LCQ17: Manpower of lifeguards as well as lifesaving and first aid services
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Question:
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) is responsible for managing 46 public swimming pools, 42 gazetted beaches and five water sports centres across the territory. There are views that the manpower of lifeguards under the LCSD is insufficient, and the vacancy rate has also soared. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the establishment, strength, vacancies and mid-point salaries of seasonal lifeguards, full-year lifeguards on a two-year contract and civil service lifeguards in the past five years respectively (provided in tabulated form);
(2) of the respective numbers of summer days and total number of days on which public swimming pools, gazetted beaches and water sports centres had to be temporarily closed due to a shortage of lifeguards in the past five years (provided in tabulated form);
(3) of the latest vacancy rate of civil service lifeguards; as there are views pointing out that the continuous increase in the number of local private swimming pools in recent years has led to a growing market demand for lifeguards, what enhancement measures the authorities have in place in respect of lifeguard recruitment to address the aforesaid situation (including narrowing the gap in remuneration packages between the public and private markets); in addition, whether the authorities will reconsider reviewing the grade structure of civil service lifeguards;
(4) as the LCSD has launched a two-year programme of outsourcing the lifesaving and first aid services at six public swimming pools on a trial basis (trial programme) since September 2024; of the current progress of the trial programme; whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of the trial programme, and whether they will consider extending the trial programme and expanding it to all public swimming pools across the territory;
(5) as there are views pointing out that the cost of full-year outsourcing of lifesaving and first aid services is too high, whether the authorities will consider outsourcing lifesaving and first aid services only during peak periods of the swimming season and public holidays under a seasonal supplementary mode, or using the relevant outsourcing expenditure to subsidise lifeguards undertaking overtime work instead; and
(6) given that in recent years, the authorities have put on trial two different sets of artificial intelligence drowning detection systems at Kwun Tong Swimming Pool and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Swimming Pool respectively, but it has been reported that the detection system equipment has encountered problems such as cameras being blocked by swimmers and high system maintenance costs, what enhancement and improvement measures the authorities have implemented in response to such problems, and whether they will extend the use of the detection systems to all public swimming pools across the territory?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the question raised by the Hon Chan Pui-leung is as follows:
(1) Statistics on the strength of non-civil service contract (NCSC) seasonal lifeguards and full-year lifeguards from 2022 to 2026; the establishment, strength and vacancies of civil service lifeguards from 2022 to 2026; and the mid-point salary of civil service lifeguards from 2022-23 to 2026-27 are tabulated in Annexes I, II and III respectively. Since the NCSC lifeguards are not part of the civil service, there are no figures for their establishment and mid-point salary.
(2) No public swimming pools or water sports centres were closed due to lifeguard shortages from 2022 to 2026. During the same period, 25 of the 42 gazetted beaches had suspended lifesaving services at some point due to lifeguard shortages (the number dropped to 18 in 2026). The number of days of service suspension is tabulated in Annex IV.
(3) In recent years, the number of private swimming pools has continued to rise with the current figure standing at around 1 400, whereas the number of people joining the lifesaving profession has been on the decline, leading to an increasingly acute shortage of lifeguards.
In view of this, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has been actively studying and adopting various measures to increase and stabilise the supply of lifeguards with a view to ensuring the public can enjoy public swimming pool facilities.
In addition to hiring NCSC seasonal lifeguards for the swimming season every year, the LCSD has progressively recruited full-year lifeguards on a two-year contract since 2023 to increase lifeguard manpower. To remain competitive on the labour market, the LCSD has enhanced the remuneration package for contract lifeguards, under which the monthly salary plus end-of-contract gratuity can be as high as $26,900.
Moreover, the LCSD has launched the Combined Seasonal Lifeguard Training Scheme since 2023, which adopts a hire-and-train approach to provide full-time training and work placement. Under this scheme, people with no lifesaving qualifications may obtain the Pool Lifeguard Award and/or Beach Lifeguard Award, while existing Pool Lifeguard Award holders may further obtain the Beach Lifeguard Award and become LCSD seasonal lifeguards. To further expand the supply of lifeguard, the LCSD has, since 2025, been collaborating with the Employees Retraining Board to organise dedicated lifesaving training programmes with employment arrangements. So far, about 40 trainees have been appointed as full-year lifeguards on a two-year contract upon completion of the programme.
