Water can be dangerous particularly for families with small children, so each family with a hot tub ought to have some type of safety policy. This article will give some fundamental hot tub safety tips that can be adopted by families for the protection of its children and other members.
The first safety pointer for hot tubs is never to leave children alone with a hot tub full of water. It is not a matter of whether the child can swim or not. Children play, fight and mess around. They could fall over, bang their head, be knocked unconscious and drown. There are several scenarios where this could happen and it is simply better to not give bad luck an opportunity. Do not allow children in a tub on their own or even anywhere close by it if it is full.
It is fairly normal to have an alcoholic drink when in the hot tub in the evening, but be cautious not to become drunk. It is very perilous to get out of control or even fall unconscious when you are in or in water and this goes doubly for a hot tub because they are so relaxing. The warm water, the soothing motion of the water and too much alcohol or other drugs could lead to you falling asleep and drowning.
However, it is not only while you are in the tub that being drunk is risky, being a bit wobbly is arguably even more perilous when you are getting in or out of the tub because you could fall, bump your head and drown while unconscious. Never let anyone use your hot tub if they are intoxicated or stoned unless there are sober or straight people there as well. This rule ought to be applied to those on medication as well.
Another danger, be it ever so slight is that of long hair being sucked into the filtration and cleaning system. If a young child with long hair had its hair sucked into the drain, it could have difficulty getting back above the water line, particularly if it panicked. Another reason never to leave children unsupervised in a pool or spa.
It is a good idea to know how to turn the spa’s motor or pump off quickly, so that if there is problem with hair entanglement, you can release the child by switching the pump off quickly which should release the child.
The electricity leads to the tub will be pretty well protected, particularly if it was installed by a professional, but is worth checking every now and again that the leads are all still shielded from water, because as we all know, water and electricity do not combine well.
Also keep this in mind if you take any mains powered apparatus like a radio, TV or computer to the spa with you too. Locate all electrical devices well away from the spa and far enough away that they will not get splashed. They can be controlled by a remote device without any danger.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now involved with Hot Springs hot tubs. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Hot Springs Spa Parts