Swimming in pools is always a fun activity. Many people find swimming in pools as a great way to bond and relax. However, when people are having fun in the pool, the risk of accidents is often overlooked.
We must be careful and follow safety measures since everyone is exposed to potential dangers, which can be very life-threatening.
Nevertheless, no matter how dangerous this may seem, the situation is often preventable. This is why cannot forget the importance of pool safety.
Here are 4 reasons why pool safety is extremely important:
To Prevent Drowning
According to the World Health Organization, drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide.
It only takes 20-60 seconds for a person to struggle on the water’s surface before being fully submersed under the water. This means that drowning is a very fast process. Because of this, a person who drowns is often unnoticed.
Age is a very big factor for drowning. Usually, children from 1-4 years old are at high risk. Adults should always watch over children when swimming.
To Prevent Pool Drain Entrapment
There was a case where a child, despite being in the kiddie pool, still drowned. The reason was that she was sucked in by the pool’s drain which caused a major injury. The child had 16 surgeries but unfortunately, still passed away.
Pool drain entrapments happen when a part of the body or clothing is sucked in by an open drain. The swimmer is trapped under water until they are drowned.
Victims of this accident have suffered serious body injuries while others died.
To Prevent Other Injuries
Pools often have wet and slippery floors. Many are at risk of slipping and being injured. People must follow pool safety regulations. It is recommended that nobody should run near or on the pool floors.
Slipping near a swimming pool can also lead the person to fall into the pool which may cause them to drown.
Diving injuries can also happen especially when people are unsupervised. These injuries can range from back pain to spinal injuries.
In some cases, where the water is too shallow, the diver can accidentally hit their head on the bottom. This accident can cause a fatal injury or even death.
Swimmers must follow pool safety rules especially the “NO DIVIING” sign to avoid unfortunate incidents from happening.
To Prevent Penalties
Strict laws are required for pool safety. It is expected that every pool owner must obey the law.
If the swimming pool owner does not follow the pool safety obligations, it will be considered an offence which will cause penalties.
Different offences will have different fines ranging from hundreds of dollars to many thousands of dollars.
What to Do Now To Ensure Your Pool Safety
The answer is prevention. Above are the reasons why one should observe pool safety. As the saying goes: “Prevention is better than cure”. This is why pool fencing is very important.
A pool fence protects people from pool-related accidents because it restricts access to the pool. This means that people, especially children, cannot enter the pool unless the gate of the fence is open.
A pool safety fence is strong and cannot be destroyed by children or animals. It is tall enough so that children cannot climb to get in the pool. The fence gate is secure where children cannot open to access the pool unsupervised.
After reading this, you may want to ask yourself these questions:
-Is my pool safe?
-Is my pool fence compliant to the NSW laws so that I may avoid penalties?
And the most important question to ask is:
-Is my pool safe for my kids?
If your answers are all “YES”, it means that your pool is safe. However, if most of your answers are “NO”, then it is time for you to seriously think about your pool’s safety and take action immediately.
Once you have made the decision to do something about your swimming pool’s safety, here are the recommended actions:
1. If you do not have a pool fence, look for a reliable pool safety inspection and fencing company to have your pool inspected and have a safety fence built properly.
2. If you have an existing pool fence and aware of it not being safe enough, have it inspected and repaired. Remember, an unsafe pool fence does not follow the law and is an offence.
3. If you have an existing pool fence and think it is safe enough but doubt its compliance to the law, then you should also have it inspected. The fence may need adjustments to abide by the law.
After doing these, an inspector will double check your newly-built pool fence to make sure that your pool is compliant to the law and is, of course, safe for everyone. 