Is your pool one of the following options?

• A stand-alone paddling pool used solely for domestic use
• A stand-alone spa pool
• A pool used solely for domestic purposes
• A body of open water that exists on your land and which is used solely for domestic purposes 
• A stretch of a river that exists on your property and which is used solely for domestic purposes
• A segregated area of the sea that exists on your property and which is used solely for domestic purposes. 

You are not required to provide constant supervision or constant poolside supervision for your swimming pool.

You must:

• Provide a disclaimer that the pool is used at a person's own risk and excluding liability for personal injury or property damage except in circumstances where it arises from the occupier's negligence
• Provide warnings of any special risks not readily apparent to pool users
• Take steps to guard against the risk to children who may not take the care an adult would regarding the risk(s) contained in any notice or warning.

Your next steps must include:

• Ensure that you take all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that persons are not exposed to a risk to their health and safety resulting from any other aspect of the swimming pool's condition, maintenance, or operation.

Proceed to Question 2. 

Do any of the following options apply to your pool? 

• Unsupervised lone swimming is permitted. 
• Unrestricted access ability when the pool is not in use or is in an unsafe condition, such as where any of the following are present:

- Sharp edges

- Unsafe lighting

- Unsafe colour contrasting or patterning on the pool tank or surround

- Unsafe water clarity or hygiene

- Entrapment or entanglement risk

- Features or equipment of unsafe structural integrity

• No signage to warn pool users of material risks to their health and safety such as:

- No lone swimming signage.

- No lifeguard signage. 

- No water depth markings. 

- No warning as to abrupt changes in water depth. 

- No pool rules signage. 

- Diving, jumping and other acrobatics are permitted. 

• No admission policy displayed at the pool entrance, in the changing rooms, or on poolside. 
• No ability to enforce and restrict access to certain user groups (children, vulnerable, members, non-members etc.). 
• No ability to monitor the maximum pool user load and ensure it is not exceeded. 

You must not allow any person to use the swimming pool unless you can demonstrate taking all reasonably practicable steps to ensure a pool user is not exposed to a risk to their health and safety arising from the access arrangements you have in place for the swimming pool.

Relevant controls include:

• prohibiting lone swimming and implementing controls to ensure no pool user is alone and unsupervised whilst using the pool
• providing a pool, features, and equipment of safe design which is properly maintained 
• providing additional, re-locating, or updating existing signage 
• providing additional or modifying existing manual or technological access controls to prevent access to lone swimmers, unauthorized user groups, and when the pool is at or is close to reaching the maximum pool user load. 
• the display of the admissions policy at the pool entrance, changing rooms, and on poolside
• the provision of some programmed sessions with constant poolside supervision for groups normally unauthorized to use the swimming pool at these times with these additional controls in place. 
• using means (manual or technological) to monitor the number of pool users using the swimming pool
• adopting a periodic programme of planned and unannounced testing of implemented arrangements to assess effectiveness. 

Next steps:

• ensure no person uses the swimming pool, or
• implement the required controls from the list above to ensure that none of the items in Step 2 is absent.

Proceed to Question 3. 

Do any of the following apply to your pool? 

• You have the means in place to ensure a competent person is notified, in a timely manner, of any pool user who enters the swimming pool water or pool surround at any time whilst the swimming pool is in use
• You have the means in place to ensure a competent person can provide constant remote observation of any pool user who enters the swimming pool water or pool surround at any time whilst the swimming pool is in use

You must provide constant poolside supervision unless you can demonstrate taking all reasonably practicable steps to identify any pool user who enters the swimming pool at any time it is in use. 

Relevant controls include:

• Work instruction for the reception desk to notify the competent person of any person seeking to use the pool.

• Competent person notification triggered by a turnstile or security gate.

• Competent person notification triggered by a gate or water disturbance alarm.

• Remote observation of CCTV monitors covering the whole pool area and bottom at all times whilst the pool is in use. 

• Notification or remote observation is provided by an automated drowning detection system covering the whole pool area and bottom, which is monitored at all times whilst the pool is in use

• Periodic programme of planned and unannounced testing of implemented arrangements to assess effectiveness. 

Next steps:

• Provide constant poolside supervision or

• Implement the required controls from the list above to ensure that none of the items in Step 3 is absent.

Proceed to Question 4. 

Do your pool arrangements not include any of the following: 

• An instruction (signage or otherwise) for pool users to summon assistance where they recognise a pool user is or, maybe, in difficulty
• Means (manual or technological) by which a competent person is notified in a timely manner that a pool user has recognised a person in, or maybe in, difficulty (i.e. audible or visual alarms)
• Means by which a competent person may recognise, using remote observation, a pool user in difficulty at any time whilst the swimming pool is in use

You must provide constant poolside supervision unless you can demonstrate taking all reasonably practicable steps to recognise a pool user is in difficulty in a timely manner by alternative means.

Relevant controls include:

• provision of signage or audible instructions for pool users to summon assistance by the provided means if they recognise a pool user is or likely is, in danger
• provision of persons who are competent in the recognition of pool users in difficulty to monitor the automated DDS, CCTV systems, or perform poolside checks
• provision of a programme of physical poolside checks at appropriate intervals at all times whilst the pool is in use

Next steps:

Proceed to Question 5. 

 Are any of the following absent:

• Person(s) competent in the rescue and recovery of pool users to poolside are immediately available to attend poolside at any time whilst the pool is in use
  

• Person(s) competent to make a call to summon assistance from the emergency services are available at any time whilst the pool is in use.

You must provide constant poolside supervision unless you can demonstrate taking all reasonably practicable steps to rescue and recover a pool user from danger in a timely manner by alternative means. Relevant controls include:

• Providing persons competent in the rescue and recovery of pool users from the pool at all times whilst the pool is in use
• Providing persons competent in first aid and basic life support who are immediately available at all times whilst the pool is in use
• Providing persons competent in the rescue and recovery of pool users from the pool are immediately available to attend poolside at all times whilst the pool is in use.

Next steps:

• Provide constant poolside supervision or
• Implement the required controls from the list above to ensure that none of the items in Step 5 is absent.

You are not required to provide constant poolside supervision as you have adopted all reasonably practicable measures to ensure persons are not exposed to a risk to their health and safety resulting from the constant supervision arrangements you have in place.

Your next steps include:

• ensuring that you take all reasonably practicable measures to ensure persons are not exposed to a risk to their health and safety resulting from any other aspect of the condition, maintenance, or operation of the swimming pool.