Children love swimming, so much so that sometimes they can get it into their little heads that they don't need any supervision when it comes to a pool and will occasionally just dive right in. Unfortunately the Consumer Product Safety Commission swimming pools are the second leading cause of accidental death of children under 5 years of age. While you can't watch your children at all times, it is a good idea to set up safety measures so they do not harm themselves, especially if you have a swimming pool. By installing a Denver pool fence you can have the piece of mind that no accidents will occur. The following 6 guidelines should be taken into consideration with every swimming pool.
(1) Any pool that is deeper than 15 inches will also require a safety pool fence installation, so unless you have one of those baby pools you are going to need a fence.
(2) Just as you must ensure there are not handholds for children to climb over the pool fence you must also make sure that there are no gaps big enough for children to squeeze through. This includes between the fence slates or any gaps where the bottom of the fence meets the ground. If there are any areas that could potentially cause concern you can simply drive some stakes into the ground to close those up openings.
(3) You must make sure the fence in not climbable. Ensure there are no footholds or handholds where a child can climb over the fence. If you are using a chainlink fence make sure the mesh size is small enough to discourage children from attempting to climb it.
(4) Any pool fence is required to be a minimum of four feet high, however it is encouraged to actually make them higher. Remember children love to climb things, especially when they want to get to something on the other side. Making sure your pool fence is high enough to discourage a child from climbing it will make your pool that much safer.
(5) When it comes to gates it is a good idea to make sure they are the same height, or even higher, than the surrounding fence. The gate must be self-closing and self-latching, meaning the gate is required to be spring-loaded so it will close on it own and the latch will automatically engage when the gate slams shut. The latch should be installed near the top of the gate, high enough that a child couldn't reach it. And you must also make sure that the gap between the gate and the fence is at a minimum, no more than one and a half inches wide, and that the gate can also not be climbed.
(6) A pool fence must be installed if the rim of your pool is lower than four feet above the ground. Basically any in ground swimming pool will require a pool fence. Although this requirement seems to make above ground pools exempt, it is still a good idea for the safety of all concerned to also fence off your above ground pool, regardless of how high above the ground it is.
Please note these are just general requirements for a pool fence. Before deciding to build a pool fence yourself it is advised to contact your local municipal office for actual regulations and bylaws.
Author Resource:-
Corey Rozon is a freelance writer in Ottawa.
This article about safety guidelines for a pool fence was written with the help of the Denver Fence Company
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