BS ISO 13009:2015 pdf download – Tourism and related services — Requirements and recommendations for beach operation
4.3 Linking beach operation with hazard management
This International Standard considers how best to instil appropriate beach designs into climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies. For example, coastal flooding and erosion will continue to occur as the frequency of severe flooding events is likely to increase with the onset of climate change and increased storminess. Beach infrastructure damage, however, often only occurs when one exposes items of value to coastal processes (e.g. building too close to high tide mark).
The lack of formal building regulation and development control is a significant issue, especially with regard to the appropriate construction of beach facilities. In addition to building regulation, codes of practice in general are a recommended way forward to help developers design and manage beaches for specific beach recreational and water based activities. Any code of practice produced should be scientifically justifiable, and so where additional evidence-based and/or fact finding studies are needed (i.e. beach hazard risk assessment work, see 4.5), this should be clearly outlined as a requirement prior to production of the code of practice. The beach operator should develop a code of practice which can include recommendations on:
a) beach access design manual;
b) beach facilities (comfort services) building and design manual;
c) development control on beach (setback) area;
d) beach conservation;
e) establishing and regulating zones on beaches;
f) placement, maintenance and management of public rescue equipment and facilities;
g) beach safety information;
h) effective beach management and maintenance.
4.4 Beach ownership
Clarity is needed on beach ownership, responsibility and other regulatory measures. If beaches are deemed as public, this shall be clearly communicated by the beach operator, even if a beach lies in front of a hotel, which means that users can (in theory) frequent every beach. As a general approach, it is the beach operator’s responsibility to gain clarity on whether any part of the beach could be purchased or leased by third-party (private) operators.
4.5 Planning
4.5.1 Identification of health risks The beach operator shall establish, update, review annually and maintain a documented procedure to identify direct or indirect health risks related to beach activities, services, installations and resources that could have an impact on the health and well-being of users. The identification of possible health risks to beach users shall include groups of risks associated with the following:
— drinkable water supply points;
— the cleanliness of the beach surface;
— the quality of bathing water (measured, recorded and presented in accordance with national/international best practices (see Annex B));
— tidal conditions regarding sanitary risks;
— heavy rains causing flooding, flow of discharged water and material onto the beach, temporary poor water quality;
— the physical characteristics of the beach (e.g. surfaces, man-made structures, rocks);
— coastal erosion and flooding;
— flora and fauna including marine life;
— installations and equipment associated with services provided at the beach;
— basic safety information and warnings.
The result of applying each criterion set out in the above list shall be based on objective evidence that allows verification of the results of any evaluation carried out.
The bathing water quality should comply with the quality guidelines defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) (see Reference [7]).
4.5.2 Emergency planning
The beach operator shall:
a) establish and document specific plans for emergency situations in order to prevent and reduce the impact and risks that are associated with them; these plans shall include:
— identification of resources to address emergency situations;
— identification and definition of responsibilities and authorities related to the responses in these situations;
b) have the emergency response plan from stakeholders and establish systems to coordinate with them;
c) have the necessary resources to address emergency plans;
d) check and record the effectiveness of the emergency plans in a practice exercise each year and every time that an accident or emergency situation arises, and revise them accordingly;
e) communicate the updated emergency plan to the emergency services controller.