Residential swimming pools are more dangerous than the ocean
Statistics from rescue services indicate more calls from water related emergencies and drowning from inland swimming pools than from accidents or drowning’s at sea.
SOUTH OF JOHANNESBURG – The new proposed safety by-laws for residential swimming pools, though controversial, are aimed at addressing the increasing statistics of children being injured or drowning in residential swimming pools.
Clive Humphrey, Managing Director of ADT Central Region, agrees that swimming pools should be better safeguarded and applauds the new proposed rule that no child under the age of seven be permitted to be alone in a swimming pool.
“We have always urged residents to take pool safety seriously and to be extra vigilant at ensuring that swimming pools are off limits to small children. One should never leave children unsupervised in the pool area and, remember when having guests over not to assume that their children can swim. Rather keep the pool area off limits if in doubt.”
The new regulations state that all residential swimming pools need to be registered with the City of Johannesburg, that homeowners receive a certificate of compliance and, that all residential swimming pools be surrounded by a wall or fence that complies with the National Building Regulations and, which is tall enough to keep a seven-year-old child out.
“We also suggest that your pool fence or wall has a self-locking mechanism that children cannot access or open,” Humphrey adds. A pool net or cover, within certain specifications, may be allowed under the new regulations.
Humphrey stresses that it is essential to make sure the pool net is in good condition. “A perished net will not be able to support a child’s weight and will tear should a child fall in.”
Domestic workers’ children often come to stay with their parents during the school holidays so it is also vital that domestic workers are properly educated on the pool area rules, especially if you are working or away. Better still, send your domestic worker for swimming lessons if they can’t swim.
“I cannot stress enough the importance of having pool safety measures in place in your home. Besides the physical safety measures you can put in place, why not equip your domestic worker with a panic button she can carry on her person. Having access to emergency services at the touch of a button could make all the difference,” says Humphrey.
