Key Safety Rules to Have for Your Home Swimming Pool
As you prepare your swimming pool for the months of heavy use ahead, it’s a good idea to be thinking about some rules to maintain around the pool area that will help to keep you and your family safe. And while your kids may find pool rules to be restrictive, the rules will ultimately keep them safe as well as offer you peace of mind. Here are a few pool rules to keep in mind for when you are drafting out your own list for the pool at your home.
Shower before entering the pool.
One benefit to showering before entering the pool, of course, is keeping any dirt or debris that has accumulated on the skin out of the swimming pool. This can make for cleaner, safer water and easier pool maintenance. In addition, there is also the added bonus of helping prevent chlorine hair damage; hair tends to soak up water like a sponge, so it’s much better to wet it first with shower water to help prevent chlorine absorption.
No running.
This one is a given. Kids might have a tendency to run around in grassy areas of the backyard, but this behavior should definitely not travel anywhere near the swimming pool. The areas surrounding a swimming pool, typically paved with concrete or stone tile, are extremely hard surfaces—not conducive at all to falls. Moreover, these areas tend to be slippery and make the odds of falling while running immensely greater.
No pushing.
On a similar note, rough play should be especially avoided at the poolside because it, too, puts children at high risk for falling on hard, unforgiving surfaces.
No glass objects near the pool.
This is a rule that many don’t consider until it’s too late. While your vision of enjoying your swimming pool might include you lounging poolside will sipping a tropical drink from a cold glass, it’s best to keep glass away from the poolside because of what could happen in the event of accidentally dropping a glass. The broken glass will be incredibly difficult to completely remove especially at the poolside, and any pieces left behind have the potential of finding their way to bare feet.
The pool isn’t a restroom.
This one is self-explanatory, and it makes for cleaner and safer swimming water.
No diving.
How you frame this rule depends on the type of pool that you have. Diving should absolutely be avoided at the shallow end of the pool, but it may be permissible on the deeper end of your pool if it comes to a depth of at least 6 feet.
Have fun!
You likely invested in a pool so that you and your family could spend enjoyable time together, so don’t forget to include having fun in your list.
