Proposal for Mandatory Child-proof Pool Fences at Private Swimming Pools

33 Ms Irene Quay Siew Ching asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether BCA has plans to mandate child-proof pool fences in private swimming pools in view of the increasing number of near-drowning cases involving children and 10 deaths reported in KK Women's and Children's Hospital from 2011 to 2015; and (b) what are the measures taken by BCA over the years to improve the safety of private swimming pools.

The Minister of State for National Development (Mr Zaqy Mohamad) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, for the safety of young children, the Code of Practice for the design and management of aquatic facilities recommends that toddler and learner pools be situated away from the deep areas of other pools, and this is done to prevent unintended use. There are also safety-related guidelines under the Code for warning signs, slip-resistant flooring, depth markings as well as providing adequate lighting.

As an added safety precaution, private pool owners can install child-resistant barriers, and for strata-titled developments, the management corporations may make such improvements to their swimming pools, by passing a special resolution.

Besides infrastructural measures, parents and caregivers should closely monitor young children when they are near swimming pools. I think that is most important as well. Water safety education is also as important. As part of the physical education curriculum, all Primary school students are taught water safety knowledge and basic swimming skills. This is done through the SwimSafer 2.0 programme, in partnership with SportSG. SportSG has also been actively carrying out water safety outreach and education programmes to raise public awareness. Management corporations of condominiums that also wish to participate in these programmes, or seek water safety advice in general, can also contact the management team at SportSG directly.

Ms Irene Quay Siew Ching (Nominated Member): Despite what has been done, we are still seeing about 10 cases over five years. Do you think there is something more we can do about it? For example, to include mandating some of these pool fences in private swimming pools. Is this something doable?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for her query. Mr Speaker, based on the statistics reported, five of the children who had died were at pool parties. So, technically, the adults were also there. It is unclear for the others how the situation occurred. But in those cases that I mentioned, the provision of a child restraint barrier, even if mandated, would not have been sufficient in avoiding these incidents. What is important then would be adult supervision, which is still the most effective means in ensuring the safety of young children when they use the pool.

We have to balance the risk as well as the obligations that we want to put on private and public pool owners, for example, in terms of putting up barriers. Ultimately, it is quite onerous for some of these pool owners, as the pools can be quite big in condominium developments, for example. Today, even without a mandatory requirement, MCSTs and condominium owners could potentially pass a resolution to put barriers in place. Private pool owners could also do so, and I think mandating could be quite difficult to implement.

Having said that, it could be something we can review. The cases have to be reviewed in more detail to see what the root causes are. But again, as I stressed earlier on, adult supervision is the most important aspect. And of course, as they move to Primary school, we do have programmes in place to ensure that our students are well educated and have greater safety awareness when they use pools and water bodies.