How To Prevent Slip and Fall Accidents in the Pool and Patio Areas

Nobody wants to become the victim in slip and fall accidents. The good news is that there are ways to prevent these accidents from occurring. Here's how.

According to the National Floor Safety Institute, floors and flooring materials contribute to more than 2 million fall injuries every year. Slipping and falling near a pool or patio can be quite dangerous and can make your pool hazardous. 

To protect yourself and your guests from these pool hazards, it is important that you find ways to prevent these accidents from happening. 

Do you want to learn how to prevent slip and fall accidents in the pool and patio area? Keep reading this guide for the top tips to follow to stay safe and prevent accidents. 

No Running

The most important thing you can do to prevent accidents around your pool or patio is to set rules about running. Running on concrete, especially when it is wet, makes it easy to slip. 

This can result in many injuries from skinned knees to more serious traumas.

While public pools typically have signs that prohibit running near the water, many homeowners fail to make this a priority near their pool. Even if you don't have signage, you must encourage your guests to walk slowly when getting into or out of the water. 

Otherwise, you may be liable for someone's injuries due to negligence. 

Use Appropriate Footwear

Something else that can contribute to slip and fall accidents around your pool and patio is not wearing the right type of footwear. For example, many people choose to wear flip-flops or other types of sandals to the pool, beach, or any other water activity. 

However, these can be a huge hazard that can increase the chance of you slipping and falling. When these types of sandals get wet, they become quite slippery. 

Instead, it is best to wear shoes that have a good grip when you are walking in areas that are slippery when wet. 

Keep Pool Equipment Organized

Having an unorganized pool area is another hazard that can potentially lead to a slip and fall accident. While it can be fun to have things like lounge chairs and toys near the pool, these can be tripping hazards that can cause someone to slip and fall. 

Other things, like pool equipment, can also easily trip someone that doesn't see the equipment. 

To protect yourself and your guests around your pool and patio, it is important that you always keep your pool equipment organized. You must also keep your walkways and decks clear of these types of tripping hazards to prevent unnecessary injuries.

Create a Slip-Resistant Deck

One of the easiest ways to prevent slip and fall accidents at a pool is by creating a slip-resistant deck. It is especially important to do this within four feet of the pool, but you can add slip-resistant materials over your entire patio if you want to. 

There are many products you can use to prevent slip and fall accidents. There are anti-slip tile surface treatments with micron engraving technology. This will increase the friction on tiles, natural stone, and concrete and will prevent slip and fall accidents without any visual changes to your pool deck. 

Not only do you need to make the pool deck and patio slip-resistant when possible, but it is also important that you make diving boards and slide platforms slip-resistant as well. 

These areas are almost impossible to keep dry, so having slip-resistant walking equipment or anti-slip tape on diving boards or other platforms will prevent unnecessary slip and fall accidents. 

Lastly, you should always use a patio or tile cleaner. Dirty tiles can be even more slippery, so finding a pool tile cleaner can help you prevent slip and fall accidents as well. 

Use Handrails When Necessary

When you have a pool, it may be necessary to install handrails in certain areas of the pool or patio. Most commonly, people install handrails at the entrance of a pool, whether it is a step, a ladder, or a beach entry pool. 

Steps can be quite slippery in a pool and need to be at least three inches wide. Having a handrail next to these steps will allow people to safely get in and out of the pool. 

You also must ensure that your steps are slip-resistant. 

Similarly, you must have handrails on both sides of ladders that lead into your pool. In many areas that are potentially dangerous, handrails can help guide people and prevent them from losing their balance and slipping on a wet surface. 

Install Fences

Something that can prevent slip and fall accidents as well as many other serious accidents is installing fencing around your pool. Depending on where you live, you may even have laws that require fencing around your residential pool with lockable gates. 

First, this prevents young children and others from entering the pool without supervision. This can prevent drowning and other injuries.

Having a fence installed around your pool will also prevent someone from accidentally falling into a pool. Whether you have older relatives visiting or young children, one small misstep can result in someone falling into the pool. 

Even if they know how to swim, this can be quite dangerous and can cause serious injuries. To stay safe and to prevent these situations from occurring, it is best to have a fence around your pool. 

Have Warning Signs

It is also essential that you install safety signage around your pool. One of the most common signs you can include is "no running." You can also have signs that warn that your pool and patio areas are slippery when wet. 

You can also have a temporary sign that you put out on areas of the pool deck that get wet. This way, people will recognize when the pool area is most dangerous. 

Having this signage visible to your visitors from any area of the pool deck will remind them that they need to use extra caution when walking around your pool or patio. These warning signs can also protect you from litigation if someone were to get injured on your property. 

While some of the warning signs may seem like common sense, it is important that you have signs to regularly remind people of the dangers of playing in a pool. 

Be Safe Carrying Items

Something that you may not think about when it comes to pool safety is carrying items around the pool. Whether you are having a poolside party or are simply trying to organize your space, carrying too many items near the pool may make it easier to trip and fall. 

It can also lead to things falling and breaking in or near your pool, like glass. This can be dangerous and difficult to clean up!

Instead, you should always be careful when carrying items near the pool. Never carry too many items at once, as it may obstruct your view as you are walking. 

Clean Up Wet Surfaces Immediately

Because pool and patio surfaces are much more dangerous when they are wet, you also need to clean up wet surfaces as quickly as possible. 

This includes entrances and exits to the pool, outdoor bathrooms, and more!

If there are wet areas around your pool or patio, make sure you immediately mop it up. If you are unable to immediately clean up a wet surface, place a caution sign in the area to warn people visiting your home. 

Buy Non-Slip Mats

You can also buy other products that will keep your pool and patio areas less slippery. For example, there are types of non-slip treads and tapes that you can use to keep your pool area safer!

These mats are water-resistant and heavy-duty, so they will never slip around on a wet surface. 

You can simply take out these mats whenever someone is using your pool to lower the chance of a slip and fall accident. Then, you can roll them up and store them with your pool equipment so the mats do not affect the aesthetics of your outdoor areas. 

Regularly Discuss Rules With Children

Finally, it is essential that you have regular conversations about the rules for your pool and patio area. This is especially important if you have young children!

Having rules will not do you any good if no one knows what they are. Make sure you always discuss your pool rules with your guests to keep everyone safe in and around your pool. 

Need Help Preventing a Slip and Fall Accident? 

Because pools can be slippery when wet, it is essential that you take additional precautions to prevent a slip and fall accident. By following each of these tips, you will keep your pool and patio areas much safer and you can prevent unnecessary pool injuries. 

Do you need help improving pool safety for your home? LayorCare Pool & Patio Protection can help! We provide pool and patio protection and offer an anti-slip sealer that you can use for your pool deck or patio. 

Contact us today to learn more about our products and improving pool safety!