The LCSD has also produced a series of recruitment videos to demonstrate the items and the relevant requirements of the trade tests for lifeguards, with a view to enhancing recruitment effectiveness by helping people interested in applying for the lifeguard positions of the LCSD to fully prepare for the trade tests.
In addition, the LCSD continues to step up its publicity efforts, including disseminating recruitment information on the websites of various government departments, conducting publicity work targeting secondary schools, post-secondary institutions and non-governmental organisations, and placing recruitment advertisements in public transport, newspapers, electronic media and the department's website etc, to reach out to more people interested in working as lifeguards. The LCSD continues to actively participate in career fairs hosted by tertiary institutions, and disseminate recruitment information via the relevant email networks and messaging groups of the institutions to promote a career in lifesaving and encourage young people to join the profession.
Under the prevailing policy, when a specific civil service grade has proven and persistent recruitment and retention difficulties, or fundamental changes in the job nature, job complexity and responsibilities, the Government will consider conducting a grade structure review for the grade concerned.
(4) and (5) To address lifeguard shortages, the LCSD has outsourced lifesaving and first-aid services at six public swimming pools of smaller scale on a trial basis since September 2024 to stabilise the supply of lifeguards and maintain swimming pool services by leveraging the greater flexibility of private service contractors in lifeguard recruitment. Having reviewed the effectiveness of the trial programme, the LCSD considers that this arrangement has been generally satisfactory. As a result of the flexible manpower deployment by the service contractor and the rigorous supervision of the LCSD, all facilities at the six swimming pools have remained open for public use, and none has been closed due to lifeguard shortages. The LCSD will continue to implement the programme in the six swimming pools. Following a re-tendering exercise, a new three-year contract vetted and approved by the Central Tender Board came into effect on August 1, 2026, with an annual expenditure comparable to that of employing civil service and contract lifeguards. Outsourcing is one of the practicable measures adopted by the LCSD to ease the lifeguard shortages. In fact, as swimming pools differ in scale, types of facilities, and manpower requirements, the LCSD will carefully consider the feasibility of further extending the outsourcing of lifesaving and first-aid services to other public swimming pools having regard to factors such as the financial situation, complexity of operation, and availability of manpower in the market. The LCSD will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the outsourced services while maintaining close communication with stakeholders, with a view to continuously optimising staffing arrangements for swimming pools.
The LCSD has been striving to maintain aquatic venue services by adopting a multi-pronged strategy to flexibly deploy serving lifeguards. Specifically, the LCSD arranges sufficient lifeguards to be on duty at aquatic venue facilities that are open and makes special arrangements according to actual needs, including providing allowances to lifeguards working overtime during the peak swimming season (i.e. June to August every year). For occupational safety and health reasons, overtime work is voluntary to avoid fatigue at work. Therefore, there is still a need to engage outsourced lifesaving and first-aid services. Furthermore, as the contractor was able to provide a stable supply of lifeguards throughout the past two-year contract period, enabling the swimming pools facilities to remain fully open for public use, the existing mode of operation will be maintained under the new contract. Taking into account factors such as the operational effectiveness of the new contract and the availability of manpower in the market, the LCSD will carefully consider whether to adopt a seasonal supplementary mode for outsourcing lifesaving and first-aid services in the next tender exercise.
(6) The LCSD is putting on trial two artificial intelligence (AI) drowning detection systems at Kwun Tong Swimming Pool and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Swimming Pool respectively. Generally speaking, the two systems are effective in assisting lifeguards in monitoring the real-time condition of swimmers and promptly locating drowning victims.
With the rapid development of AI technology in recent years, the LCSD has continuously reviewed the performance and reliability of the relevant systems during the trial period. Drawing on the experience gained so far at the two aforementioned swimming pools, the LCSD is currently working with the Digital Policy Office and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to study other intelligent drowning detection solutions suitable for use at its public swimming pools, and is planning a trial run of the new system at the main pools of Morse Park Swimming Pool and Ma On Shan Swimming Pool. The relevant procurement exercise commenced in September 2026 in accordance with the Government's procurement procedures, and the installation works are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. Subject to its outcome, the LCSD will consider whether to extend the use of AI drowning detection systems to more public swimming pools in a progressive manner. Nevertheless, the LCSD has always accorded top priority to the safety of swimmers. With current technology, AI drowning detection systems primarily serve to expedite rescue operations by assisting lifeguards in monitoring the real-time condition of swimmers and promptly locating drowning victims. They will not replace the professional judgement and lifesaving duties of lifeguards.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:55
Issued at HKT 14:55
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