CHALLENGES IN BATHING WATERS DROWNING RISK MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY IN THE MADEIRA ISLAND

• DOI: 10.37572/EdArt_2905238283

• Palavras-chave: Risk Management; Risk of Drowning; Bathing Waters; Geographic Information Systems

• Keywords: Risk Management; Risk of Drowning; Bathing Waters; Geographic Information Systems.

• Abstract:

  Over 27 years (1992-2019), 6057 deaths by drowning have been recorded in Portugal, with a growing trend over the last decade. In 2022 already occurred 18 fatal accidents directly related to bathing at sea, on the river or lake beaches and in other maritime areas, with 10 directly associated with drowning. Madeira Island and in particular the municipality of Machico, could not remain indifferent to this global scourge. Risk management in bathing waters and drowning prevention, has represented an enormous challenge due to the lack of a standardized risk management model, applicable to bathing waters. The weaknesses in the identification and risk management, combined with low water safety literacy, have significantly contributed to the high rate of drowning mortality. For this study were used, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), ISO 31000 and ISO 13009 conjugated with the beach risk assessment model developed by Peter Dawes. These tools, allowed us to obtain a set of results from the risk analysis carried out on the bathing waters of São Roque, Banda d’Além, Prainha and Maiata. This analysis allowed the implementation of complementary measures to increase the awareness of users, who are not familiar with the beach environment, and thus are less aware of the coastal dangers and drowning risk

• Número de páginas: 17