The safety standards of domestic swimming pools 1980-1982

The accessibility and safety standards of domestic swimming pools were studied for a sample of 1118 five-year-old children. Comparison with data collected in 1980 indicated two major trends. First, there has been an increase in the number of children in this birth cohort who had a swimming pool on their property or on a neighbouring property: in 1980 31 percent of children were living on a property with a swimming pool or had neighbours with a swimming pool; in 1982 this figure had risen to 41 percent. Coupled with this increasing number of swimming pools there was a marked decline in pool safety standards. In 1980 one in five pools lacked any safety features whereas in 1982 nearly half of the pools surveyed lacked these features. This situation of an increasing number of domestic pools associated with declining safety standards may be a factor in the increasing number of child drownings in domestic swimming pools in New Zealand. The mothers were also questioned about their attitudes to fencing legislation or by-laws requiring adequate pool fencing and gates. This showed strong support with 86 percent of mothers being in favour of such regulations and only 9 percent declaring disagreement with such a move.