Fences & Gates for Swimming Pools
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), about 300 children under the age of 5 drown in swimming pools each year. Installing fences and gates for swimming pools may help prevent drowning and injury. Does this Spark an idea?
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Significance
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Fences and gates for swimming pools, the regulations and requirements for which vary from state to state, are installed to protect children from accidentally falling into a pool. This may lower the risk of injury and even death, especially when children are not supervised.
Swimming Pool Definition
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A swimming pool is defined by the CPSC as "any structure intended for swimming or recreational bathing that contains water over 24 inches deep." Not only does this include in-ground, aboveground and on-ground swimming pools, but hot tubs and spas as well.
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Fence Features
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Children shouldn't be able to climb a safety fence so it generally needs to stand at least four feet high and provide no footholds or handholds. The spacing of the vertical slats shouldn't exceed 1 3/4 inches to prevent a child from slipping through. The mesh size chain-link fence shouldn't be larger than 1 3/4 inches to prevent kids from climbing over.
Gate Features
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A pool's gate should be self-closing and self-latching and it should open out from within the enclosed pool area. The latch should be located at least three inches below the top of the gate and face the pool. Openings within 18 inches of the latch shouldn't exceed half an inch, thus preventing children from reaching over or reaching in to release the latch.
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