The National Pool Lifeguard Award (NPLA) is the recognised standard for the New Zealand Pools Industry. It provides recognition of the skills a person needs to know to work as a lifeguard in an aquatics facility. The award remains valid for two years from the completion date (as long a current First Aid certificate is held).

Whats involved?

As of 1 January 2008 the following fee structure will apply.

When	Who	Cost
New credit reporting for NPLA with a training agreement	Employees of Sfrito registered workplaces and Participants of public NPLA courses	$45 incl GST
Revalidation for lifeguards who already have the credits on the framework (no TA required)	Employees in workplaces	$10 incl GST

All credits will be reported through to NZQA. We will maintain the lifeguard register for the purpose of currency.

If an employer has signed a new employee to NPLA and then decides to sign them to the National Certificate in Community Recreation (Aquatics) (Level 3) the Trainee Registration fee applicable to that workplace will apply. There will be no reduction in the agreed fee because they have already paid the $45 for NPLA.

Credit Report Pads
New Credit Reporting pads will be available from Sfrito in February 2008. Return your old Credit Report Pads to us and we will send you an updated version or call 0800 737 486 and we will post one to you.

Information on these changes can also be found at www.nzrecreation.org.nz

SFRITO has occasionally allowed an industry exemption for these units to be assessed via 'public' courses to ensure a supply of qualified lifeguards for facilities. Unfortunately some facilities/assessors have seen this as an opportunity to profit from this exemption. Examples include large numbers of school students being 'trained' and then a Lifeguard assessor being approached to 'assess' and award the NPLA. Other groups have also approached aquatics facilities to train and assess people as lifeguards where they may have activities involving not only pools but also rivers and other aquatic environments. In most of these cases the intent, while worthy, has been to give someone the NPLA as a qualification rather than for employment purposes. This practice dilutes the purpose of the award and means people will hold the qualification but not actually be lifeguards. A lifeguard assessor may also feel pressured to award the qualification because the facility/assessor has been 'paid' for this.

The government has increased access to a programme called Gateway which is a transition work experience initiative for year 11 & 12 school students. This is a formalised arrangement between workplaces and the school where there is a commitment for the student to complete some 'on-job' training with 10 credits or more of unit standards. There is funding available for Gateway. NZRA & SFRITO believe this initiative is a great opportunity for facilities to work with their local schools to increase the available employment pool. 

This has to be managed well for the same reasons outlined above. The main questions NZRA and SFRITO will ask are around intention, motivation and scale of activity. If a fee is involved - it should not be about purchasing a qualification for a qualification's sake. It should be to give real skills to a young person to increase their employment possibilities. It is not appropriate for large numbers of people who are not actively employed, or intend to be employed, in the aquatics industry to hold an industry qualification.

If you are a SFRITO Registered Assessor and you want to assess a candidate who is not employed by a SFRITO Registered Workplace you MUST discuss this with your Industry Training Adviser first.

For a list of SFRITO contacts please click here.

NPLA Assessment Resource