Pool Safety Features: Talk It Up!
The pool’s been cleaned, filled and opened. The water chemistry came back in a snap, and the temperature outside and the water inside is just too comfortable to ignore. Even the sunlight reflecting on the water in your swimming pool is an invitation that’s hard to resist.
In the excitement of a new pool season, sometimes the last thing your children want to hear is a discussion about pool safety. That’s why it’s a good idea to make your safety review a part of the review of the features of your swimming pool. Take Kayak Pools, for example.
Railings that are at least 36 inches high on top of four-foot high walls, closely spaced pickets, a lockable swing-up entrance ladder and slip resistant decking… all make for a simple tutorial on your own pool rules.
Railings are high and support pickets are close together so that people on the pool deck stay on the deck, and people outside the pool have a tough time getting in. This is a perfect time to review your rules for adult supervision when anyone is using the pool. In concert with this—ask why the pool has slip-resistant decking. Your answer—it’s designed to prevent slips—is an easy entrance to the simple rule of no horseplay or running on the deck.
A swing-up, lockable ladder is a reminder of what? That we don’t let children and pets have access to the pool when it’s not in use—access to the pool is a privilege, not a right.
While this likely doesn’t encompass your entire set of pool rules for safety, reviewing the systems that are in place automatically with your swimming pool is a way to walk your family through a discussion of safety, and give them ownership and responsibility for everyone’s safety when using the pool.
It’s always a good idea to post your unique pool rules in a conspicuous location and review them with anyone using the swimming pool. Always follow manufacturer’s recommendations for care, maintenance and safe use of your pool. The above suggestions simply provide a common ground from which to start the discussion as the excitement for pool season becomes too great to ignore.