If you own a swimming pool, you have a duty under Florida law to take certain steps to keep your pool safe not only for your family and guests, but for children who may come onto your property without an invitation.
Following these eight safety measures can ensure your swimming pool is safe for the people you love. It can also help protect you from legal liability if someone drowns or suffers an injury on your property.
Here are eight things you can do to prevent swimming pool accidents
1. Install barriers such as fences or concrete walls to keep children and others from entering your pool while you are away. These barriers must be at least 48 inches high. Any gates must be self-locking.
2. Install an approved cover.
3. Install alarms and self-locking mechanisms on interior doors and windows leading to the pool from your house to keep your children and their friends safe.
4. Install non-slip surfaces on the pool deck, steps and diving board.
5. Install handrails on steps leading into your pool. These should be small enough for a child to grasp.
6. Mark pool depths conspicuously. Install a safety float line where the pool deepens.
7. Install pool slides and diving boards at the deep end of the pool. Ensure sure your pool depth is sufficient for a diving board.
8. Keep safety equipment such as shepherd hooks in an accessible location.
For more information about Florida’s pool safety laws, please refer to the Florida Swimming Pool Safety Act.
The law firm of Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, LLP represents people in the Miami-Dade area and throughout Florida who have been injured in swimming pool due to property owner negligence.