With the amount of waterside working that we do on the project, it’s important to ensure all staff are safe, looking after themselves and others.

Some of our work takes us in the river – like surveying and sampling – but, as the theory day reminded us, most accidents in the water happen when the person never meant to enter in the first place. So, any time we are on the banks, whether that be for planting, surveying or sampling, we need to be prepared.

Safety first

Morgan (Project Manager) and Richard (Catchment Farming Adviser) from Natural England attended a Water Safety Training course, which is a two-day course for a DEFRA Level 2 certificate. The course consists of one day of theory followed by a day of practical training.

The theory took us through some interesting statistics on types of accidents that can happen in the water, basic hydrology and the pros and cons of different safety equipment.

The DEFRA Level 2 certificate is a specific course that is a recognised level across all water safety training companies, so it’s a good benchmark and many training providers will offer an equivalent to anyone who thinks they may need it, which could include you. If you regularly spend time near water or in it, then it is definitely worth taking the time to learn how you could save yourself, or someone else’s life.

The river of LIFE

With the theory done, on day two, we were onto the practical. With lots of practice of falling in, defensive swimming, throwing lines, getting stuck in pretend debris and learning how to work in water using different safety and rescue equipment, the practical day was an absolute blast while also covering what is probably one of the most important factors in our work – keeping safe in what can be very dangerous and changeable conditions.

The practical day was held on the River Lune, in Cumbria, and the highlight of the day was finding a freshwater pearl mussel shell that had been washed up. This was an exciting find, as we weren’t aware that there was a population here, and so it has meant that we’ve reached out to the Lune Rivers Trust to extend our collaborative working.

It just goes to show how you never know what a day may bring on the LIFERever Kent project!

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