University and SU launch ‘Think Twice’ water safety campaign

The University of Oxford and the Oxford University Student Union (SU) have launched a campaign to improve water safety awareness in Oxford.

The ‘Think Twice’ campaign follows a Conference of Common Rooms (CCR) motion in Trinity, proposed by Brasenose JCR. It aims to make students aware of hazards around Oxford’s waterways and communicate ways to access help.

The campaign urges students to pay attention to the temperature of water, which can be fatally cold even on hot days, as well as water level, which can change rapidly. Students are urged not to jump straight into open water, nor to walk, run or cycle through water where they cannot see the bottom.

Hazardous items can also be beneath the water, from rocks, rubbish, and glass, to boat motors that could catch on clothing and cause serious injury.

It highlights the danger of going near areas of open water under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and urges students not to enter water wearing non-swimwear and/or footwear, even where swimming is usually allowed.

Open water can also be a risk to health due to poor water quality and pollution. Thames Water, who provide Oxford’s water, were fined £122.7m this year for breaching rules over sewage spills into the river, and were ranked the worst water supplier in England this week.

The initiative incorporates advice from the RNLI and the Royal Lifesaving Association, and will be communicated to students through common rooms.

Discussions of the motion last term saw various JCRs highlighting the danger of “pushing trashing and celebrations to more remote or less supervised locations”. 

Students currently face £150 fines for trashing, which the University’s ‘Celebrate SMART’ campaign warns against. A spokesperson for Think Twice told Cherwell that the SU will be working alongside the University to ensure “clear safety messaging” around water.

Rory McGlade, the proposer of the water safety motion and Brasenose JCR President, told Cherwell that “with continued advocacy, [common room leaders] hope to encourage colleges across Oxford to permit celebrations to occur on site”. 

Allowing post-exam celebrations to take place in college grounds would mean that students “aren’t pushed out to the edges of Oxford near waterways, but are brought back into the fold in central Oxford, where the risks are lower”.

Speaking about the risks of many Oxford ‘traditions’, McGlade expressed his hope that Think Twice is a strong starting point for water safety at Oxford, rather than being an end goal. He explained that “the initiative will evolve throughout the year, following input and debate by common room leaders”.

The SU will report back on the progress of the campaign to CCR throughout the year.