We support efforts to reduce water-related injuries
Video transcript for Kids love the water
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Text appears: "Tell us about Water Skills for life…"
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Man sitting in a field.
Text appears: "Tairoki Tahau-Hodges - Water Skills for Life instructor"
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Man – "Water skills for life programme is something to"
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Clips of kids swimming and playing in the pool.
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Man – "teach the kids how to keep themselves safe around the water."
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Swim instructor smiling and then inside the pool helping kids swim.
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Man – "A lot of the statistics for the drownings in New Zealand."
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Man sitting in a field.
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Man – "based a lot around our kids, our tamariki."
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Clips of kids playing in the pool and smiling.
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Man – "We want to make sure we're keeping this statistic as low as possible we want to make sure we drop this to stick as low as possible."
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Text appears: "What skills do they learn?"
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Clips of kids practising different swimming techniques.
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Man – "Learning how to float on your back, learning how to float on your front, getting into a huddle position if you're with a group."
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Swim instructor helping a kid put on a life jacket picked from a rack.
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Man - "Making sure that you're wearing a life jacket on the boat and into the water as well."
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Swim instructor helps a kid get into the pool and then a group of kids huddling under water.
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Man – "Learning how to scull learning, how to tread water."
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Kids playing with each other around the pool.
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Man – "We're also seeing the enjoyment we're also seeing the kids that they're having fun because that's how kids pretty much."
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Man sitting in a field
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Man – “learn everything as through fun.”
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Text appear: “How do these skills apply to the outdoors?”
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Man sitting in a field
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Man – “Being around in the river we teach them how to cross the river safely. Making sure if it's safe enough to cross”
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Swim instructor helps a kid put on a life jacket
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Man – “and how to go down the river safely. Let's say going down going at the beach we teach them rip currents,”
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Kids playing with each other around the pool and instructor giving them instructions
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Man – “we teach them about the tides, we teach them how to swim between the flags making sure”
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Instructor helps a kid with a life jacket
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Man – “they're swimming between the flags and they keeping themselves safe up there. Making sure that they're keeping an eye out for those hazards”
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Kids sitting on the edge of the pool with their life jackets on
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Man – “like submerged objects in murky water that they can't see,”
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Man sitting in a field
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Man – “we teach them how they can see those hazards and how they can prevent themselves from getting injured or getting themselves into danger with those hazards.”
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Text appear: “What are your top tips for parents this summer?”
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Man sitting in a field
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Man – “Number one, please stay off your cell phone, watch the kids”
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Swim instructor helping a kid with swimming goggles in the water and kids playing in the water
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Man – “Number two, if they can't touch the ground”
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Man sitting in a field
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Man – “please be in deep with them.”
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In 2019, we helped 200,000 tamariki learn Water Skills for Life.”
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ACC logo appear with website address under it
Text appear: “learn more at acc.co.nz
Preventable water-related injuries can affect the lives of whānau and communities. We support efforts to prevent people being injured in and around water.
We want New Zealanders and visitors to enjoy Aotearoa's waterways safely, and that's why we support efforts to reduce water-related injuries and drownings.
The water safety sector's strategy 'Wai ora Aotearoa: Navigating to a safer future' is a collective approach to ensure everyone connects to and enjoys the water safely.
Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) has been working with the sector on how to reduce drowning fatalities and injuries in Aotearoa over the next five years.
"As New Zealanders and visitors, we enjoy some of the most magnificent waterways in the world," says WSNZ Board Chair Maurice Kidd.
"At the same time, they're not without risk and demand respect. Too many people needlessly lose their lives or are injured in, on or around the water."
Drowning is the leading cause of recreational death and the third highest cause of accidental death in New Zealand. The fatal drowning rate is 1.7 per 100,000 people which is at the higher end of OECD countries. We spend more than $72 million a year on water-related injuries.
"Drowning is a preventable public health problem. Each fatality comes with a social and economic cost, as well as a life cut short – often a young life. Many more can suffer a non-fatal drowning incident; often resulting in long-term consequences that leave families and communities devastated," says Maurice.
A closer relationship between WSNZ and us is key to tackling the high rates of drowning fatalities and injuries.
We support the efforts of the sector by way of our investment in WSNZ leadership and co-ordination of sector activities, and we're also the principal partner for Water Skills for Life that teaches water survival skills to over 200,000 tamariki every year.
"ACC was not a formal part of the working group that developed the strategy as it's sector-driven and owned. However, we've been consulted on this strategy and are supportive of the direction and collaborative efforts of the sector to drive down New Zealand's high drowning toll," says ACC injury prevention leader Kirsten Malpas.
ACC also funded the two-year pilot of Kia Maanu Kia Ora – a kaupapa Māori approach to Māori water safety that acknowledges that the physical and spiritual properties of wai are integral to water safety.
More information
Children aged from 5 to 13 can participate in Water Skills for Life training, which is taught either at school or at a local pool by a school teacher or swim instructor. It teaches children the skills for life-long water safety, to keep themselves safe and keep an eye on their mates in, on, and around the water. We're the main partner with Water Safety NZ for Water Skills for Life.
We also support Kia Maanu Kia Ora. It's a kaupapa Māori water safety programme run by Māori for Māori.
