The Royal Life Saving Society is contracted by a number of councils around WA to inspect home pool barriers and to determine faults and areas for improvement. Since 2011, our pool inspectors have conducted over 32,000 assessments. If a pool fails an initial inspection, they are given time to make the necessary changes before being inspected again. Pools that fail three consecutive inspections are referred to the council.
Our research
We believe that better informing the public on common reasons for failure would allow for a more proactive approach to barrier improvement prior to inspections. This has great potential for reducing non-fatal and fatal drownings in our state. To achieve this aim, our research involves analysing inspections, determining rates of failure at each stage and clarifying why pools are unable to pass their inspections.
Preliminary results suggest that almost two thirds of pools pass the first inspection without a need for improvements. After the third inspection, only 8% of pools are referred to the council, having not made the necessary changes to warrant a pass. Investigations into failure reasons are still ongoing.
These results will be collated into a report and launched in the near future. It is hoped that the findings are used to guide council focuses on encouraging barrier maintenance among residents to ensure high quality home pools across the state.