When the severe increase in pool floor gradient exceeded the industry guidance, but at the time it didn’t apply to holiday lets
What happened?
A 4 year-old boy was on holiday with his dad and step-mum in a four star holiday home at Bicclescombe Grange in Ilfracombe, North Devon. He was with twelve other children who were all staying with their families. There was an indoor swimming pool at the house with a 2.7m deep end.
The boy’s father was with him in the swimming pool until they climbed out of the water. He dried the boy and watched him go into the changing room. This was the last time he saw his son alive.
The boy, a non-swimmer, had got into difficulty in the deep end. Twelve other children were playing in the pool at the time of the incident, but neither adults nor other children spotted him, his body thought to have been obscured by floats and toy inflatables.
One of the children shouted that the boy was at the bottom. He was rescued and recovered to the poolside. He was not breathing, and CPR was commenced. A first responder arrived to support the resuscitation efforts. When paramedics arrived, he was still not breathing.
He suffered extensive brain damage from a cardiac arrest induced by drowning. Five days after the accident and still on life support, doctors took the difficult decision to switch it off.
At the inquest, it was noted that the slope of the deep end was a factor. Vision was also obscured by the large numbers of inflatables. Although there was a limited amount of signage, the profile of the swimming pool fell outside accepted standards and presented a significant hazard to non-swimmers.
The gradient of the swimming pool had been calculated as approximately 1 in 3.7. This did not comply with the standard outlined in HSG179 (v3) of 1 in 15.
Legal Outcome
At the time of the accident, private holiday lets with swimming pools were not regulated by the Local Authority Environmental Health. It was decided jointly by North Devon District Council and the HSE that, due to a lack of guidance and industry consensus, no prosecution would be brought.
It was strongly recommended at the inquest that the owners consider re-profiling the floor of the pool to a gradient which meets the requirements of industry standards. There were also a number of further recommendations regarding the increase in depth including signage and floating barriers in the water.
What can we learn from what happened?
This tragic accident happened before the most recent revision of HSG179 in 2018 which specifies that pools in holiday let properties are covered under the guidance.
An increase in depth of the water can easily disorientate a weak or non-swimmer, especially if they slip from water within their depth to being too deep to stand. A seriously hazardous water feature, and the reason why the UK guidance of 1 in 15 is in place. Signage, operations and other design elements must also recognise any change in depth as risk to be controlled. 1 in 3.7 was very steep.
Source of Information
Water Incident Research Hub