POOL & SPA INDUSTRY
Happy New Year! BSPF Managing Director Chris Hayes highlights industry best practice, new collaborations and changes that lay ahead for the hot tub sector
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hat an action-packed start to the year there promises to be at SPATEX 2018, with top quality exhibitors throughout the Ricoh Arena, plus an excellent education programme (coordinated by the ISPE, with additional input from other esteemed organisations such as the STA, Swim England and PWTAG). Ross Alcock at the ISPE has again organised a tremendous workshop programme. There are also fantastic events taking place such as the Industry Gala Dinner on Tuesday evening and also the SPATEX party on Wednesday evening. The Industry Gala Evening will not only feature the 2018 British Pool & Hot Tub Awards and the re-presentation of the ISPE Awards, but EUSA is hosting the 2017 European Pool and Spa Awards on the same evening. These awards are the 5th annual event to celebrate the work of the 14 national pool and spa associations that are members of the European Union of Swimming Pool and Spa Associations. Our colleagues from across Europe are due to attend this event, and I look forward to welcoming them to the UK. Winners of the British Pool & Hot Tub Awards are eligible to be entered into the 2018 European Pool and Spa Awards, to be held at Piscine Global in Lyon, in November 2018. The national pool and spa associations in Europe continue to seek closer co-operation, and this is being extended to colleagues
from other places around the world. At the aquanale exhibition in Cologne (last November), there was a World Pool & Hot Tub Summit, and the result of a number of countries discussing ideas is the formation of a World Alliance of Pool and Spa Associations (WAPSA). It is hoped to work on a series of actions to strengthen the voice of our industry across the world, so I look forward to the next meeting which is being proposed to be held at Piscine Global in Lyon later this year. The European standard for domestic spas and hot tubs (EN 17125) has now been signed off and will soon be placed into the committee system ready for publication from September 2018 onwards. This work has been possible due to the close collaboration of a number of funding countries and other partners providing additional experts to ensure the standard could be developed. It has been an honour to be the Convenor (Chairman) for this group, and I would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to all of the experts (especially those representing the UK – Patrick Thorpe, Howard Gosling, Jatinder Sidhu, Mike McCague and Nathan Coelho). I would also like to express my gratitude to Juliane Jung from DIN who expertly guided us all through the standardisation process. Back to UK news now, and as the implications of ‘HSG 282’ (‘The control of Legionella and other infectious agents in spa pool systems’) continue to be understood by holiday park businesses, BISHTA continues to work hard with the hot tub industry to ensure they know what their responsibilities are regarding HSG 282. Information is available in the water hygiene management courses and also additional training for the holiday park sector is being rolled out this year. With all of the changes happening to
The awards evening promises to be an exciting chance to see who will be the BISHTA and SPATA winners and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the sponsors for supporting this event”
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spas and hot tubs, now is also the time to update the BISHTA Standards and a 2018 version will be available shortly. The BISHTA Standards will reflect the significant changes arising from EN 17125 and HSG 282, but will also see an update to the guidance created by changes in other documents. One of the changes will be to the document regarding electrical requirements for hot tubs, as there is a growing call by electrical experts for outdoor hot tubs to be earthed via an earth rod (electrode). More news is awaited from the updates to the Electrical Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) when the 18th edition is available this summer. Requests for the Electrical Awareness Workshops run by BISHTA continue to increase, with seven courses now completed and more planned this year. To check for availability and/or to go on a waiting list, please contact the BISHTA office on 01264 356211 or email admin@bishta.co.uk Both BISHTA and SPATA aim to support their respective members with information and advice, on pages 36 and 37, there is a feature on some of the services provided to members. My thanks are given to all of those members who kindly provided information for this article, and it should reinforce the benefits for existing members and give a useful summary for prospective members. Have a great 2018! DIARY DATES 2018 30 Jan – 1 Feb SPATEX Coventry 16 Feb BISHTA Technical Committee WebEx 1 March SPATA National Council Andover 6 March PIP Committee WebEx 8 – 9th March EUSA Meeting Gothenburg 13 March SPATA Technical Committee Andover 26 March BISHTA Technical Committee WebEx
A full list of Diary Dates is available on www.spata.co.uk / www.bishta.co.uk – look under the Trade heading
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