How to Stay Safe While Enjoying a Diving Board

Many pool owners absolutely insist on having a diving board added to their pools. Unfortunately, though, diving boards can be somewhat dangerous, especially if not used properly. They can also raise home insurance rates and dictate how a pool must be structured. With all of that said, though, if you’re still determined to have a diving board of your own, you need to educate yourself on diving board safety.

Don’t Run

First things first, make sure you enforce a “no running” rule as it relates to your diving board. Honestly, this is a good practice to enforce at the pool in general, but it’s especially important on a high, slippery diving board. Kids, in particular, are prone to excitedly running onto the diving board and then not slowing down until they splash into the water. This type of behavior, however, is a recipe for slips and falls. Thus, require that everyone in the pool area walks onto the diving board and to the end before jumping,

Don’t Get Too Fancy

While just having a diving board may feel totally novel and cool at first, eventually you’re probably going to want to try new things with it. However, don’t allow yourself or your children or guests to do anything too out there. Things like diving backwards or doing fancy flips, for example, are not a good idea. If a person can’t clearly see the diving board at all times or is likely to hit their head or suffer another injury, then it’s probably best to not allow the activity in question. In fact, just plain, old-fashioned diving and jumping are your best bets for safety.

Never Dive Alone

Finally, do not allow anyone, including yourself, to use the diving board alone. If an accident does occur, you need someone there who can offer or get help.

Despite all these precautions, diving boards can be fun. Just make sure that you are fully committed to safety when you own one. If you can put that first, then you can greatly reduce the chances of having a serious incident due to your diving board.