The Telure Standard for a waterfront

Swim area boundary check: buoy lines, corner markers and depth transition

Work the boundary from the water or from a craft, not from the beach. Every buoy on the line and none adrift, sunk, faded or dragged out of position; line and float hardware sound with no chafe at the shackles you can reach; corner markers where the site's own plan puts them; and the shallow to deep transition marked so it reads from every staffed stand. Then check the line against the depth it is supposed to mark, because a line in the right place last month can sit over deeper water this month after the level rises. Weekly is the cadence because wind, wake, weather and swimmers move a boundary continuously, and the whole value of the line is that a non-swimmer can trust where it is. Record the finding against the registered line so the day it was re-set is a dated event. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Dock, ladder and swim platform walk

Walk every dock section, finger and platform end to end with your eyes down and then get a hand on the hardware: decking for lifted boards, splits, soft sections and protruding or backed out fasteners; edge trim, bumpers and cleats secure with nothing left to catch a bare foot; frame, hinges and connectors between sections tight; and flotation sitting level rather than one corner low. Then every swim ladder: tight at both mounts, complete to the bottom step, no bent or missing rung, and no movement under a hand pull. Weekly because all of this is walked wet and barefoot and worked by wave, load and thermal movement, and fasteners here back out over weeks rather than months. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Rescue equipment and guard stand readiness check

Stand by stand, at the stands as they are actually used: rescue tube on every stand that gets staffed, reach pole and ring buoy with its line at station, rescue board where it is meant to live and not somewhere convenient, and the backboard complete with straps present and the head immobilizer fitted. Read the AED pad and battery dates and record them rather than confirming they exist. Then the stand itself: legs bearing, seat and platform sound, no movement when it is climbed. Weekly because every piece of this is carried, used, borrowed and put back somewhere else during the week, so the count is only true for as long as nobody moves anything. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

PFD count and condition check, rack by rack

Rack by rack, jackets in your hands rather than counted from across the boathouse: the count against the rack card and against the registered batch, the size range still covering the swimmers and paddlers you actually have, and each one gone over for torn or hardened foam, ripped or sun bleached shell fabric, frayed webbing, seized or broken buckles, and a label still legible. Anything wet packed, on the floor, or drying folded comes out. Weekly because a PFD rack is the fastest drifting count on the property: jackets go out on trips, come back to the wrong rack, get lent to the next group and do not come back at all, and foam and webbing take a whole season of sun in one summer. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Bottom hazard sweep of the swim area

Sweep the bottom of the whole swim area deliberately, wading the shallows and swimming or masking the deep side, in a pattern that covers it rather than wherever the water happens to be clear. What you are looking for is what the last month put there: branches and deadfall carried in by a storm, dropped hardware, glass and cans, fish hooks and line, a rock or a stump uncovered by a falling water level, a soft hole scoured out at the drop off, and weed growth thick enough to entangle. Record where you swept and what you found, and open a corrective item for anything left in the water. Monthly is the cadence because a lake bottom is remade slowly by weather and water level rather than overnight, and because a sweep is a deliberate hour in the water that has to be scheduled or it is never done at all. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Buddy board, tag and headcount station check

Stand in front of the board and reconcile it rather than glance at it: every tag accounted for against the roster the waterfront keeps, hooks and pegs present and unbent, the ability colors still distinguishable and not sun faded into each other, the board legible from the furthest staffed stand, and the spare tag stock enough for the next group. Then check that the tag a sample of swimmers is actually wearing says what the waterfront's own swim test list says it should, because a tag that has quietly become the wrong color is the failure this check exists for. Monthly because a board degrades slowly and invisibly, one lost tag and one bent hook at a time, and only a deliberate reconciliation catches it. Telure records this check and its findings; the swim test list itself stays yours. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Guard stand sightline and zone coverage observation

