Incident figures for public swimming pools and beaches will be available on the Leisure & Cultural Services Department's website from July 22, and updated monthly.

Assistant Director of Leisure & Cultural Services Paul Cheung said the department keeps clear records of all categories of incidents to identify and rectify potential hazards in its aquatic facilities and ensure swimmer safety.

"Speculation that management has pared down incident figures to justify manpower reduction is totally unfounded since the number of lifeguard posts is not calculated on the basis of the number of incidents recorded," he said. "We will not cut lifeguard posts because the number of incidents recorded is small."

There are four categories of incidents - fatal, rescue, give-a-hand and accident cases. A rescue case is a "near drowning" case, or one in which an ambulance is called to deliver a swimmer to hospital, while give-a-hand cases include all operations in the water other than rescue cases, like exhaustion and cramp.

Last year at its 36 swimming pools, there were three fatal cases, 96 rescue cases, 1,535 give-a-hand cases and 414 accident cases. At its 32 beaches there were five fatal cases, 190 rescue cases, 751 give-a-hand cases and 166 accident cases.

In the first half of this year, 55 rescue cases, 818 give-a-hand cases and 166 accident cases have been reported at pools, while two fatal cases, 59 rescue cases, 494 give-a-hand cases and 48 accident cases have been reported at beaches.