QUESTIONS OF SAFETY IN THE INSTITUTIONS INTENDED FOR WATER HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

``Water-related injuries{\crqq} are the second most frequent cause of death of children in the Czech Republic. My thesis addresses the issue of safety in facilities designed for aquatic leisure activities. Within the scope of the qualitative research with the aim to analyze technical standards, to ascertain their observance and afterwards to analyze the injury risks I used the data collection technique consisting in secondary data analysis, observation in combination with photographic documentation and semi-standardized interviews. For the research I selected a swimming pool in České Budějovice and Aquaviva Wellness Centre in Aurora Třeboň spa. The reason for this selection was creation of a pilot study monitoring safety in these facilities in South Bohemia. The Czech Republic has technical standards in place that are applied to minimize the risk of injury to the largest possible extent in facilities like that. They determine the procedures that have to be observed during construction and subsequent operation of facilities designed for aquatic leisure activities. The provisions defined by the standards are observed in both facilities but in their substance they are so generalized that it is only at the operators{\crq} discretion to what extent the safety is to be secured by them. They should be more specified and applied concretely to individual units of the equipment in order to create a safe environment. As far as risk places in the facilities are concerned, it may be stated that, regardless of compliance with the requirements defined by the standard, there is a large number of risks related in particular with slippery surfaces. Within the scope of the safety evaluation, it is also necessary to take account of hazardous behaviour of users of the chutes. The results of the research indicate that in Aquaviva Wellness Centre in Třeboň safety is secured and complies with the requirements of technical standards and the prevention requirements; the swimming pool in České Budějovice shows more serious defects {--} the standards are complied with but the surfaces are not covered with materials that would secure safety. On the basis of my research and other technical studies that confirmed seriousness of water-related injuries it is obvious that the issue of injuries in this field will require modification of safety measures and more precise specification of standards and thus elements such as materials of surfaces that would secure the required safety