Essential Pool Safety Tips For Summer

With the mercury rising, now is the time to get your pool ready for summer.

But there’s more to summer pool prep than cleaning out the filter and dusting off the sun loungers.

While swimming is a fun pastime, it’s important to remember it can also be a potentially dangerous one – drowning is one of the leading causes of death in Queensland for children aged under 5 years.

Here are some pool safety tips to make the most of the summer weather while keeping your friends and family safe.

Check your pool is pool safety compliant

In Queensland, all pools deeper than 30 cm must be registered, fenced and have a current pool safety certificate.

These standards cover fences, non-climbable zones, gates and latches, CPR signs and doors, windows and balconies. 

If your pool barrier fencing has a horizontal cross rail, this must have a 60 degree wedge, such as ClimbStop, fixed along the rails to make them a non-climbable surface.

Double check children cannot gain access to the pool from any nearby doors, windows or balconies.

Ensure gates are self-closing and only open outwards. You may need to oil and tighten the hinges if the gate isn’t closing properly.

And remember, even if your spa has a lockable lid it must also have a fence around it.

For more information, check out the Queensland Building and Construction Commission’s pool safety checklist.

Secure decorations, furniture and toys

Children and pets only need to be unsupervised for a few moments to be able to use moveable objects to access a pool area. These climbable objects include outdoor furniture, pot plants, step ladders and large toys.

To create a non-climbable zone around your pool, remove all climbable objects within 900 mm of your pool barrier and secure all moveable objects near the pool area.

Plan ahead for pool parties

Pools are great for outdoor entertaining, but a party also increases the risk of distraction for parents.

Royal Life Saving Australia recommends nominating a designated child supervisor during parties and gatherings is a way of ensuring that children are supervised at all times, find more information about home pool safety on the Royal Life Saving Australia website.

The drowning prevention organisation also recommends securely storing all pool toys out of sight and reach of children and never leaving toys in the pool area when they’re not in use.

Tidy up the garden

Your backyard should be your oasis, but landscaping can also affect pool compliance.

In Queensland, pool barriers must be at least 1200 mm in height above the ground level.

The ground level of garden beds along the barrier may reduce this height if they’ve been raised or grown over time.

Check your garden beds and reduce or remove them where necessary. It’s also important to trim any climbable vegetation on or near barriers.

Hear what Brisbane Pool Safety have to say about our 60 degree safety wedges

For more information about how Climb Stop can make your fence pool safety compliant, read about our durable, Australian-made fence wedges.