Home Pool Safety Checklist: Layers of Protection

A safe home pool has several layers of protection working together: an adult watching every swim, a four-sided fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate, a backup such as door alarms or a safety cover, swim skills and life jackets, and rescue gear, a phone and CPR skills at the poolside. Use the checklist on this page to check each layer.

A pool is a wonderful thing to have. These steps let your family enjoy it with fewer worries.

Why layers matter

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Young children face the most risk. In the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) latest report, 77% of child pool and spa drowning deaths from 2021 to 2023 involved children younger than 5 (opens in a new tab), and 71% happened at a home (opens in a new tab), most often the child's own.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends multiple "layers" of protection, since no single method can prevent all drowning (opens in a new tab). The National Drowning Prevention Alliance says each layer should be used together (opens in a new tab). If one layer fails, such as a gate left open, the next one is still there.

Layer 1: Supervision

Every swim needs an adult whose only job is watching.

• Name a Water Watcher. Pool Safely says a Water Watcher's supervising should be their only task (opens in a new tab): no reading, texting or phone games.
• Touch supervision for babies, toddlers and weak swimmers: an adult who can swim, within arm's reach.
• Stay sober. CDC says do not drink alcohol while supervising children (opens in a new tab).
• Close up after swim time. CDC advises you shut and lock doors that give access to water (opens in a new tab) and remove toys from the pool area (opens in a new tab) that might tempt children back.

See how to supervise kids around water for handoffs and Water Watcher cards.

Layer 2: Barriers and alarms

Barriers protect children during the moments no one is watching. The AAP calls fences the most effective, proven way to prevent drowning of young children (opens in a new tab).

• A four-sided isolation fence. CDC reports that a four-sided fence separating the pool from the house and yard reduces a child's risk of drowning by 83% compared to three-sided property-line fencing (opens in a new tab).
• The right gate. The AAP says it should be self-closing and self-latching, open away from the pool, with the latch at least 54 inches from the ground (opens in a new tab).
• A second barrier if the house forms one side of the pool area. The Red Cross suggests door alarms and locks out of a child's reach on all doors and windows with direct access to the pool, or lockable covers (opens in a new tab).
• Covers and alarms are extras, not substitutes. Only a true safety cover counts as a barrier. See pool safety covers vs. solar covers and pool alarms.

Our pool fences and gates guide covers height, gaps and climbing in detail.

Layer 3: Swim skills and life jackets

• Swim lessons lower risk but don't remove it. The AAP reminds parents that swim lessons don't make kids "drown proof" (opens in a new tab).
• Life jackets for weak or non-swimmers. The AAP says weak or non-swimmers should also wear life jackets when at a pool (opens in a new tab), and they should be U.S. Coast Guard-approved and fit properly.
• No floaties as safety gear. CDC warns that air-filled or foam toys are not safety devices (opens in a new tab).
• Pool rules that children understand. See pool rules for kids.

Layer 4: Rescue equipment, a phone and CPR

When something goes wrong, the first minutes matter.

• Rescue gear by the pool. CPSC recommends having life-saving equipment such as life rings, floats or a reaching pole available and easily accessible (opens in a new tab).
• A phone close by. Pool Safely says to have a phone close by at all times (opens in a new tab), and to check the pool first if a child is missing.
• CPR skills. Pool Safely notes that bystanders are often the first to aid a drowning victim (opens in a new tab), so learning CPR can help save a life.
• Drain covers. Federal law requires anti-entrapment drain covers in public pools. CPSC says residential pools are not required to install these, but they are highly recommended (opens in a new tab). See drain entrapment.

Our pool rescue equipment guide lists what to keep where.

Your printable checklist

Check your pool with the interactive tool, or tick through the list below.

Supervision

• A Water Watcher is named for every swim, with a card or lanyard.
• Babies, toddlers and weak swimmers have an adult within arm's reach.
• Watchers are sober and off their phones.
• Toys are cleared from the pool area after swim time.

Barriers

• A fence surrounds the pool on all four sides and separates it from the house.
• The fence is at least 4 feet high, with no gaps a child could squeeze through or climb.
• The gate closes and latches by itself every time, opens away from the pool, and the latch is at least 54 inches up.
• Chairs, planters and other climbable objects are away from the fence.
• Doors and windows to the pool area lock out of a child's reach, with alarms.
• Any cover is a true safety cover, kept closed when the pool is not in use.

Skills and gear

• Everyone in the family is in swim lessons or has passed basic water skills.
• Coast Guard-approved life jackets in the right sizes are by the pool.
• A reaching pole and a ring buoy hang where anyone can grab them.
• A phone is at the pool, and the address is posted for 911 calls.
• At least one adult in the home has current CPR training.
• Drain covers are in place, undamaged, and checked by a pool professional.

Print the same list as the Pool Safety Checklist.

What you can do today

1. Walk around your fence and test the gate ten times. Does it close and latch by itself every time?
2. Run the Pool barrier check to find gaps in your barrier.
3. Name your Water Watchers for the next swim, and make cards with the Water Watcher card and timer tool.
4. Hang a reaching pole and ring buoy by the pool and post your address by the phone.
5. Add the pool to your family water safety plan.