Putting in a pool at home is always an exciting time for the entire family, but did you know that drowning is the biggest cause of accidental death for young children?

The Australian government released the 2015 accidental drowning report and drowning was ranked 57th in the causes of premature death in Australia and 3rd in the leading causes of death for 1–14 year olds. Most occurred in private backyard swimming pools.

You can reduce the risk of accidents happening by adequately fencing your pool and spa and ensuring that young children are supervised at all times.

One of the most commonly forgotten about aspects of putting in a pool is the temporary fencing needed during the construction stage. Even if your ‘in-progress’ pool doesn’t have water in it yet – it still poses a huge risk to your children and yourself. Temporary pool fencing panels are designed specifically to cater for pool safety during pool installation and construction until a time when you can have a permanent fixture in place.

Here are four reasons why your pool or spa must have fencing:

Fencing will create a barrier between your children and the pool

When considering the safety of your children, it isn’t only drowning that is a preventable tragedy. There is also the risk of your children exploring a construction site and slipping around the surface of the pool and getting injured. A fence will reduce the risk of injury and ensure that children only have access to the pool when an adult is available to supervise.

The safety of animals

It is extremely important to consider the safety of your pets, especially if they spend a lot of time in your backyard, where the pool and construction site is located. Your pet may not be as enthusiastic about going for a swim as you are, however pets are extremely curious and wandering and exploring could lead to your pet falling in.

Enhances the overall safety and aesthetics of your house

Pool and Spa fencing will not only provide a safe barrier for pets and children, it will also provide an overall barrier ensuring that there are no accidents when grandparents or play dates are over.

Choosing the right pool fencing can be a hard task as there are many different options from aluminium to steel, to glass and more! To really tie the design into the rest of your home consider what materials are available, what colours and the maintenance required.

It is Australian law

Pool and spa barriers are required by legislation for any swimming pool or spa in excess of 300mm in depth and must be maintained for the life of the pool or spa.

But did you know that pool and spa barriers are also required whilst in the construction period?

Fencing must be constructed in such a way to make sure that:

• The fence is an effective barrier to young children
• It is permanent
• Young children can’t crawl under or climb over it by using foot and hand holds
• It is at least 1.2 metres high
• Any boundary fences used as part of the child-safety barrier are at least 1.8 metres high on the side that faces the pool, with a 900 millimetres non-climbable zone at the top inside of the fence, a boundary barrier may be climbable on the neighbour’s side

With regards to temporary fencing you want to look for fencing which is hot dip galvanised and complies with Australian Standard A.S. 1962 when permanently fixed. When you have a young family it’s so important to stick to these rules and the law to make sure you keep your family as safe as possible. With winter here many people are considering putting in a pool for the 2016-17 summer, it’s a good time to consider these sometimes forgotten aspects.

Do you have a pool? Are you happy with your type of fencing? Let us know in the comments below!

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