Health Canada - Pool Safety

Swimming Pool Safety (Fact Sheet)
From Health Canada - Consumer Product Safety website:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/cons/pools-piscine_e.html

Health Canada Product Safety Office: Halifax (902) 426-8300

Each year, many children drown in backyard swimming pools and in small kiddie pools.

Children are in danger because:

- They like to play in water.
- They move quickly.
- They can drown in only a few centimetres (1 inch) of water.

Why do these drownings happen?

- The pool is NOT fenced in all the way around.
- The gate to the backyard is NOT shut all the way or locked.
- A young child gets to the pool through a patio door or garage
door that opens into the backyard.

Safety Tips

- Check with your town or city to find out the rules for putting up a fence around your pool.
- Build a fence and a gate that will keep children away from your pool.
- Keep the gate locked at all times.
- ALWAYS have an adult watching children in and around the pool.
- Children under the age of 3 and children who cannot swim must wear a life jacket or PFD (personal floatation device).
- Send children to swimming and water safety lessons.
- Make sure lifesaving equipment and a first aid kit are handy.
- Take a course on pool safety, first aid and lifesaving skills (such as CPR).
- Have emergency phone numbers listed at the telephone closest to the pool. [Keep a phone poolside.]
- Make sure toys, garden furniture and tools are not near the pool fence. Children can climb up on these things to get into the pool. [Toys also attract children when pool is NOT being watched]
- To learn more about water safety and learn-to-swim programs, please call your local Canadian Red Cross Society, or the local Branch Office of the Lifesaving Society.

For more information contact Product Safety, Health Canada. Halifax (902) 426-8300