The hot tub contractors from Imperial Pools Inc in Decatur, Illinois understand that spending time in a hot tub is luxurious, but is your hot tub as safe as it should be? If you’re shopping for a new hot tub or spa from a reputable dealer, you can likely rest assured all of the safety mechanisms are in place.
If you’re buying a used hot tub or if you bought a home that had a hot tub or spa in the backyard, you need to ensure the hot tub has the correct and proper drain covers. As a parent, you have to be vigilant in keeping your children safe around these backyard bodies of water. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that about 300 children under the age of five-years-old drown in backyard and hot tub accidents annually.
Is your hot tub as safe as it should be?
The CPSC and swimming pool remodelers and spa and hot tub contractors and service professionals in addition to complying with local, federal and state municipalities have enacted safety measures that all swimming pool and hot tub owners must comply with and that a swimming pool professional must adhere to.
- The first is to have a safety fence around your hot tub and that it must be locked at all times when there are no adults in attendance. Working with your local swimming pool professional is the best way to make certain your hot tub is in compliance with the laws of your particular area.
- All spas must also comply with entrapment protection devices. These devices protect children from being pulled in and trapped by the suction of the drain. The protective measures cover various aspects including the installation of multiple drains so that one doesn’t have to do all the work; having unblockable drains; and back up devices. Any hot tub, spa or swimming pool with a single drain system must be retrofitted to comply with the new laws, many of which are covered under the Virginia Graeme Baker laws which were enacted when the little girl of the same name was killed in an entrapment accident in her family pool.
- Even if you have a fence, you need to have a ASTM-compliant locking safety cover.
- Consider adding a hot tub safety alarm that will sound if the cover is unlocked, removed or if anyone falls into the hot tub.
- The water of a hot tub can be simply too hot for a young child’s delicate system so you will want to limit the amount of time they spend soaking with you.
Give us a call if you’re looking for a hot tub or if you want to discuss safety and hot tub and pool service.