Water Safety Expert Witness

CV: Dan Jacklin

LLB, PGDip, MSc, LLM, LLM, SFIIRSM, FIC, FCMI, FIEMA, CMgr, CEnv, MEWI.

I am an expert witness for sports, leisure, and facility safety, including swimming pools, water parks, outdoor watersports, drowning detection systems, accident investigation, in-water play equipment, lifeguarding, and training requirements.

I have eight years of experience as an expert witness for aquatic safety issues in over 30 cases throughout the UK, Guernsey, Spain, Latvia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean. 

I am a commercial leisure advisor to the RLSS UK and a past director of the International Life Saving Federation of Europe. I was a Member of the ISO SW/136/8 technical committee and the liaison for EN 1069-1 and -2, which produced a range of leisure and water safety standards, including those on swimming pool safety, waterslide safety, wave machine safety, watersport safety (e.g. surfing, jet skis, paddleboarding etc.), floating play equipment, inflatable play equipment, open water safety, beach safety and Automated Monitoring and Detection Systems. 

I was Head of Product Strategy and a Management Systems Tutor at the British Standards Institute, where I developed a deep knowledge of British, European and International Standards. I have previously worked as a Head of Health and Safety and National Lifeguarding Manager for a multi-site leisure operator. I also run the Water Incident Research Hub, a resource supporting managers to run safe aquatic venues. 

I have extensively authored guidance notes and training courses related to my expertise, including the recently revised RLSS UK National Pool Management Qualification, Operator Guidance for the Safe Operation of Open Water Venues, and Guidance for Managing Non-Lifeguarded Pools and Sessions. 

Memberships

• Specialist Fellow, International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM). 
• Fellow, Institute of Consulting (IoC). 
• Fellow and Chartered Manager, Chartered Management Institute (CMI). 
• Fellow, Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). 
• Chartered Environmentalist, Society for the Environment (SocEnv).  
• Full Member of the Expert Witness Institute (MEWI).
• Registered Consultant, Occupational Health and Safety Consultant Register (OHSCR). 

CPD| I am up to date with all my CPD obligations.

Academic qualifications

• 2024, PhD Sport and Health Science (viva passed, writing up agreed amends).
• 2021, BPTC with LLM in Legal Practice.
• 2019, MSc in Strategic Quality Management.
• 2018, Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Consulting.
• 2018, NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health Management.
• 2017, NEBOSH National Diploma in Environmental Management and Assessment.
• 2014, LLM International Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.
• 2013, LLB Law.

Other qualifications

• 2018, ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 BSI Lead Auditor.
• 2017, WMS Level 4 Award in Legionella Risk Management and Assessment.
• 2015, NEBOSH National Certificate in Fire Safety Management.
• 2015-23, RLSS UK National Pool Management Qualification Tutor.
• 2013, RLSS UK National Pool Management Qualification.
• 2010-23, RLSS UK National Trainer and Assessor of swimming pool and open water lifeguards.
• 2008-24, RLSS UK National Pool Lifeguard Qualification.

Work history

• 2021-23, Director of the International Life Saving Federation of Europe.
• 2020-date, Editor of the Water Incident Research Hub.
• 2018-23, ISO, CEN, and British Standard Expert for Aquatic Safety at the BSI. 
• 2018-23, Head of Product Strategy at the BSI.
• 2017-date, Advisor at the Royal Life Saving Society UK. 
• 2017-23, National Trainer Assessor at the Royal Life Saving Society UK.
• 2016-17, Head of Health and Safety at 1Life.
• 2015-16, National Lifeguarding Manager at 1Life.
• 2014-18, Archivist and Research Assistant at Oxford University, Birkbeck College, and Warwick University.
• 2009-15, Lifeguard, Swimming Teacher, and Safety Advisor at Boston Borough Council.

Guidance and policy papers

• 2024, WIRH Audit Standards for Aquatic Safety Venues [Standard - Author] 
• 2024, WIRH UK Pool Safety Guide [Guidance - Author]
• 2024, RLSS UK Operator Guidance for Non-Lifeguarded Pools and Sessions [Guidance - Author]
• 2023, RLSS UK Operator Guidance for the Safe Management of Open Water Venues [Guidance - Author]
• 2023, CIMSPA Accelerating net zero is the key to saving the UK health and physical activity facilities from the energy crisis [Whitepaper - Author].
• 2022, RLSS UK Water Safety Insight Report 2022 [Policy Paper - Contributor].
• 2021, CIMSPA Coronavirus and its effect on Workers, Sector and Community [Policy Paper - Author].

Training courses and qualifications

• 2024, BSI Senior Management Briefing - Compliance Management Systems (ISO 37301:2021+A1:2024) [Training Course - Author]
• 2024, BSI Awareness and Requirements - Compliance Management Systems (ISO 37301:2021) [Training Course - Author]
• 2024, BSI Awareness and Requirements - Social Accountability Management (SA 8000:2014) [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Net Zero Discovery Workshop [Workshop - Author]
• 2023, BSI Psychology of Teaching and Learning Techniques [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Delivering Occupational and Vocational Assessments [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Inclusive Learning Experiences [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Fundamentals of Teaching Professional Skills [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Delivering Excellent Learning Experiences [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Fundamentals of Inclusive Products and Services (ISO 22458:2022) [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Internal Auditor (SA 8000:2014)  [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Lead Implementer - Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001:2015) [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Implementer - Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001:2015) [Training Course - Author]
• 2023, BSI Fundamentals of the International Standards Landscape [Training Course - Author]. 
• 2023, BSI Audit Programme Manager Briefing [Training Course - Author]. 
• 2022, BSI Requirements - Sustainable Events Management (ISO 20121:2012) [Training Course - Author].
• 2022, BSI Requirements - Energy Management Systems (ISO 50001:2018) [Training Course - Author].
• 2022, BSI Fundamentals of Social Accountability (SA 8000:2014^®) [Training Course - Author].
• 2022, BSI Fundamentals of Change Management [Training Course - Author]. 
• 2022, BSI Managing Flexible Workers (PAS 3000:2016) [Training Course - Author].
• 2022, BSI Advanced Occupational Health and Safety Risk Assessor [Training Course - Author].
• 2022, BSI Introduction to Statistical Process Control [Training Course - Co-Author]. 
• 2022, BSI Introduction to Psychological Health and Safety (ISO 45003:2022) [Training Course - Co-Author]. 
• 2022, BSI Managing Personal and Organizational Objectives [Training Course - Author].
• 2022, BSI Introduction to Circular Economy (BS 8000:2017) [Training Course - Author]. 
• 2021, BSI Road to Net Zero. Terminology and Principles (PAS 2060:2014) [Training Course - Co-Author]. 
• 2021, BSI Making a Commitment to Carbon Neutrality (PAS 2060:2014) [Training Course - Co-Author]. 
• 2021, BSI Implementing a Carbon Management Plan (PAS 2060:2014) [Training Course - Co-Author]. 
• 2021, BSI Carbon Offsets and Declaring Carbon Neutral Status (PAS 2060:2014) [Training Course - Co-Author]. 
• 2020, BSI Certificate in Business Continuity Management [Training course - Co-Author].
• 2020, RLSS UK National Pool Management Qualification - English Law version [Training Course - Author].
• 2019, RLSS UK National Pool Management Qualification - Irish Law version [Training Course - Author]. 
• 2019, RLSS UK National Pool Supervisor Qualification [Training Course - Co-Author].