Owning a pool comes with the responsibility of protecting your family, from the potential dangers that come with it. This means monitoring your children whenever they are in the pool and installing a pool fence to protect them when you aren’t actively watching them. A self-closing, self-latching pool gate is an essential part of keeping your family safe and should be installed the moment your pool is opened for the season.
While having a self-closing, self-latching pool fence installed may make sense to many people, some may be wondering whether it is really necessary to go the additional step to have a lock installed on your pool fence gate. The answer to this question is yes. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends for pool owners to install a self-closing, self-latching, key lockable gate in any pool fence system. Even if you feel that a self-latching gate is enough to keep your children out, the added step of adding a lock will give you the security that your pool is completely inaccessible from authorized use by unsupervised children when it is not in use.
Accidental drowning is a leading cause of death for children under the age of five. Additionally, the majority of cases of an at-home pool drownings or near-drownings, occurred when parents were around the house or the pool area. The unfortunate reality is that it only takes mere seconds of distraction for a child to get into the pool area. Not having adequate safety measures in place can lead to catastrophic events for a family. And while a closed pool fence may keep toddlers out of the pool area, there is a risk of older children figuring out a way to open the gate. A locked pool gate keeps even the craftiest of children out of harm’s way.
If you already have a pool fence installed now is the time to install a lock on your gate. It is also a good time to check your fence and ensure it isn’t in need of any repairs and verify that the gate latches properly.
If you need to install new pool fencing, contact us today at (516) 766-5336. Warm weather is upon us in New York, which means now is the time to ensure your pool is a safe as can be.