3: Swimming Pools
Reduce the rate of swimming pool and other at-home drownings of children under 5 years old by 10 percent from the 1999-2000
average by the year 2013.
Other Information:
THE HAZARD Annually, an average of 248 children younger than 5 years of age drowned in swimming pools nationwide in 1999-2000.
Drowning is the second leading cause of death from unintentional injuries in this age group, after motor vehicle incidents.
Most of these deaths involve swimming pools. Drowning in swimming pools occurs not just when people are outside or using the
pool, but also when young children leave the house without a parent or caregiver realizing it. In addition, an average of
167 children under 5 years of age drowned each year from other hazards in and around the home in 1999-2000. Many of these
deaths involved common household products, such as bathtubs, 5-gallon buckets, toilets, spas, hot tubs, and landscape ponds.
For a graph of drowning death data and a discussion of issues related to setting the current goal, see Appendix D “Drowning
Deaths,” page 61. REDUCING THE RISK In past years, CPSC has undertaken a number of activities to reduce the frequency of drowning
in swimming pools and other consumer products in and around the home. These included the following: § Initiating a rulemaking
proceeding to address drowning hazards associated with baby bath seats § Evaluating hazards associated with pool/spa/hot tub
covers § Evaluating pool alarms § Evaluating hazard scenarios associated with submersions of children under 5 in residential
swimming pools § Participating in voluntary standards activities related to products such as pools, pool covers, pool alarms,
door alarms, spas, hot tubs, and 5-gallon buckets § Proposing building code requirements for swimming pool barriers § Publishing
pool barrier guidelines § Publishing pool/spa entrapment prevention guidelines § Publishing annual press releases on pool
drowning hazards § Conducting a home drowning prevention campaign The rate of pool drownings of children under 5 has been
decreasing. An evaluation of pool drowning deaths shows that the rate of death was about 20 per million population in 1991
and about 16 per million in 1998 (the most recent year for which comparable data are available). SETTING THE STRATEGIC GOAL
To further reduce drowning deaths to children, CPSC set a goal of reducing the pool-drowning rate for children younger than
5 years by 10 percent. At 10 percent, the pool drowning rate would be reduced from 12.9 per million children under 5 years
in 1999-2000 to 11.6 per million children in 2013, or a reduction of approximately 25 deaths per year. In addition, the drowning
rate from other at-home hazards will also be reduced by 10 percent, from about 8.7 per million children under 5 years in 1999-2000
to 7.8 per million in 2013, a reduction of approximately 17 deaths per year. Both these goals together aim to reduce drownings
in and around the home to children under age 5 by 42 deaths per year. STRATEGIES There are a number of activities that we
may undertake to further address drowning hazards. We expect that strategies aimed at reducing drowning deaths will also reduce
the number of near drownings, which can result in severe damage to the brain and other organs. These strategies include: §
Conducting home drowning safety information campaigns to increase the awareness of caregivers and the community about drowning
hazards in and around the home and how to correct them. § Assessing the extent of adoption of model building codes with swimming
pool/spa safety provisions in various jurisdictions. Working with state and local jurisdictions to adopt or strengthen swimming
pool safety codes and consumer awareness, where needed. § Assessing the extent of conformance to CPSC pool barrier recommendations
and/or model building codes in locales that have adopted these requirements. § Conducting a special study of the circumstances
involved in pool and spa drowning deaths in areas that have adopted CPSC recommendations and/or model codes to evaluate the
effectiveness of these requirements. § Continuing efforts to evaluate the § National Spa and Pool Institute § National Safe
Kids Campaign § Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. § U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health
Bureau, HHS Cooperative and collaborative efforts with other organizations range from data collection to enforcement activities.
Memoranda of Understanding have been developed with other organizations to share data and other information. Prominent among
these organizations is the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CPSC and CDC share technical information, injury data and results of survey-related research. We also work with a number of
organizations, such as American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASTM International, the American National Standards Institute,
and the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, to provide technical expertise for voluntary standards and certification
programs, as well as collaborating on publications for child safety. Other organizations, such as the Children’s Safety Network,
the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, and the National 4-H Foundation, distribute our safety materials to grassroots organizations
and consumers. In support of these activities, our unique data gathering systems have proven to be invaluable tools for defining
the nature and scope of productrelated hazards. As a federal health and safety regulatory agency, CPSC has the unique task
of translating drowning mortality data and research into safety recommendations for consumers and, as necessary, mandatory
and voluntary consumer product safety standards. Our development of swimming pool barrier guidelines is an important example
of action taken to address a safety problem of concern to a broad spectrum of public and private organizations. performance
of safety devices such as alarms, covers, etc., and address deficiencies through voluntary standards activities. § Conducting
more research on barrier products. For example, what are the most common barrier products currently in use? Are these products
being used properly (i.e., in place and functioning)? Are multiple barriers used together more effective than use of just
one at a time? How effective are the new technology products—laser and infrared perimeter alarms, etc? How well do they work
in home settings? From this research CPSC could revise the current guidelines on swimming pool barriers as appropriate. §
Continuing efforts to assess drain suction and entrapment hazards, and addressing them through voluntary standards activities.
§ Continuing recalls or corrective actions of pool or bathing products that do not comply with safety standards or that are
defective products and present a substantial product hazard. § Continuing efforts to understand and address other drowning
scenarios in and around the home. PERFORMANCE MEASURES We will use drowning rates per million children in the under-5 population
for pool drownings and for other at-home drownings as our performance measures to evaluate our strategic goal. We track these
rates annually. The annual numbers of swimming poolrelated drowning deaths and other at-home drownings are obtained from national
mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and CPSC data. Estimates of the number of children under
5 years old in the United States population is available from U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce. OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
WITH SIMILAR PROGRAMS We work closely with staff of other organizations in order to more efficiently address the safety of
children, enhance the effectiveness of our efforts to achieve injury reduction goals, and avoid duplication of effort. Among
these are: § American Academy of Pediatrics § American Red Cross § American Society of Mechanical Engineers § ASTM International
(private standardssetting organization) § American National Standards Institute § Children's Safety Network § Consumer Federation
of America § Fire protection and emergency medical services organizations. § International Consumer Product Health and Safety
Organization § Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association § National 4-H Foundation § National Center for Injury Prevention
and Control, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) § National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, HHS
Objective(s):
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