Injuries & public liability

Patrons of ocean pools confront a range of natural hazards. Falling rocks, slippery surfaces, waves and wildlife pose risks of injury to bathers at ocean pools. Big waves can wash bathers out to sea and onto rocks. Divers risk head injuries in shallow ocean baths, especially at low tide.

A rock fall at the Newcastle Bogey Hole once severely damaged both the caretaker's cottage and the caretaker. More recent rock falls led to closure of the road near the Bogey Hole. On Sydney's northern beaches, several ocean pools have signs warning of rock falls and have nets erected to prevent falling rocks from damaging bathers or the pools.

Attitudes to the management of these risks have changed over time. nineteenth century bathers were expected to be prudent enough not to swim in dangerous seas. In general, the pleasures of a 'dip' were thought to outweigh any cuts and scratches sustained in the process when the baths were seen as a far safer bathing places than shark-infested surf beaches with their dangerous rip.

By the late twentieth century, people were more likely to seek compensation from councils for injuries sustained at ocean baths or other council-controlled recreational spaces. Councils found the cost of the public liability insurance rising to barely affordable levels and sought to minimise their risk exposure.

In 1988, concerns about public liability led Gosford City Council to review all its tidal pools and close some of its bay baths. Gosford Council  decided to retain all of its ocean baths, including some ring-of-rocks pools.

Concerns about insurance costs at the ocean baths are most significant for the smaller, poorer councils. For Sydney's Waverley Council, insurance costs relating to its ocean baths are a far less of a concern than the insurance costs relating to its more dangerous and far more heavily used surf beaches. A hot summer Sunday can still bring  40,000 people to Bondi Beach where bad surf conditions can require lifesavers to rescue up to 200 people from the surf in a day.

One of the consequences of this is that the smaller, poorer councils erect ever more intimidating warning signs at their ocean baths. Concerns about public liability also led Shoalhaven City Council to restrict use of the previously un-supervised Huskisson and Ulladulla sea pools to supervised hours and to close those sea pools whenever a council lifeguard was not on duty. In contrast, Sydney's Randwick City Council sees no need to fence or supervise the Mahon pool at Maroubra or the Malabar pool. Randwick's unfenced and unsupervised Ross Jones pool at Coogee and the Clovelly pool are located comfortingly close to surf clubs. Sutherland Shire sees no need to fence or supervise Cronulla's Oak Park and Shelly Beach pools.

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