While pool owners have closed-up their outdoor pool for the winter, the Holiday Season is a perfect time to begin evaluating the safety of your pool area to ensure that the summer of 2015 will be a safe and enjoyable one.
While planning your upcoming pool season should be a delightful and encouraging project, it is important to realize how serious pool owners should be when considering the safety of their pool area, especially when children will be near-by.
Simply put, don’t be confused about fences, Ottawa: your child’s safety depends on it!
Did you know that 72% of children, who drowned in a residential pool in Canada, did so in a pool which did not have a fence, or that did not meet bylaw requirements?
According to the Canadian Red Cross’ research, children between the ages of 1 and 4 have drowned twice more often than children who were 10 to 14 years-old. Furthermore, according to that same research, the vast majority of children who drowned in Canada between 2001 and 2010 did so in private swimming pools—not in public pools.
More surprisingly, the Canadian Red Cross also surveyed Canadians in a telephone-research poll conducted by Ipsos Reid to find out that only 52% of the respondents believed protecting their child’s safety with a pool fenced on all four sides was necessary.
Pool safety does not need to be a complicated head-ache for residential pool owners. On the contrary, the most reputable companies that have been installing fences in Ottawa for years are the experts you will want to consult when evaluating the safety of the fence surrounding your pool.
For example, they might recommend installing a fence with a special child-proof latch that is designed to be out-of-reach for children, making it impossible for them to access the pool area.
These latches offer a layer of protection that ensure that a child who escapes an adult’s attention—even for minutes—will not be at risk of being in a pool area unsupervised.
It is also important to note that there is a specific bylaw concerning pool safety and required fences in Ottawa: this bylaw requires pool owners to build a fence surrounding any body of water that is deeper than 24 inches at any point, including ponds and hot tubs as well.
Don’t let your child be a drowning statistics that saw a drowning occurring due to an absent or improper fence, Ottawa. Speak to the experts that will see you ensure you have a wonderful and properly memorable summer ahead.
