Beach Safety : Facts and Figures
The table below, compiled from RoSPA’s annual publication ‘Drowning in the UK’, shows the number of drowning deaths over a 10-year period. On average, death by drowning in coastal waters accounts for 22% of the total fatalities each year.
| Year |
Total |
Coastal* |
% of total |
| 1993 |
384 |
70 |
18 |
| 1994 |
448 |
99 |
22 |
| 1995 |
473 |
128 |
27 |
| 1996 |
441 |
122 |
28 |
| 1997 |
440 |
108 |
24 |
| 1998 |
568 |
129 |
23 |
| 1999 |
569 |
112 |
20 |
| 2000 |
448 |
80 |
18 |
| 2001 |
430 |
77 |
18 |
| 2002 |
427 |
87 |
20 |
| 2003* |
381 |
93 |
24 |
| Average |
455 |
100 |
22 |
* Docks and harbours not included, incidents are within 5 miles of coastline.
2003 Totals may still be subject to change
Numbers of deaths by drowning are not the only index of potential danger. The number of rescues recorded also provides an indication of the risk to life. SEAREM (the Sea Related Emergency Monitoring Committee) collates data on all coastal incidents and accidents. Further details about SEAREM can be found in the information section.
SEAREM does not directly collect beach related incidents, however it is possible to gather some beach incident data from this system. In 1999 SEAREM recorded over 2000 incidents on cliffs and shorelines involving swimmers. Sailboards, small craft and inflatables account for a further 1000 incidents. These figures are for rescues and response from HM Coastguard. The majority of beach incidents will be recorded by individual local authorities and will not be published, either separately or collectively. In addition there will be a number of rescues performed by members of the public that do not come to the attention of the authorities.
Data has also been collected by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on the number of incidents that their lifeguards respond to. The RNLI operates 57 lifeguard units in the South West of England. During a 3 year period RNLI lifeguards responded to 3406 major incidents with 69 lives saved, 4076 people rescued and 1023 given major first aid. Also nearly 14,800 minor incidents were dealt with during the same period.
This information is collected by the emerging BEAREM system, for more details on this go to the information section.
