If you own a home swimming pool, safety is a primordial concern. Most submersion incidents and drowning can be prevented if safety measures are followed. Read further to learn how to ensure safety around your home swimming pool.
Is my swimming pool safe? This is one question that every home swimming pool owner should ponder upon. Every year, thousands of pool injuries and drowning cases are recorded by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. A great majority of these accidents involve young children. The sad truth is that many of these incidents could be avoided had pool safety measures and precautions been followed.
Here are some safety and security measures to ensure safe pool.
- Invest in effective safety locks. Make sure access to the pool is blocked when there is no one to supervise.
- Know and follow all local regulations on pool safety precautions.
- For swimming pools deeper than 1.5 ft, invest in having a fence or a four-sided barrier at least 4 feet tall, with a self-latching and self-closing gate.
- Use four-sided fence around any inflatable pool.
- Do not use chain link fences as they can be easily scaled, regardless of the size of its openings.
- Install four-sided barrier to any pool that is connected to a house by a deck for maximum pool safety.
- Gate alarms, pool alarms, pool covers, and other devices are not good alternatives for proper gates and fences.
- Make sure the pool filter is properly positioned so that it will not serve as a step so the fence can be scaled.
- Check the swimming pool for toys or other objects attractive to children especially after leaving the pool.
- While taking swimming lessons can help prevent drowning, they are not absolute prevention measures, especially for children under 5 years of age.
- Children in and around a pool requires supervision by an adult. This ensures pool safety measures are followed at all times.
- Some floating devices may not be effective as drowning prevention measure for children.
- Never allow diving in shallow pools, or those with depth less than 8 feet.
- Persons supervising children should know basic first aid, CPR and water rescue.
Pool safety should be a major concern of homeowners. If your home has a swimming pool or you have an inflatable swimming pool, be sure to check with your local authorities and follow their safety recommendations. It certainly gives you a peace of mind knowing that your kids and loved ones are safe while around the swimming pool.