Before installing your high diving board, consider these safety precautions to ensure that you keep your family safe and prevent accidents at your home pool.
Safety Precaution 1-"No Diving" Zones
If you are creating a pool that will safely accommodate a diving board, then you should not allow diving in any other areas of the pool but the diving board. By doing this, you greatly reduce the risk of someone being injured by diving into your pool. Having a diving board generally indicates the safe place to dive and people tend to follow that if given rules.
Safety Precaution 2-Check Water Depth
For a pool to accommodate a diving board, it has to meet strict water safety standards. If you are planning on installing a diving board to your existing pool, be sure to meet with a qualified contractor that can measure your pool and determine if it meets the standards necessary for a diving board. If you are considering adding a pool to your yard, consider having a pool built specifically as a diving pool so that it meets these safety standards.
Safety Precaution 3-Beware of Lawsuits
In recent years, the amount of homeowners installing diving boards has dropped dramatically because of lawsuits that have plagued homeowners, trade organizations and contractors relating to injuries as a result of their use. Many contractors refuse to install diving boards and homeowners have been removing them because of added insurance costs and additional legal concerns.
Because of these issues, it is imperative that your diving board meets all the installation and product safety guidelines to lessen the chance of injury. If you have an existing diving board in your in-ground pool, when replacing the diving board, you should only replace it with the same type and length of board that has been made to fit the existing stand.
Safety Precaution 4-Make Sure It Meets Codes
Contacting a licensed professional that deals with diving board installation is your best bet to ensure that your diving board meets all applicable codes and is up to safety standards. There are two licensing bodies – the American National Standards Institute and the National Spa & Pool Institute Residential Inground Swimming Pool Standard – that can assist you in getting the information you need to make an educated choice about installing a high diving board in your pool.
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