Swimming Pool Chemicals
HOMEOWNERS will be forced to register their backyard swimming pool and have compulsory safety checks of fences every two years under tough new laws to be imposed by the O’Farrell government.
With at least six toddlers drowning in swimming pools every summer – and hundreds of other children falling into pools – the Government plans to crack down on families failing to make them safe.
The move will bring NSW laws into line with most of the other states.
The proposals would strengthen the Swimming Pools Act, which only requires pool owners to construct a fence around their pool without any ongoing checks on the condition of the fence.
The online state-wide register of the state’s 340,000 swimming pools would be held by the division of local government and record the address, type of pool, date of construction and the date of any safety inspection.
Safety inspections would be run by councils, and include all public swimming pools and those in hotels, resort and apartment blocks.
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The proposed new laws would make failure to register a swimming pool an offence carrying fines of up to $2200.
Local Government Minister Don Page said the councils that do conduct safety inspections of pools find that many fences do not meet the required standards.
“These proposals have been developed over recent months with pool safety experts with the aim of preventing more children in NSW from drowning,” Mr Page said. “Every child drowning is a tragedy as most are preventable.”
The new laws follow recommendations by Deputy State Coroner Paul MacMahon last year following an inquest into the death of toddler Ethan Corless in July 2010.
The two-year-old drowned after climbing through a gap in a poorly constructed pool fence while his mother was feeding his four-month-old brother at the family’s Pendle Hill home.
Mr MacMahon heard that 50 per cent of backyard pools failed to meet safety standards and he described the death of the toddler as “preventable”.
Mr Page said that the proposals reflected requirements already in place in other Australian states.
“The Government wants to strike a balance between improving pool safety for young children, while avoiding imposing unnecessary red tape on pool owners,” he said. “We are seeking comment from the public to make sure we get that balance right.
“There is no substitute for adult supervision of children around pools; however any inspection that uncovers a deficiency will potentially save a child’s life.”
Queensland and Western Australia already have swimming pool registers.
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