Welcome to BeachPatrol

Safety first

Enjoy a safe and healthy time on the beach Our vision is enjoy a clean and safe beach, and to ensure the safety of our volunteers.

Health and Safety Requirements

Beach Cleaning - Health And Safety

The Beach Patrol vision is for all beach users to enjoy a clean and safe beach, and to ensure the safety of our volunteers while removing litter. While our activities are aimed at having fun and making a positive contribution, it is also important to be aware of potential hazards. Beach patrollers should report any hazards or incidents to their beach patrol coordinator. Enjoy a safe and happy time on the beach!

Beach Patrollers Should Manage These Hazards By:
  • Safely entering the beach: watch and give way to traffic – cars, cyclists and pedestrians
  • Street cleaning volunteers are to stay off the streets, watch and give way to cars and cyclists
  • Stay off train and tram tracks
  • Wearing gloves, preferably heavy duty, to avoid cuts. Syringes and needles must be handled so as not to stab anywhere on the body.
  • Handling syringes: these should be collected by the beach patrol coordinator and placed in special ‘sharps containers’
  • Not handling living things - especially jelly fish and octopus and avoiding dogs which may be aggressive.
  • Wearing sun protection including a hat, sunglasses and sun screen to avoid sunburn. Avoid the high UV times of day (say 3 hours either side of noon) and "Slip Slop Slap".
  • Avoiding cold by wearing extra clothing and avoiding high wind days.
  • Syringes: Do not pick up syringes. Call the group manager over who has a Sharps container. The syringe is to be placed in that. Parents and group managers are to explain to children to not pick up or touch a syringe but to call their parent. Be careful when picking through seaweed that there are no syringes hidden under it.

 

 

Beach Patrollers Should Be Aware And Careful Of The Following Potential Hazards:
Cuts From:
  • Broken glass
  • Syringes
  • Sharp shells
  • Fish hooks

 

Retrieving Rubbish:
  • Heavy weights
  • Sharp objects
Traffic:
  • Gaining access to beach
  • Cars, bikes, cyclists and boats
  • Beach cleaning machinery
  • Fish hooks

 

Natural Elements:
  • Sunburn
  • Cold (exposure)
  • High winds and sand storms

 

Living Things, Including::
  • Jellyfish and octopus
  • Stingrays
  • Dogs

 

 

Trips And Falls:
  • Beach walls
  • Rocks
  • Rock groins

 

Response Plan
  • Zone managers are to be familiar as to where their nearest open on the weekend medical centre is
  • If you are a volunteer and need medical assistance ask your zone manager and other volunteers around you to help you.
  • Rock groins
In Case Of An Emergency:
  • Zone managers are to be familiar as to where their nearest open on the weekend medical centre is
  • Make sure you know your location and can name the nearest streets you are between.