Introduction:
For almost 20 years, institutions at European level have followed an approach that looks first at the dangers and not at the risk, with the aim of identifying the correct working method. From this perspective, especially the self-monitoring, designed and enforced by pool manager, plays a fundamentally important role.

Objectives:
In order to guarantee the safety of the bathers, the pool manager must have full autonomy in organizing his own control system. However, the system must guarantee a technical-scientific approach to ensure the effectiveness of the system itself and allow meeting the hygiene requirements established by Italian national law and those set out in the new National Prevention Plan 2020-2025.

Methods:
Self-monitoring is a system designed to ensure the sanitary safety of pool users by applying a combination of defined measures designed to prevent, reduce or eliminate potential hazards in the pool environment. Self-monitoring essentially aims to: - identification of all the dangers related to health and hygiene safety, potentially present in the swimming pool environment; - prevention of the occurrence of such dangers through specific preventive measures and the definition of critical points or phases to keep under control; - development of control and monitoring systems for these parameters or phases and interventions in the event of anomalies and non-compliance.

Results:
Recently in Italy, a new legislative proposal has been drafted to update the discipline of the swimming pool sector and regulate those aspects not yet considered in the current legislation (2003 State-Regions Agreement). The self-monitoring system for swimming pools has been confirmed in the new legislative proposal and some new requirements concerning risk assessment and management have been introduced, such as: - identification of the figure of the Pool Manager, responsible for the safety of bathers and the Manager of technological/maintenance systems, as subjects that contribute to the safe management of the pool (in analogy with the 2003 Agreement); - strengthening the role of lifeguards in all public swimming pools including those in hotels, apartment blocks, etc. for drowning prevention; - implementation of the principles of self-monitoring in order to reduce also risks connected with the internal distribution systems, according to the article 10 of the Directive (UE) 2020/2184 on priority premises.

Conclusions:
The legislative proposal is currently under final review and consultation between the Italian institutional bodies.

Keywords: Recreational water, swimming pool, drowning

Emanuele Ferretti 1, Sonia Russo 2, Federica Nigro Di Gregorio 1 and Giuseppe Andreana 3 1 Italian National Institute of Health, Water and Health Unit, Viale Regina Elena, 299 – 00161 Rome Italy 2 Veneto Region, Directorate for Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary, ULSS7 Pedemontana, Italy 3 Coordinator of Lifesaving Section - Lazio Regional Branch - Italian Swimming Federation, Rome, Italy