December: the month for Australian summer with the 40-degree heat driving us to our great outdoor lifestyle of barbeques, backyard cricket and swimming. As we’re driven to our backyards and pools, the risk in pool safety also increases. And to raise awareness for pool safety, December is National Check Your Pool Gate Month – where it only takes 2 minutes to save a life.
The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2020 – which you can read here – showed
- 12 children aged 0-4 drowned in Australia
- 37% decrease in pool drownings from the year before, and
- 52% reduction compared with the 10 year average
And while the figures continue to improve, many of these drownings are preventable. The top reason a pool is non-compliant is when gate hinges and latches are faulty or do not comply, allowing those at most risk – being children aged 0-4 – to access and enter the pool area.
National Check Your Pool Gate Month calls on pool owners to check the safety of the pool area, fences, gates and latches, by making sure the pool fence is compliant to the Australian act, and NSW standards and regulations, while gate latches are safety installed and working. Check Your Pool Gate raises awareness for pool safety – and how easy it is to be pool safe.
You could read through
Swimming Pools Regulation 2018
Swimming Pool Australia Standard 2012
Swimming Pools Regulation 2008
Swimming Pool Australian Standard 2007
Swimming Pools Act 1992, and
Swimming Pool Australian Standard 1986
(happy reading there)
Or, you could spend
- 60 seconds reading through the PoolSS Mini Pool Safety Checklist, and
- 60 seconds checking your pool gate latch and fence
That’s just 2 minutes to save a life.
The PoolSS Mini Pool Safety Checklist
Pool fence is at least 1200mm tall
CPR chart within 3m of the pool barrier
Gate latch is 1500mm above the ground and out of reach to prevent reaching under or over the gate to pull at the latch knob
No gap bigger than 100mm at the bottom of the pool fence from the finished ground level.
No gaps bigger than 100mm between vertical bars in the fence or barrier with horizontal or diagonal fence or gate rails that can be used as footholds to climb the gateb
No climbable items or objects within the pool area to allow climbing the pool fence; such as washing lines, barbeques, chairs, tables, ladders, toys or pot plants.
Disclaimer: Our PoolSS Mini Pool Safety Checklist is a guide only, and does not constitute acknowledgment or approval of compliance or safety. We recommend you Book An Inspection with our pool safety inspector to carry out an inspection confirming if your pool is compliant.
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