Swimming Pool Liability: Pool Safety Is Key

It's swimming pool season, which means that it's the perfect time to brush up on pool safety and, of course, the related topic of swimming pool liability.

Before you open up your backyard pool to family and friends this summer, it's necessary that you take the required steps to protect them as well as yourself.

Here's a quick primer to get you started.

The rules of negligence require that you act with the utmost care with respect to your backyard pool -- no matter what time of year it is.

Liability for Guests and Children

You are responsible for ensuring the safety of invited guests, and the failure to do so is likely to land you in court.

This is especially true if children are on your property.

What this means is that you must inspect your pool to ensure that it is in proper working order, as well as take safety precautions to ensure that your visitors don't get hurt.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests you do the following:

• Install at least a 4 foot fence around your pool/spa
• Use self-closing and latching gates
• Remove steps/ladders from above-ground pools
• Install pool covers
• Ensure properly functioning drain covers
• Use proper chemicals to avoid bacterial contamination
• Have flotation devices and reaching poles nearby
• Learn CPR for children and adults
• Closely supervise children

The lesson here is pretty simple: to avoid swimming pool liability lawsuits, you should spend some of your time and money brushing up on pool safety.

Related Resources:

• Pool Safety Tips for Parents (PoolSafety.gov)
• Take Caution to Avoid Swimming Pool Accidents (FindLaw)
• Pool Safety and Healthy Swimming Tips (FindLaw's Injured)