, broken teeth
- Major: head/spinal injuries, broken bones etc
- Failure to follow instructions
- Failure to follow pool rules
- Inappropriate use of pool equipment
- Inappropriate toys brought to pool
- Other customers behaviour
- Wet floors
- Pool Lifeguards enforce our pool rules. Rules are in place to prevent injury and must be followed. Any risky behaviour identified will be dealt with by staff as per policy.
- Ensure any children not swimming are seated on poolside & are supervised.
- No eating in & around pools except in the leisure pool & gallery seating areas.
- Assault, aggressive, or indecent behaviour is unacceptable & if witnessed should be immediately reported to staff who will inform the DS. They will deal with the situation as per policy.
- Ensure children don’t wander off alone.
- Lifeguards have discretion on the type of equipment brought in and its use. Please do not bring in helium balloons as, if released can set off our fire alarms.
- Remind children not to run as wet floors can be slippery. Caregivers should wear clean footwear with good soles (i.e. not jandals or high heels).
- Wet swimmers should never be in the lino floor areas of the building as these floors become very slippery for all users when wet. If you have the poolside meeting room booked for your party then swimmers must only enter this room from the poolside door.
- Green first aid kits are located throughout the pools
- Signal a lifeguard for help, they are all trained first aiders
- Moana Pool has an Emergency action plan to deal with minor through to major injuries
- Occurrence of medical condition e.g. asthma attack, seizure
- Not knowing children under your care
- Follow our Supervision policy information
- Signal a lifeguard for help, they are all trained first aiders
- Drowning or near drowning
- Caregiver:Child ratios not meet
- Inability to recognise signs of distress
- Meet responsibilities outlined in the Supervision policy
- Follow our recommendations on supervision ratios
- Learn to recognise, and be alert for, the signs of distress:
- Fearful facial expressions, Gasping & gurgling noises, Clawing the water
- Inability to call out (drowning is quiet) inability to move forward or backward
- Grabbing onto others, in a vertical position `climbing the ladder’
- Signal a lifeguard for help, they are trained & qualified in pool rescues & first aid
- Unsolicited photos or video footage
- Failure to follow our camera policy
- Aquatic Services has a strict camera policy. Taking photos of your party, with their permission, is fine but not of other members of public. Be aware you may be approached by staff checking this & may be asked to show any photos you’ve taken & you may have to delete any as requested.
- Belongings or gear stolen
- Not keeping belongings secure
- Use the coin-operated poolside lockers. If using the meeting room ensure both doors are locked if room is left unattended. The Lifeguard at the deep end can unlock the poolside door for you.
- Alert Lifeguards or Reception staff