Kingston River Safety Forum
Find out about the forum and share best practices for water safety.
About the forum
The Kingston River Safety Forum (KRSF) is a non-statutory group that review and improve the water safety measures along the River Thames that passes through Kingston.
The group is chaired by the Resilience Planning team from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames council and has representatives from the following organisations:
- London Fire Brigade
- Metropolitan Police Service
- Environment Agency
- Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI)
- Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS)
- Kingston Maritime Volunteer Service (KMVS)
- Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
- The Samaritans
- Kington First
- Achieving for Children - Albany Outdoors Centre
- Kingston University
Providing rescue equipment
The Provision of Public Rescue Equipment (PRE) is vital in assisting water rescue missions.
Find out where water rescue equipment is available in Kingston using the map. [Add link to map]
Our rescue equipment includes the following:
ThrowBag Board
Throw bags are the lightest rescue devices to throw to someone in need. However the person in the water only has a small head of the device to hold onto. The 12 throw line boards will be installed by mid September along Kingston's riverside placed in key locations to have the biggest impact in helping to reduce individuals in the water.
All of the throw bags are 15m in length other than the one closest to Kingston road bridge which measures 25m in length.
Lifebuoys
Lifebuoys (also known as life rings) are effective where the casualty is particularly close to the shore or rescue craft. We have 16 lifebuoys in locations along the Thames.
Lifelines around the bridges
There are lifelines under Kingston Road bridge and Kingston Rail bridge as both locations are identified as hotspots for people looking to take their own life. As the road bridge is a listed building a solution was required that was not physically attached or fixed to the bridge but one that would rise and fall with changes in water level to be able to provide floating support for anyone in difficulty under the bridge.
These lifelines will provide support until emergency services can attend and complete a successful rescue. The lifelines were designed and installed by colleagues from Teddington RNLI. There are also plans to extend the lifelines so that they are also located on the riverside under the last arch of the bridge to allow a person to track along to a point of safety to exit the water.
Grab chains
Grab chains allow a person who has entered the river to have a hand hold, while waiting for rescue. Along Kingston’s riverside there are catenary sagging (horizontal) grab chains between Queen’s Promenade and Kingston Road bridge.
Yellow ladders
Escape ladders support grab chains and allow people to track along the grab chains until they can exit the river to a point of safety. We aim to place one of these ladders on either side of Kingston road bridge in the near future, in collaboration with the RNLI.
River safety training
Working with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) we provide throwline training. These sessions were delivered with the RNLI, LFB and Kingston First.
The training includes a classroom water safety session and a practical session where participants test their new found skills by throwing lines to people in the water.
