Pool Safety Week- What's Your Pool Safety System?

What’s your pool safety system?

It’s great comfort when you own a pool knowing that it is safe for your family, neighbors, and any visitors that may be using it. This comfort comes from adopting and practicing as many water safety measures as possible. You never know how well a safety system works until it is needed. No safety system is foolproof, but each protective measure used in conjunction with adult supervision and other safety systems such as barriers, alarms and safety covers narrows the chance of incidents even further.

An outdoor swimming pool barrier is a physical obstacle that surrounds an outdoor pool so that access to the water is limited to adults. A successful pool barrier prevents a child from getting over, under, or through to gain access to the pool without adult supervision. It also gives parents additional time to locate a child before water can become a danger when they leave the house without supervision. Barriers commonly include a fence, wall or gate.   The barrier should be at least four feet high or taller and should not have foot or handholds that could help children climb it. Vertical fence slats should be less than four inches apart to prevent a child from squeezing through. If the fence is chain link, then no part of the diamond shaped opening should be larger than 1-3/4 inches.

Alarms are good to install on doors, gates, windows and pools to alert adults when unsupervised children enter the area of the pool without permission.  There are a number of alarms that can be used around a pool. Alarms can mount on the pool gate which are magnetized and switch the alarm on when the gate is opened. House doors that lead to the pool can serve as an extra barrier with an alarm. Pool-floating or wave alarms mounted on the edge of the pool sound when water has been displaced.  Check the alarm once it is installed that it can be heard from inside the home.

Pool covers add to pool safety because they give the message of “pool closed” for children. When properly in place over the pool it provides a high level of safety for children by inhabiting their access to the water. It is important to remove ladders and slides when using covers on pools. A cover should withstand the weight of two adults and a child to allow a rescue if an individual falls onto the cover. A pool cover should also be easily and swiftly removed from the water to respond to emergencies.

If you would like more pool safety tips or how to stay safe during the summer visit www.redcross.org.