Do Your Own Inspection: Assess if Your Pool Fence Is Safe With These Tips
As a pool owner, it is your responsibility to have pool fencing that keeps children and pets out. Ideally, you should have your fence inspected at least once a year to ensure it is safe. You can easily inspect your own pool fencing to anticipate whether or not it would pass an inspection and to figure out what repairs you need to make. Here's what you should look for:
1. Self-closing and latching gates
There is no way to ensure that everyone who comes into your pool area always remembers to close the gate when they leave. Because of that, your gate needs to be self-closing and self-latching.
Leave it open. If it doesn't close and latch on its own, it's time to contact a fence repair person about installing a new closing mechanism or latch.
2. Knobs should be out of reach of kids
If the latching mechanism on your gate works, check its height and position. No one should be able to reach over or under the gate and access the gate's opening hardware. If they can, you need to talk with an expert in the arena of pool fencing to see how you should reposition your latch.
3. Nothing climbable is around the pool fence
This assessment should be done more than once a year. In fact, you should check that there is nothing climbable around your pool fence as often as possible. Daily, look for piles of kids toys or bikes that could make it easy to climb the fence.
Seasonally, look for vines, long branches or other landscaping features that could make it possible for a child to climb your fence and access your pool area without your knowledge.
4. No gaps under the fence
As the ground around your fence erodes, it may become possible for a child to squeeze under the fence. Intense rainfall or wildlife activity could change the ground around your fence so remember to check its distance from the ground at least once a year
Also, look for gaps between fence balustrades, and if you have a chainlink fence, make sure it is not sagging at the top in a way that allows someone to jump over it.
5. A secure fourth wall
If the fourth wall of your pool fencing is your home, you need to check that as well. If you have windows or doors leading out to the pool area, those need to be secured. Ideally, they should have an alarm that beeps anytime someone goes through them into the pool area.
For more help or tips, contact companies like Standrite Australia Pty Ltd.
