Swimming Pool Safety Policies

Know the Facts

It’s scary to think that over three hundred and fifty children die in swimming pool drownings each year, with sixty to seventy percent of those drownings coming from ground-level residential pools. Fifty percent of those residential pool drownings occur in the backyard pools of neighbors, family members and friends. Clearly, in light of these findings, there is a strong need to discuss important swimming pool safety polices.

Possible Dangers

Let’s peer more deeply into these potential swimming pool dangers and discuss ways that you can keep your pool area safe.

Install a Fence

While it makes good sense to have a fence around your pool, few people actually have one. Not having a fence makes it much easier for unsupervised children to get curious about the swimming pool, something you don’t want if you’re not around to supervise. Here are some stay safe polices:

• Install a safety fence that is at least five feet high. A wooden privacy fence it a better option than chain link because it blocks sight of the pool and there are no foot holds for curious children to climb.

• The vertical slats of the fence should be no greater than three and a half inches apart.

• Consider installing a self-closing and self-latching gate that is no less than fifty-four inches from the ground up. These kinds of gates can easily prevent an exploring toddler from reaching up and trying to undo the latch; this is perfect for keeping them safe.

Door Alarms

Another tool in your safety belt armor are door alarms. Installing a Child proof safety alarm can go a long way in providing additional security. This way, even if your child, or a visiting child, manages to unlock a safety fence, you’ll be sure to know about it.

Many of these child proof safety alarms can be battery or electrically powered, and many come with a convenient keypad switch. Keep in mind that this keypad switch should be placed high enough on all doors leading from the house to the pool. The intention here is to make it easy for adults to disable the alarm, while discouraging youngsters from playing with it.

Chemicals Dangers

Chemicals like chlorine are designed to keep your pool algae and bacteria free. Some of these same chemicals, however, can be a hazard to your health. The following are some easy, stay safe chemical rules:

• Lock up any chemicals: A great way to keep everyone safe is to store all cleaning chemicals in a fixed location. Keep in mind that higher concentrations of chlorine gas can be produced when the chemicals in chlorine are mixed with water. The lesson here: keep chlorine in an airtight container and under wraps.

• Children free zone: Keep children far away from the swim area once you begin adding these cleaning chemicals to your pool.

• Place a sturdy cover over your pool during the off season: Research shows that young toddlers can drown in those small amounts of water that collect on soft pool covers. If you must use, add Styrofoam flotation devices to the water before putting the cover. This will leave less area for water to collect.

Common Sense Swimming Pool Safety Polices

One of the very best ways to prevent an accident or injury around a swimming pool is to simply teach your family some smart safety tips. Here are some common sense rules that will help you have a safe and fun pool season:

• Always supervise your child or children: This cannot be overstated. Never, under any circumstances, should you leave an infant, toddler or preschooler alone while near, or in, the pool. We know that this can be difficult to do, especially when the doorbell or telephone rings unexpectedly, but it is precisely times like these when you need to be most vigilant.

• Keep numbers in one place: By this we mean important phone numbers, like that of emergency services, and mom and dad’s work number. This way, in the event that something unexpected occurs, you’ll have all the necessary phone numbers right there at your fingertips.

• Lighting: Keep your pool well-lit, especially at night. Not only can this be a great deterrent against would be robbers, but it also allows you to quickly and easily see the goings-on in and around the pool area.

• Close and latch the gate: If you do install a fence or a gate, remember to close that gate! It doesn’t make much sense to go through the expense of installing a gate and then leaving it wide open.

Stay Safe

All in all, these are pretty simple swimming pool safety polices to follow. In fact, most of them are just good common sense. In the rush of everyday life however, it’s easy to get distracted and take your eyes off of your kids. In a word, don’t; instead, post a copy of some of these rules on your refrigerator at home or some place within quick reach. This way, no matter what, you’ll feel good about being prepared!