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Is Your Swimming Pool Baby Safe?
Pool Owners are advised to install Pool Safety Fences to protect children following the Pool Safety Bill passed by French parliament.
Pool security: legislation and safety tips for Holiday Homes in France
What to do since the Raffarin law was passed last December.
On 19 December 2002, the French parliament passed the “Raffarin Law” regarding the usage of security systems around swimming pools. The objective of this law is to prevent people and especially children from drowning in private swimming pools.
Swimming pools are intended to provide many hours of enjoyment, fun and relaxation. Unfortunately a swimming pool can also be the cause of a tragedy if basic safety rules are not applied. A recent CSIP study showed that 28% of accidents take place in a swimming pool and 17% of these accidents are fatal. People most likely to drown in swimming pools are children under 5: they usually fall in quietly and sink to the bottom, they don’t shout for help and even if they know how to make swimming movements, they can’t stay afloat because their muscles aren’t strong enough. It takes a young child as little as 3 minutes to drown and die. When a child is life-saved, it can suffer from irreversible brain damage due to the lack of oxygen. In France, the Raffarin Law has been passed in order to help prevent these sorts of accidents from happening in private outdoor pools. This has major implications for anyone owning a holiday home with a Pool.
The law and its consequences
The “Raffarin law” passed on 19 December 2002 consists in obliging pool owners to install a standardized security system (“dispositif de sécurité normalisé”) for their swimming pool.
This law applies to in-ground outdoor pools (for public or private use), but it does not apply to indoor pools, and above-ground or on-ground pools.
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For pools built in 2003 or for property rentals, a standardized security system must be installed before January 1st 2004.
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For the rest, a standardized security system must be installed before 1st January 2006.
The penalty for breaking this law is a € 45,000 fine.
A list of appropriate security systems has been made public.
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Enclosures/Fences
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Reinforced pool covers
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Drowning alarms
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Pool shelters
Safety Fences/Enclosures
Rollaway Pool Fencing has proven, over the past thirty years, to be the most practical and effective barrier against pool drowning.
The concept is simple. Isolate the pool from your home and eliminate all access to the water by a toddler. For the pool to be truly isolated and the barriers serve effectively, there must not be a reason to open the pool fence other than to use or service the pool itself. That means not having to open the pool fence to go out a screen enclosure door or into your backyard. These areas should be accessible to you without opening the swimming pool fence. The more times a fence is opened, for a reason other than to use the pool, the greater the possibility that it will be left open for whatever reason.
Rollaway Pool Fencing is constructed of see through, polyester mesh mounted on aluminum support poles. The fence is placed into aluminum or plastic sleeves installed into your deck surface. The bottom border of the fence material should be flush to your deck so as to prevent a child from pushing under. The basic principal that keeps pool fences in place is bilateral tension and the fence should be checked periodically to insure that you have benefit of its full function.
A standard pool fence is removable in approximately 4 metre sections. Each section can easily be rolled up and weighs only 5kg. The average one 30 metre fence can be removed in less than fifteen minutes and be put back up in approximately the same amount of time. Most fences, however, are never taken down until children in the home are old enough not to require this safe guard any longer.
The advantages of Pool Fencing are:
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Their price: they are extremely economical
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They are easy to install
www.saferpools.co.uk are main distributors for Protect-A-Child Pool Fence Systems for the UK and France. Visit the website at www.saferpools.co.uk to view details and prices
Pool Alarms
For as little as £215, you can equip your pool with an alarm. There are 2 types of pool alarms available on the market:
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Alarms that detect when something/somebody falls in the water (a)
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Alarms that detect when the Pool cover is disturbed (b)
PoolGuard (a)
The PoolGuard Alarm is the World Leader, and the only pool alarm in the world with a 3 year warranty. Rated "safest and most reliable pool alarm" in a study of the CPSC (US Consumer Products and Safety Commission) The NEW model PGRM-2 introduces 'Negative Displacement Technology', a new sensing method that requires no adjustments. If a child of more than 7 kg falls into a pool, this is detected by the unit's electronic sensor, and sets off a loud, pulsating alarm both in the home and at the pool.
Safe, simple, and easy to operate, the 9-volt battery powered alarm does not require tie-downs, ropes or wires. Operating mode: the pool alarm is activated automatically when placed into the pool. Once activated, the alarm will sound if the unit is removed from the pool. One unit watches a pool up to 74 sqm. in area. If more, 2 units are needed. The remote receiver is plugged in the house, up to 60 metres from the pool alarm.
Pool Safety Alarm (b)
The Pool Safety Alarm is a very useful tool in the overall approach to safety around a swimming pool. It is a self contained, wire free alarm system.
It's general principle is to activate if there is any sharp or major vibrations or disturbance of the Pool cover, whatever type of cover it may be whether a solid automatic cover or a solar cover, winter debris cover or even an above ground cover where we have a specific product.
It has a childproof switch and emits a very loud audible noise. It has been tested in various conditions and is shown that wind, rain and other climatic conditions do not disturb the alarm from working effectively , assuming correct installation of the cover. It is easy to install and easy to remove when the pool is required for use. Made of high quality die cast aluminium it is both robust and resistant in the harsh pool environment.
Visit the website at www.saferpools.co.uk to view details and prices
Pool Safety Covers
A Pool Safety cover either covers the surface of water or covers the pool and its edge, reinforced pool covers have the advantage of closing the pool off completely. Floating lightweight solar covers (used to regulate the temperature of the water in the summer) are extremely dangerous and do not qualify as reinforced pool covers: they have been the first cause of death by drowning in swimming pools. The reinforced pool cover must be able to support the weight of an adult or a child. There are several different designs on the market, we recommend the following designs:
SaferPools offer a Pool Safety Cover that rolls out telescopically over the pool. It covers the surface of the water and the edges. It has an aluminium frame that is covered with a vinyl sheet. When it is rolled away, it fits into a case on one end of the pool. Manual and automatic version are available.
The advantages of the Pool Safety Cover:
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esthetics: it’s very discreet once it is rolled away
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it is totally safe for children adults and pets
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it can be adapted to all shapes and sizes of pools
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it can be added to an existing pool
Visit the website at www.saferpools.co.uk to view details and prices
What's next?
Holiday Home Owners in France must have Pool Safety installed this season
For owners of properties with pools in France and for people who will be renting their property this season, we recommend you to contact Safer Pools (www.saferpools.co.uk) without delay to ensure your pool has adequate safety provision for you and your guests.
Pool Safety Fencing, Pool alarms and Safety Covers can all be self-installed and Safer Pools can deliver orders directly to your holiday home in France. Stocks are available for immediate shipment.
For more information
Visit or website at www.saferpools.co.uk to view pictures, more details, prices and how to order.
This article courtesy of http://siteforswimmingpools.com.
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