NEWS - Kidsafe NSW

Six Simple Tips to Maintain Your Pool
As a pool owner you are
responsible for ensuring the
safety of children in your
home and neighbourhood.
Summer is the time when
more people are enjoying their
swimming pools and tragically
this is when more drowning
incidents occur.
One of the main reasons for children drowning in pools
is because of faulty pool fencing. Protect children by
checking the swimming pool fence for faults,
particularly in the months leading up to summer.
The Children‘s Hospital at Westmead recommends you
use the following tips to maintain your pool fence:
Regularly check that the gate self-closes and
self-latches
Regularly check and adjust the latching device as
needed to ensure that they are operating
correctly and have not been affected by the
ground, fence or latch movement.
Regularly check fencing panels for correct gaps,
rust , wear and tear
Regularly check all fence
bolts, screws and fasteners
to make sure they are tight
and in good order. Any
loose bolts, screws and
fasteners should be
tightened or replaced.
Regularly replace springs
and regularly spray self-closing gate hinges, locks
and latches with lubricating oil or silicone to help
prevent many of the faults relating to self-closing
and self-latching gates
Make sure trees, shrubs, BBQ‘s, pot plants, toys,
ladders, chairs and other objects are not within the
90cm non-climbable zone on the fence and are
stored as far away from the fence as possible
For further information about pool fencing, the common
faults and how to check its safety, view the Protect
Your Pool, Protect Your Kids online video or
download the inspection checklist at:
www.kidshealth.chw.edu.au/projects/drowning -
prevention/swimming-pool-fencing
Inflatable Pools Need Fences Too!
Inflatable swimming pools are popular due to their easy set-up and low
cost. There are significant dangers that all pool owners should be aware
of.
Inflatable pools can be more risky than pools that have been built. This
is because most of these pools do not have fences and some are not
able to be emptied after use due to their size. Without fences, children
have easy access to the water in the pool, placing them at increased
risk of drowning.
From 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010, 33 children under five years of age
drowned in Australia. For every drowning death in NSW, a further 4-5
children were hospitalised as a result of near drowning in 2008-09.
Children under five years of age are most at risk of drowning, compared
to all other age groups, with about 50% of drowning deaths occurring in
swimming pools.*
Currently, no Australian data on drowning in inflatable pools exists,
however in America, rates of drowning in inflatable and portable pools
has increased over the years from nine cases in 2004 to 17 cases in
2005 and 21 cases in 2006.
By law, all inflatable or portable swimming pools that are capable of
being filled to 300mm of water or more require a four-sided fence.
Fencing improves the safety of your children and reduce the risk of
drowning.
*For references and more information on safe pool fencing visit
www.kidshealth.chw.edu.au/projects/drowning-prevention/swimming-pool-fencing
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