Ottawa’s planning committee has approved new safety rules that will require pool owners to lock their backyard gates when their swimming pools are not being used.
According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen, city officials considered four-sided pool fencing, but instead found unlocked or propped open gates and doors to pose a bigger problem regarding children wandering into a backyard and falling into the pool. Rather than having homeowners install new or additional fencing around their pools, the report says better results are more likely by focusing on restricting access.
Three-sided fencing, with the house representing the fourth side, is still permitted under the new rules; however, any gate leading to a public space must also be locked unless someone is walking through it.
These safety rules will update a series of regulations that were developed in 2001 and apply to all swimming pools with a depth of 0.6 m (2 ft). Further, new swimming pools under construction, which can fill with rainwater, will also require temporary fencing to restrict access. Hot tubs that have hard, lockable covers are exempt.
City council will review the new regulations on Nov. 14, and if approved, they will take effect January 2013.
