Within any kind of property management, safety should always be your first and foremost concern. Safety on your property of renters, staff, and of visitors is of the upmost importance, and this is particularly striking in the summertime if you have a pool on site. Make sure to keep the following pool safety tips in mind as the summer wraps up for the year (and also, to help you best prepare for next year).
How to Ensure Thorough Safety on Your Property
Kids aren’t the only ones that need looking after at the pool. Adults, too, can slip and fall or get into trouble in and around the water. That’s why you – and your staff, hopefully including lifeguards – need to watch out for people of all ages who use this summer feature. As an example, you should make sure that all drains beneath the water are “anti-entrapment,” meaning that their covers aren’t able to create dangerous suction. This is obviously a big risk for drowning and is easily prevented with installation of these drain covers. Also, make sure that there is a fence around the area that is high enough to keep out wander, young children. While you’re at it, “make sure that gates are self-closing and self-latching.”
To ensure general safety on your property, you should include pool-related and other information in whatever resources you give to new renters. Whether this is a file over e-mail or a pamphlet in person, make sure that you provide them with tips to help keep everyone in and around the building safe. Rules for the pool (and for other spaces, like a roof deck) should be clearly posted in the area and enforced by staff members. The less seriously these regulations are taken, the more likely it is than an accident will occur.
Just as you expect your renters to follow the rules, you should set an example, too. “Have a Red Cross employee train your staff and any interested residents on pool safety.” Having an expert demonstrate, at least to your relevant staff, the proper safety techniques shows that you are invested in keeping everyone free from harm. This may not seem like a necessary expense, but it’s absolutely crucial that, if you have a pool, where there is inherent risk, you leave nothing to chance. Demonstrating the utmost responsibility will make you less liable, if at all, if an accident occurs.
Renters may be tempted to spend their day by the pool with a drink in hand, but this should be discouraged. While it may seem fine if they are sitting around and not swimming, those same people who have been imbibing are more than likely to later take a dip into the water. After drinking, they’ll be more in danger in the water than they would be if they were sober. Certainly, too, no one should be allowed to have alcohol in the pool, so make sure that these rules in particular are enforced and advertised.
If there are outlets near the pool area, then it’s likely that people will try and plug their devices into them. This puts everyone at risk for an electric shock. If you don’t think that putting up signs about this will do enough to prevent it, then you can have those particular outlets disable so that there is no current immediately in the area. You may not be able to stop people from trying to use their phones while charging, but you can prevent them from being able to charge them at all. It may seem petty, perhaps, but it’s completely a safety concern.
Safety on your property often starts and ends with proper maintenance. This means making sure that at least one member of your staff has the right certification to manage a pool, including monitoring the chlorine and pH levels and inspecting the equipment. Without these necessary steps, the water could become unsafe in which to swim and lead to liability for you and your team.
Managing a property is a balancing act. It would be unreasonable for you to be expected to handle everything effectively on your own. That’s why there’s Budgetrac Property Management System, a software solution that you can use within your business to make sure that everything that has to get done is done. You can not only increase your efficiencies, but also use Budgetrac’s Area Maintenance functionality to keep all parts of your property up and running. There’s little effort involved, but a lot to gain from this technology.