The PoolWerx franchise, which sponsors the Royal Life Saving Society, is also supporting the Keep Watch campaign, aimed at reducing the number of drownings among toddlers over summer.

The launch of this year’s Keep Watch campaign follows the release of Royal Life Saving Society’s National Drowning Report, which, for the first time in five years, showed an increase in the number of Australians drowning in their backyard pools.

According to John O’Brien, CEO and founder of PoolWerx, the results of the Report are an unexpected consequence of the economic downturn. “It’s a case of the global financial crisis having a dark lining on its cloud. People are travelling less and spending more time holidaying in their backyard,” he said.

“Our commitment to target zero preventable backyard drowning deaths is shared throughout our franchisee network.”

There are two elements to PoolWerx’s involvement in the Keep Watch campaign. The franchise provides financial assistance to the organisation, and also implements a number of safety strategies including the free installation of resuscitation charts on pool fences and complementary pool safety inspections.