As we look forward to summer and being able to swim at our beaches and in our pools it important that safety measures are in place to safeguard against drowning. Adequate supervision, swimming lessons, and public education, can all help create a safer future for all Australian swimmers. It is also essential for all pool owners to review and enhance their on-site safety measures. Pool barriers play an essential part in this. Across Australia, there are requirements for swimming pool barriers, to ensure safety and prevent accidents among pre-school children. Standards Australia supports these efforts through its recently revised standard AS 1926.1:2024, Swimming pool safety Part 1: Safety barriers for swimming pools. The standard specifies the design, construction, components, and testing requirements intended to restrict children’s access to swimming pools and spas. Find out more here.
AS 1926.1 has been comprehensively revised to eliminate ambiguity and offer enhanced clarity and conformity for industry stakeholders and Australian homeowners. Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) was one of several organisations represented on Standards Australia’s technical committee CS-034 – the group that revised the standard.
The Royal Life Saving’s (RLS) 2024 National Drowning Report highlights a sobering reality: between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, 323 people drowned in coastal environments, inland waterways, and in swimming pools. Find out how to keep children safe around water and more on the RLS website. Find out about portable swimming pools risks and injuries on the ACCC Swimming pools (portable and inflatable) guide.
Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) engages with these and other safety issues through the CFA Standards Project, which supports representative participation on Standards Australia technical committees that set out specifications, procedures and guidelines. The aim is to ensure products, services, and systems are safe, consistent, and reliable, and meet a range of consumer expectations. Standards are the foundation tools for consumer protection, and an integral part of the way we protect consumers globally. Find out more about the CFA Standards Project and how to get involved. Find out how to get FREE limited access to Australian standards.
The above news post was written by CFA’s Standards Project Coordinator Regina Godfredson