Happy Memorial Day Weekend! This weekend marks the start of summer, despite what the Pittsburgh weather has in the forecast this year. Either way, summer brings about so much fun – sunshine, vacations, and the pool! Today we’re going to focus on the latter and ensuring that you stay pool safe this summer. It is especially important to take note when you own a pool at your own home to install some of these safety features. Keep reading to see how you can keep you and your family safe when it’s time to jump in!
1. Fencing
When you picture a home pool, you should always picture a fence, especially here in PA where there are strict fencing rules! In PA, inground pools more than 24 inches deep must have a fence on all 4 sides of the pool that is at least 4 feet high. We also recommend having a gate that is child-locked or has an alarm to ensure an extra safeguard. In fact, if the 4th ‘side’ of the fence is your home, it is required to have an audible alarm latch installed to the door leading out to the pool. We want to ensure that no children or pets can wander into the pool unsupervised!
2. Be Prepared
Before using your pool daily, have a checklist of safety measures that you can inspect. For example, check that your first aid kit and supplies are well stocked and nearby should there be any accidents, inspect your pool area for any slipping or tripping hazards, learn CPR to be able to assist during a crisis. After checking your pool chemical levels, store the chemicals in a safe and secure location.
3. Lay Down Ground Rules
Set the expectations for your home pool by setting some ground rules. These can be just like those that you’d find at a public pool, such as no running, no dunking or holding others underwater, no swimming without an adult present, and no diving in the shallow end. Make sure that all swimmers at your home are on the same page and are understanding of the rules. You can even have a fun sign created with your rules that is displayed in your pool area! Remember, pools are fun, but the rules still apply.
4. Appoint a “Water Watcher”
This one can be applied at a home or public pool and is very important when swimming with children! So what is a “water watcher”? A water watcher is the designated person during a group setting who takes on the responsbility of supervising the pool for any signs of distress. This is very important because we can have a tendancy to think everyone is watching all of the children in a group setting, meanwhile, no one is watching too closely. Appointing a water watcher can include having that person wearing a wristband or lanyard to remind them of their duty. This token can be passed around in shifts to different adults to allow for all to enjoy the pool, but it still maintains that someone is focused on the water at all times. Of course this does not replace a lifeguard, but can be useful at private home pools or community pools that do not offer those services.