Reduce The Amount Of Liability Your Pool May Pose

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As summer quickly rolls around, pool owners are getting ready to open their pools. While those coming to swim may be looking to have a good time with their family and friends, they may not realize the potential risk that their local pool poses. As a pool owner, you will never be able to completely reduce the amount of risk that your pool poses, but there are some steps you can take to reduce your liability. This may keep you from having to defend a personal injury lawsuit in the future.

How Much Liability Does Your Pool Pose?

Your pool not only provides hours of enjoyment, but it produces a high amount of risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), estimates that approximately ten people die every day from some type of non-boating drowning accident. This makes drowning the fifth leading cause of unintentional deaths in the United States. As you may imagine, many of these accidents take place at a pool. 

Drowning is not the only liability that your pool poses. There are several other risks involved. They are:

  • Strangulation - swimmers can easily become entangled in your pool cleaner lines, hoses, or pool toys.
  • Electrocution - your pool lights, as well as your equipment, can pose a risk of electrocution.
  • Spinal and neck injuries - every year, numerous injuries are incurred by swimmers who improperly dive, or dive into water that is too shallow.
  • Scrapes, bruises, and broken bones - when you combine wet, slippery surfaces with people who are not always paying close attention to what they are doing, you will always have a risk of falls, and more. 

Unfortunately, these are just a few of the areas of liability that your pool poses. Although you will never be able to eliminate all of the dangers that your pool presents, there are steps you can take to make sure your pool is as safe as it can be.

Make Safety Your Priority

As a pool owner, the most important thing that you always need to keep in mind is that safety always has to be your first priority. Here are some areas to consider, which may help you to reduce the risks to you, your family, and friends.

Make sure your pool has some type of fencing. Many of the newer freeform, and naturalistic pools on the market are being created without traditional styles of fencing. As a pool owner, this offers you a cleaner sight line, as well as more room around your pool,

Unfortunately, not fencing your pool offers a high level of security risk for people and animals in the area. Check your local ordinances to see what is required in your area. Many states, as well as cities, have ordinances and laws in place that will dictate if this is a requirement, as well as the height, and even the type of fencing, you are required to use.

Make sure your pool has the proper signage. Did you know that one of the easiest ways to reduce your level of liability, as well as protect your swimmers, is to ensure that you have the proper signs posted around your pool. Required signage also varies from state to state, and even if certain signs may not be required, they can be a good idea. You can find the information pertaining to your state here

Always ensure your swimmers are supervised. It does not matter how well a swimmer can swim, accidents can still happen. No one should ever swim alone. There should always be one or more persons who would not only be available to offer help, but to also call for emergency assistance.

Check your pool equipment - Make sure you keep all of your pool equipment repaired and in good working order. Keep any type of electrical appliances, entertainment systems, and more, out of the reach of the water. This will help to reduce the chances of any of your swimmers experiencing any type of electrocution.

Install non-slip surfaces around your pool - This will help to reduce the potential for slip and fall accidents.

Speak up when you see someone exhibiting unsafe behaviors  - Don't worry about being called a party pooper when squashing horseplay and other unsafe behaviors. By doing so, you may eliminate potential dangers around your pool.

Hopefully, no one using your pool will ever experience a serious accident. If they do, make sure you have adequate liability insurance that pays for the costs that could arise from such a situation. This alone may keep you from facing a lawsuit in the future.

For more information about avoiding a lawsuit or how to handle one if they do occur, you'll want to work with an experienced personal injury attorney. You can click for more info here. 


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