As a pool operator, you can affect the behavior of swimmers using your pool. One of the most important pieces of prevention is educating your pool users about what is expected of them regarding personal hygiene. If you count on showering, you will usually get better compliance than if you ignore it.
Some pools have used signs, newsletters, educated their lifeguards and employees, and used them for public education, and other public education methods. Our employees and local health department employees are occasionally available as speakers at public meetings of pool users or pool operators to pass out information on hygiene and disease prevention.
Education Highlights:
1. Don't Come to the Pool If You Are Sick. If a swimmer has a contagious illness, or has had diarrhea within the past two weeks, they should not come swimming. This is especially true for young children.
2. Take a Shower. The proper shower can reduce the bacteria and dirt that accumulate in the pool by as much as 50%. The proper shower is a shower without clothes using soap.
3. Make sure your children take a bathroom break. Taking a break every hour is usually a good idea to prevent pool accidents.
4. Change diapers in the designated changing area. Changing diapers on the pool deck or on the tables or chairs spreads microorganisms over large areas in the pool area where others will come in contact with them.
5. Make sure pool employees know how to handle fecal accidents properly. In addition to helping prevent the spread of disease organisms, proper management will help satisfy your customers that you are serious about pool contamination.
6. Do not apply suntan oils and moisturizers just before entering the pool. Most tanning and moisturizing oils will wash off quickly in the pool, causing a tremendous load on sanitizers. The best method is to shower immediately after getting out of the pool and then apply your tanning or moisturizing oil. These are most effective that way. Perfumes and aftershave lotions are also washed off and you can smell and taste them in the water.
7. Discourage shoes and street clothes in the pool area. Shoes in particular can sometimes trace large amounts of dirt and contamination in the pool area. It is best if they are left outside the pool area if there is a safe area.
We must remember that as long as we have a good maintenance of the pool, people will not be at risk and also the water will remain very clean for a long time.
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