Memorial Day Weekend Pool Safety for Children

May 23, 2012 - PRLog -- Memorial Day Weekend 2012 is here and so is pool season!
North Jersey families are opening their pools for the summer season. Mybergen.com and Bruce Bagin of B&B Pool and Spa Center want to remind pool owners of the importance of child safety around the pool.

Beyond all safety devices and features, nothing replaces the ever-present, responsible adult who keeps an eye on children at all times when they are in your inground swimming pool.

It’s the law: Inground swimming pools and spas that have flat drain covers must be replaced with anti-entrapment covers. Inground pools or spas with broken, missing, or outmoded flat drain covers that are replaced with anti-entrapment covers can prevent dangerous accidents.

For further inground swimming pool safety, all your doors, windows, and fences leading to the pool or spa area should be equipped with self-closing, self-latching devices to keep the area securely closed and limit access by children. Inground swimming pool owners may choose to install a removable safety fence that is at least four feet high to temporarily isolate the inground pool when small children are around.

The State of New York requires alarms in new or remodeled inground swimming pools and spas, with the exception of inground pools with automatic safety covers and spas with approved safety covers. These alarms sound upon detecting accidental or unauthorized entry into the water.

To provide additional layers of protection around your inground swimming pool, owners should use a rope or float line to alert swimmers to the separation of the deep end from the shallow end of your inground pool. Rescue equipment such as a life ring and shepherd’s hook should be placed near your pool in an easily accessible spot and kept in good condition. At the same time, toys, particularly tricycles or wheel toys, which could cause a child to accidentally fall into the water, should be kept away from your inground pool or spa.

Again, the bottom line is that, even with all these layers of protection, nothing replaces a responsible adult to keep an eye on children at all times.

Bruce Bagin is the President of B&B Pool and Spa Center of Chestnut Ridge, New York.

You'll find more northern New Jersey Memorial Day 2012 news and event information on http://www.mybergen.com.