Sit each stand as it is actually used, at the time of day it is actually staffed, and look at the water the way the guard on it has to. Glare off the surface at that hour, the deep side of the buoy line, the shadow under the dock and behind the platform, the area behind and beneath the stand itself, weed and algae growth breaking up the surface, and where a crowd naturally bunches. Then check that the zones as drawn still overlap with no gap between them and that every point in the swim area is somebody's. Monthly because sun angle, water level, clarity, weed growth and the crowd pattern all change across a season, so a coverage plan set in June is describing a different beach by August. Record which stands were sat, by whom, and what changed. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Watercraft hull, fitting and paddle inspection

Hull by hull, off the rack and turned over: gouges, cracks, soft spots, repaired areas opening up, and hull numbers still legible; thwarts, seats, gunwales and deck fittings tight; painters and grab lines present, sound and the right length; drain plugs and hatch covers there and sealing; and buoyancy chambers or flotation intact and dry inside. Then the paddles and oars: no split blades, cracked shafts or loose grips. Monthly because hull damage is cumulative and quiet, a scrape at a time on a rack of craft nobody turns over, and because the racks are the part of a waterfront furthest from where anyone is standing. Record findings against the registered hull. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Powered rescue craft readiness check

For sites that run a powered safety boat or a rescue watercraft, check it as a whole rescue system and not as a boat: hull and hardware, fuel level and fuel age, battery and kill switch lanyard, the engine started and run up to temperature with the cooling water flowing, steering and throttle free through their range, and the rescue gear that lives aboard present and secured. Then the launch: trailer, ramp, mooring or davit clear and usable by the people on shift tonight. Monthly because an engine that is rarely started is the one that will not start, and because the whole value of a powered craft is that it goes when it is needed rather than when it is convenient. A site with no powered craft documents that as an exception rather than passing the check. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Anchor, chain and mooring tackle inspection

Get under the water, or get the tackle up onto the dock, and look at what is holding the boundary and the platform in place: anchors sitting where they were set and not dragged, chain and rode for corrosion, wear at the links and chafe where it passes anything, shackles seized shut with their pins moused or wired, swivels turning, and the connection at the buoy or the platform underside sound. Note the scope you are seeing at the current water level, because a rode set for a high spring reads differently in September. Quarterly because underwater tackle degrades slowly and completely out of sight, and because getting to it means somebody in the water or the tackle lifted, which is a scheduled operation rather than something added to a walk. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Waterfront season opening and closing inspection

Twice a year, at the two moments the structure is out of the water and can honestly be looked at. Going in: dock sections, frames, legs, wheels, flotation, ladders and platforms gone over on the shore before anything is floated, hardware replaced rather than noted, the boundary set and its position recorded against the site plan, and the beach itself raked and swept. Coming out: everything lifted, drained, washed and looked at again with the season's damage on it, craft and PFDs cleaned and stored dry, and the condition each item is going into storage in written down while it is in front of you. Semiannual is not a compromise cadence here, it is the only two chances a year anybody gets to see the underside. Record the condition against each registered item so spring finds a description rather than a memory. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Open water staff currency review

Go person by person through everyone who works the water: lifeguard currency appropriate to open water rather than to a pool, first aid and CPR, small craft and rescue board sign-offs, powered craft operation where the site has one, and this specific site's emergency procedure, which is the one that never transfers from anywhere else. Record what each person holds and the date it lapses, and schedule renewals before anything expires rather than after. Semiannual because a waterfront hires on a season and the two reviews land in different places: one before the season roster arrives, one after they leave, when the off-season lapses are the ones that will surprise you in May. Telure records what you tell it and when it lapses; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's credential. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Full waterfront inspection (qualified person)

Book a qualified person once a year for the whole site: dock structure, anchorage and flotation, ladders and platforms, the boundary layout against the site plan and the actual bathymetry, guard stand positions and sightlines, the emergency access route an ambulance would use, signage, and the rescue equipment inventory against what the site's own operating plan calls for. File the report against this task, record who performed it and the qualification they hold, and open a corrective-action item for every cited deficiency naming who owns it and when it is due in the item note, so the closure of each one is on the record. Where your own jurisdiction, your health department or your insurer sets the frequency or the inspector's qualification, that governs. Telure records the inspection; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's qualification. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.