A pool safety inspector can help make sure your pool area has the protections needed to help prevent accidental drownings. This expert takes stock of your pool safety barriers, looks for hazards that may not be addressed, and helps you understand opportunities to improve protection for the sake of your friends, family, and pets. A pool inspection is often required prior to a home sale or seeking insurance coverage but it’s also a good idea to have your pool area checked by a professional periodically to help you spot any maintenance issues that need to be addressed and to help keep your protection compliant with evolving safety rules, regulations, and guidelines. The right professional services can be an important part of your long-term water safety plan for your backyard oasis.
The Importance of Pool Safety
If you own a swimming pool, safety has to be a priority. Thousands of lives are lost to accidental drownings every year and tens of thousands more victims seek medical care after incidents in and around the water. Many of these deaths are preventable, with the National Drowning Prevention Alliance finding that a lack of adequate safety barriers contributes to a majority of these tragedies. Modern pool safety equipment comes in a range of options to keep any pool protected.
- Removable Mesh Pool Fence – The latest in pool safety fencing, it provides a secure perimeter around your pool area but can be removed completely to create more room for relaxing or entertaining guests. The strong mesh fabric stretched between poles anchored in the ground provides no handholds or support for climbing, gaps are kept to a minimum, and the gate closes and latches itself to help deter unsupervised access without a competent adult.
- Swimming Pool Safety Covers – Once secured to anchor points or rails along the edge of your pool, this cover can support the weight of a full-grown adult. Made from a UV and rip-resistant material, it blocks off the surface of the water to prevent accidental immersion or unsupervised swimming by children and other at-risk individuals.
- Swimming Pool Safety Nets – Similar to a pool safety cover, these nets made of strong knotted twine are secured around the edge of the pool to prevent water entry. They work well even with non-typically shaped pools or when accommodating some pool fixtures thanks to their central tensioning system comprised of steel springs tensioned by a single cord tightened by the user. Potential drowning victims find it difficult to move far from the edge of the pool and are held up and out of the water in easy reach for rescue.
- Swimming Pool Alarm Systems – A common supplement to safety barriers, alarms can alert you to an open gate, pool-facing door or window, or even someone entering the water itself. While most will offer a traditional audible alert tone, siren, or shriek, increasingly, smart pool alarms will use your home’s Wi-Fi to also send alert notifications to connected devices when triggered.
Choosing a Pool Safety Inspector
Your pool safety inspector’s primary job is to ensure that your pool area–including your safety barriers– is in good repair, hazards are effectively mitigated, and that safety equipment is compliant with requirements in your jurisdiction. That means you need to ask a few questions before trusting them with the safety of your loved ones.
- Experience – Your pool safety inspector should have a wide breadth of knowledge when it comes to recognizing potential threats in your pool area, identifying possible solutions, and working with a range of pool safety equipment and technology. In addition, they need to understand both current and historical safety requirements. That way, they can recognize when something must be fixed because it is out of compliance and when an issue should be fixed because it is no longer compliant with current rules but may be considered “grandfathered in” temporarily from previous standards to allow the pool owner time to make updates. While both situations will be reported at the end of your pool inspection, they may have very different consequences for the owner.
- Licensing, Permits, and Certifications – Your pool safety inspector, as with home inspectors and most service contractors, will need to have the appropriate licenses and permits to conduct business. This can include both state and local documentation. You should ask if they are insured or bonded. While some states don’t require this of inspectors, many will carry coverage to protect both themselves and your investment in their services. Finally, ask if they’ve been certified for pool safety inspection and what body has provided the training and certification.
- Recommendations – Talk to your friends and co-workers who own pools about the professionals they trust, and check out online review sites to learn more about pool safety inspectors in your area. You want someone who is known for their competency and professionalism, whether they have good news or bad news to deliver.
- Additional Services – No inspector should ever flag a safety item in order to create sales, but an inspector who sees an issue, has experience fixing it, and can get the job done quickly saves you the time of calling around to other pool pros and often the additional expense of lingering maintenance needs turning into larger repair jobs.
Make Sure Your Pool Is Ready For Safe Swimming Fun
Our local pool safety experts are ready to help you create a safer pool area that meets your family’s needs–just as they’ve done for your friends and neighbors over the past two decades. Whether you need a new pool fence installation, pool safety barrier repair, or a pool inspection from an experienced safety pro, we’ve got you covered with reliable, professional service. Give us a call to schedule your visit from your neighborhood Lifeguard on Duty installer today.
