Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of installing more throw lines near waterways.

The Environment Agency encourages safe and responsible recreation on inland and coastal water and is responsible for safety on waterside assets it owns, operates or occupies (such as locks, weirs and bridges). The Environment Agency is required to assess and manage the risks to the public at these assets under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It undertakes a comprehensive programme of public safety risk assessments of those assets and regularly inspects them to ensure that the provided risk control measures are well maintained. It has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways: www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-around-water(opens in a new tab) and is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum. In most cases joined-up education and messaging on water safety is necessary.

The process of regular public safety risk assessments identifies hazards associated with each asset, along with safety control measures to reduce the likelihood of anyone coming to harm. Typical control measures include barriers, signage, booms and rescue equipment, such as throwlines. The provision and decision-making process of throwlines versus other rescue equipment is also assessed in line with the location, effective deployment and recovery location. The Environment Agency’s representative on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Water Safety group is contributing to the development of a decision tree for Public Rescue Equipment which will continually improve the process. A useful guide can be found here: https://www.rospa.com/leisure-water-safety/water/research/inland.

We would anticipate that any professional undertaking with riparian responsibilities would undertake a similar risk assessment programme. The Environment Agency does not have a responsibility for setting any water safety policy, except in as much as it applies to its management of its own assets.

Employers whose work activity takes place close to open water are required under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to take steps to prevent employees and other people from coming to harm due to their work activities. For example, a perimeter wall or fence around an irrigation reservoir or slurry pit will help to control risks. Where open access to water is encouraged for leisure purposes controls might, depending on the circumstances, include the provision of throwlines or other rescue devices, as part of a range of measures. Much of the open water throughout Great Britain while often used for recreational purposes, is not associated with ongoing work activity, meaning the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 does not apply.