How To Hazard-Proof Your Pool Area
It’s no secret that children love swimming in pools; in fact, the right pool can be an endless source of fun for the whole family! But as with anything your children spend time around, it’s only natural to worry about their safety. All pools from Factory Pools Perth come installed with a child safety ledge, so you can rest assured of their safety in the pool. However, proper care and attention should still be paid to your poolside area in order to keep it at peak safety for the little ones.
Why Is Poolside Area Safety So Important?
Keeping your poolside area clean and tidy is important because it’s all too easy to have that area become cluttered and, consequently, a tripping hazard. Falling over near your pool could result in grazed limbs at best, or falling directly into the pool at worst. This risk rises the more guests you have over in your pool at once, particularly so with small children.
Let’s face it: there’s a lot that goes into a pool. You’ll be the proud owner of a skimmer, vacuum, pool pump, poolside furniture, pool toys, floatation devices, pool cover, and bottles of pool chemicals. As you can see, on any given day your pool area can have a large number of objects that could make navigating the area troublesome and hazardous.
However, cleaning up this area and keeping it safe is a relatively easy process. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 4 things you can do right away to hazard-proof your pool area!
Hazard-Proofing Steps:
#1 A Pool Cover Is An Easy And Cheap Way To Make Your Pool Safe
A pool cover is by far one of the best investments you can make for your fibreglass pool. In terms of safety, a pool cover will do two things:
- Provide a flotation device that anyone who falls into your pool can safely grab onto to remain buoyant, and avoid submerging themselves into the water.
- Will negate instant submersion into the water for anyone who falls into your pool. They will instead fall on top of the pool cover and be able to crawl safely o the pool edge.
A pool cover is especially useful for families that have multiple young children, pets or anyone who struggles to swim safely. It will reduce the shock and panic of accidentally falling into the pool.
#2 Avoid Tripping Hazards By Tidying Your Pool Area
As we mentioned before, cleaning tools and toys can make a dangerous tripping hazard if left unkempt around your poolside area. Ensure you avoid this hazard by stowing away any cleaning tools – such as skimmers and vacuums – securely and away from the pool edge. Coil your vacuum’s hose neatly, and do the same with an automatic pool cleaner as well. If your children are fond of playing with multiple toys, balls or flotation devices, ensure these are picked up and put away until the next time they are ready to be used.
#3 Keep Certain Objects Out Of Your Pool Area
Your pool installer will have explained this to you, but it bears repeating: glassware of any kind is not to be taken into your pool for safety reasons. This is because if the glass shatters inside your pool, the shards will be extremely difficult to remove and could very well injure anyone swimming. Moreover, removing shattered glass will require the whole pool to be drained – an expensive and time-consuming process. Avoid this by keeping glassware out of your pool, but also your poolside area, as any breakage could still be moved into your pool by accident.
This may be less obvious, but you may also want to avoid bringing any smartphone devices into your poolside area. Your iPhone could distract you while children are swimming nearby, who would require your attention and supervision. It is far easier to keep your family and guests safe if you – or another adult – have your attention wholly focused on anyone who is swimming for supervision purposes.
…Bringing an iPhone or smartphone device could distract you or anyone else who is supposed to be supervising children while they swim. Avoid this by making your pool area a phone-free zone…
#4 Follow Fencing Legislation To Keep Your Kids Safe
Many prospective pool owners have been known to complain about the rigid fencing laws required by the Australian Government. Although installing a fence can be troublesome, it is done in order to keep everyone that uses your pool safe. It is for this reason alone that you should following your local fencing laws to a tee.
A fence is required to keep unsupervised children out of your pool. Without a fence, children could sneak into your pool while you’re away or not looking and cause serious injury to themselves. A fence will prevent this, and also keep out your pets who may not be the best swimmers either!
However, your job is not done after installing your fence. In fact, you are still required to keep constant vigilance for any objects that may become too close to your fence. A Bench, step ladder or even a bucket – to name a few examples – could be used by a child as a ladder to climb your fence, if they are placed too close to the fence. To avoid this, ensure your fence is clear of any and all obstructions that could be climbable – this also includes nearby trees or parts of the house.
Lastly, although this is not explicitly stated in local law, you will want to keep an eye on your fence’s health. If part of your fence degrades over time, it could become broken and provide an entry for children to crawl through.
To summerise, you will want to keep an eye on your fencing for:
- Nearby climbable objects, such as trees or furniture
- Any repairs that will need to be made to your fence
- A self-closing lock to make sure the gate is closed after use
For more information on pool fencing, you can check the WA government’s site here.
Some Final Advice
These 4 safety measures can all be completed in the space of a few hours, vastly increasing the safety around your poolside area. Now that you know how to keep family, guests and even yourself safe around one of our pools, you can safely peruse our range knowing that you’re prepared! So, view our fantastic fibreglass pool range today and get in before the summer rush!
