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The Royal Life Saving Society - Australia has announced the latest category winner in its National Aquatic Industry Safety Awards - recognising Perth’s Cockburn ARC for Excellence in Facility Management for their outstanding efforts in catering to the needs of their rapidly growing community.

When Cockburn ARC opened in May 2017, management predicted over 700,000 visitors within the first year of opening. With actual numbers almost double that figure, staff had to quickly adapt to the huge volumes of people coming to the centre.

Explaining that staff at the facility developed a strong internal culture based on two main values - 'Outstanding Customer Service That People Talk About' and 'More People, More Active, More Often', Cockburn ARC Operations Team Leader, Rhiannon Keel advised “we are constantly striving to do better through listening to our customers concerns and feedback and have been very adaptive since opening, leaving our preconceptions at the door.

“We have an outstanding team of dedicated lifeguards and pool operators, who have thrived in the face of adversity.

“Aquatic safety has been our main aim through creating all of our procedures and training plans, with an emphasis on community education and engagement. We now have a strong culture of parental supervision within our centre, and we often see this being discussed on social media platforms where our clientele will support us and the Watch Around Water program.”

The awards are an initiative of the National Aquatic Industry Safety Committee to acknowledge the achievements of aquatic facilities and individuals towards improving health and safety outcomes.

Keel said winning Excellence in Facility Management is a great achievement for all of the staff that have worked tirelessly since launching the Cockburn ARC, adding “what we’ve confronted in our first 12 months was more than anyone could have foreseen, and it means the world to us that we’ve been able to establish such a solid foundation to move forward with for our community.

“This recognition from Royal Life Saving is validation of all of the sacrifice and hard work exhibited by all of our staff in this time and makes us feel like we’ve been able to accomplish something phenomenal.”

Since its opening less than 18 months ago, Cockburn ARC has received multiple awards.

Images: Members of the Cockburn ARC (team) and the facility's indoor pool (below).

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