Material is adapted and reproduced with permission
from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
A successful pool barrier prevents a child from getting
OVER, UNDER,
or THROUGH keeping the child from gaining
unintended unsupervised access to the pool.
- The top of a pool barrier should be at least 48 inches above grade,
measured on the side of the barrier that faces away from the swimming
pool.
- Eliminate all handholds and footholds and minimize the size of
openings in a barrier's construction.
- The bottom of the barrier should not exceed 4 inches above grade,
when the measurement in done on the side of the barrier facing away
from the pool.
- All openings should be small enough so that a 4-inch diameter
sphere can not pass through. This size is based on the head breadth
and the chest depth of a young child.
- Gates should open out from the pool and should be self-closing
and self-latching. If a gate is properly designed, even if the gate
is not completely latched, a young child pushing on the gate in order
to enter the pool area will at least close the gate and may actually
engage the latch.
- The release mechanism for the gate should be at least 3 inches
below the top of the gate on the side facing the pool.
- Placing the release mechanism at this height prevents a young
child from reaching over the top of a gate and releasing the latch.
- The gate and barrier should have no opening greater than 1/2 inch
within 18 inches of the latch release mechanism. This prevents a young
child from reaching through the gate and releasing the latch.
When the house walls form part of the pool
barrier, passage through any doors in the house wall should be controlled
by security measures:
- All doors which give access to a swimming pool would be equipped
with an audible alarm which sounds when the door and/or screen are
opened.
- Alarm should sound for 30 seconds or more immediately after
the door is opened
- Alarm should be loud; at least 85 decibels when measured 10
feet away from the alarm mechanism with a distinct sound different
from any other sounds in the house.
- Alarm should have an automatic reset feature
- Alarm should have a switch that allows adults to temporarily
deactivate the alarm for up to 15 seconds
- Self-closing doors with self-latching devices could also be
used to safeguard doors that give ready access to a swimming pool.
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