Swimming Safety Tips – How to Avoid Pool Accidents and Premises Liability

Summer is a great time of year, especially for people and children who enjoy swimming and other water-based activities. However, if you and your family are planning on spending time around the pool this summer, make sure you know how to avoid swimming pool accidents.

Types of Swimming Pool Accidents

Swimming pool accidents are not just limited to drowning. Other issues can include defective parts, loose handrails, lack of “No Diving” warning signs, improper pH levels and bacteria in the water.

One particularly dangerous type of swimming pool accident involves pool-drain suction. In these incidents, a person, usually a child or weak swimmer, drowns as he or she is held underwater by the suction of a swimming pool drain. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that from 1999 to 2008, there were over 80 pool-suction accidents reported. Of those, 69 resulted in injuries and 11 people were killed.

Another continuous source of swimming pool accidents has involved electrocutions due to defective pool lights. These incidents can result in catastrophic injuries and often death. In some cases, the lights are defective due to a manufacturing error. In other instances, a contractor may have failed to install the lights correctly. Either way, it is important to make sure that everything concerning a swimming pool, from wiring to pH levels to pool drains, is safe and working properly before you or your family dip a toe in the water.

Tips to Avoid Swimming Pool Accidents and Premises Liability Claims

Here are a few ways you and your family may be able to avoid swimming pool accidents:

• If you own a pool, hire a professional swimming pool company to prepare your pool at the beginning of summer and close the pool when the swimming season is over. Having a swimming pool professional inspect your swimming pool is a great way to limit the possibility of defects and other safety issues with your system.
• Maintain your pool daily or, at least, frequently. This includes clearing the pool of debris, such as leaves, and cleaning out the pool’s skimmer baskets. When a swimming pool’s pump runs water through the filtration system, the water goes through skimmers, which catch debris from the pool.
• Above-ground pool owners should put a chlorine tablet that is pH stabilized in their pool on a daily or, at least, frequent basis.
• Each month, you should collect a sample of your pool water and take it to professional pool water analyst to be tested for quality.
• Make sure that your pool filter, pump and heater are inspected for defects and maintained on a regular basis.
• If you have children who could get to the pool, installing a gated and locked fence around the pool to keep them out is a must. In addition, you may want to install door alarms and/or motion detectors on the gates leading to the pool.

For more information about premises liability and product liability cases and what to do if you or a loved one is hurt while in a swimming pool, give our Missouri and Illinois personal injury attorneys a call today. We offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, so you do not have to pay us attorney fees unless we recover money for you. The information provided by Walton Telken, LLC in this Blog is not intended to be legal advice, but merely provides general information related to common legal issues. This Blog, and the information contained within it, is Attorney Advertisement. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. Past results afford no guarantee of future results. Every case is different and must be judged on its own merits.