Lately, pool owners have been investing in safety/security technology that makes home swimming pools much safer for children. This starts outside the pool. The best way to prevent injuries is to control pool access with gate doors. Gates that lead into pool or spa areas should be equipped with an automatically locking latch and closer, at least 5 feet tall. The latch must automatically lock the gate when it closes, and should be placed as high on the gate as possible, to prevent any children or smart animals from opening it.
The state of Arizona requires these gates to be at least 54 inches high, and be self closing as well as self latching. Locksmiths should understand the basic requirements for installing gate mechanisms since there’s no window for mistakes when lives are at stake.
Layers of Security
Like any regular doors or security protocols, protection of swimming pool or spa areas depends on multiple layers. It’s smart to position pools away from homes, so children can’t access pools by themselves through an easy to open door. Any doors that do lead into the pool or spa space should have built in automatic closers and latches. Just like the access gate into the pool, the latch itself should be positioned as high as practically possible, just to make sure that children can never reach it.
Fence Height
Any poolside chairs or any items that children could potentially climb should be kept inside the protected area, and all fencing should never be climbable. Any vertically oriented bars inside the fencing should be positioned closely enough together that small children or animals can’t squeeze through them to access the pool area.