Pool Safety Tips

 With the recent drownings that have occurred of late we thought we would put together a safety article based on our experiences and observations out in the field.  We get to see, firsthand, many different pools and pool fence configurations, alot of which would not pass a safety inspection and are down right dangerous.

“Drowning is the biggest cause of death for children below the age of 5 in Australia. In addition, for every child that drowns, many more are admitted to hospital and between 5% and 20% of these will suffer brain damage to some extent.”  

Pool Fences

 We have seen many things up against pool fences, the most memorable was a children’s cubby house that was actually being used to prop the pool fence up.  Make sure there is nothing close enough to your pool fence that could be used by children to climb on, and then over the pool fence.  Things that you may not even give a second thought to; trees planted too close that can grow and then be climbed, pot plants, outdoor furniture, bins, wheel barrows, piles of dirt, stacks of pavers, stacks of firewood, pool toys, etc.  As we all know the little monkeys don’t need much to climb on.

 Make sure children can’t squeeze underneath pool fences.  We have seen a number of places that children can, and have, squeezed under fences where dogs have dug to get under them.  It would pay to check the perimeter of your fence regularly, especially if you own a dog.

 We have also seen 240V extension leads weaved through the bars of pool fences, used to run the pool filter.  All that is needed is a fault, a nick, or a crack in the insulation (from being perished by the UV rays of the Sun) to make the fence LIVE.  This also applies to leads being run/hung along Colour Bond and wooden fences (when damp or wet from rain, or even worse splashed with salt water from the pool).  It also needs to be considered that if your Colour Bond fence is live, so is your neighbours’.  All power being run to the filter, or anything else for that matter (garden lights etc.), should be in the proper conduit and dug into the ground at the required depth.

Pool Gates

 This is a big one.  It has been suggested that over half of the pool gates in Australia have failed to pass even the most basic safety standards, according to a recent Survey by the Australian Consumers' Association (ACA).  We can attest to this, we would even put the number closer to 2/3rds.

 We have seen pool gates that are physically unable to be latched, tied open, wired open, propped open with pot plants (bricks, pavers, rocks, etc.), totally removed, permanently jammed into the ground unable to be closed at all, fitted with non-sprung loaded hinges, etc.

 A pool gate must close, and latch securely, by itself from ALL positions, even from resting on the latch itself.  If your gate fails this test you should get it fixed ASAP, sometimes it’s only a matter of re-tensioning the springs in the hinges.  We have most of the hardware available to repair, or even upgrade an old gate, in our “Pool Safety Page” at competitive prices.

 The most memorable experience we had of a child getting past a pool gate (which was actually up to code!) was watching a 4yr old little girl drag her small plastic play chair to the pool gate, climb up on it and unlatch the “Magna-Latch”, climb down while holding the gate open and stroll over to us to see what we were doing, all in under 30 seconds.  We seriously couldn’t believe what we had just witnessed. 

 So even if your pool gate is up to code it would definitely pay to use a latch that has a keyed lock, like the Magna-Latch, and keep it locked (and remove the key) when the pool is not in use and/or there is no adult supervision in and around the pool.  Maybe even keep play furniture, etc, locked within the pool area itself when not in use.

CPR Charts

 EVERY pool must have a CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) chart or sign prominently displayed and visible from ALL points within the pool area.  Don’t be afraid to book yourself in for a CPR course, you never know when it could come in handy to save not only your own children’s life, but even the lives’ of others, in any situation.  If the unthinkable does happen, call an ambulance immediately and don’t stop administering CPR until they arrive to take over the situation, even if you think it is too late.

Pool Alarms

  A pool alarm is a great way to add an extra layer of safety to your pool, not only for your children but also for pets.  With the Safety Turtle Pool Alarm System you can purchase accessories designed to be worn by pets, that might be in danger of drowning by not being able to get out of the pool after accidently falling in.

  On a routine hand-over of an existing pool to a new pool owner we discovered their drowned Pomeranian (small dog) in the skimmer box that had been drawn in past the Weir Door (which allows things in, but not out) where he couldn’t get out due to the Deck Lid being in place.  The dog had been missing for 3 days, the owners thought he must have just run away and felt confident he would find his way home soon.

  On two occasions we have had to dive into a pool to save a child that had curiously wandered into the pool area, where we had been working at the time, that were not being supervised by their parents.  Being Winter, on both occasions, they were dressed in heavy clothing and basically sank straight to the bottom where they surely would have drowned if we hadn’t heard the splash or had been getting something from the van.  A pool alarm (Safety Turtle) would have alerted the parents to the situation immediately, as it was they didn’t have a clue until we knocked on the backdoor presenting them with a wet, cold, and distraught toddler.

  So Just be aware that on some occasions people working on your pool may have to prop the pool gate open in order to get equipment, bags of salt, dirt, pavers, etc. into the pool area and that they may not even realise you have children, or that they have access to the backyard.  Also they will be more than likely concentrating on the job at hand and possibly not giving a second thought to any children that may be loose and unsupervised in the yard.