CalOsha has the pool industry wondering what the heck they are thinking. Recently the regulating authority has tied the following OSHA regulation for dock workers directly to swimming pool service technicians. You heard me correctly, California has a Pool Service Life Vest Law!
(a) Except as specified in subsection (a)(1) for marine terminal operations, at least one U.S. Coast Guard approved 30-inch life ring with not less than 90 feet of 600 pound capacity line attached shall be kept in a readily accessible place where employees’ work exposes them to the hazard of drowning or each employee so exposed shall wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved personal flotation device (PFD).
Listen to Pool Service Life Vest Code here ⬇️
Accident Report Detail – Pool Drownings
Below are the incidents that have led to this decision. In each instance, an individual has sadly lost their life. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.
Employee Drowns And Is Killed In PoolAccident: 139655.015 — Report ID: 0524200 — Event Date: 08/26/2021
At 5:00 p.m. on August 26, 2021, an employee completed cleaning tasks and left the job site. A coworker went to find the employee and discovered the employee in a pool nearby. The employee was killed by drowning.
At 1:35 p.m. on July 19, 2021, an employee and a coworker were cleaning a residential swimming pool. The employee was cleaning the walls and his coworker was cleaning the filters and machines near the house. When the coworker returned to poolside, he found the employee unresponsive in the shallow end of the pool. The employee was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead of drowning with drug use being a possible contributing factor.
Keywords: asphyxiated, cleaning, drown, drowning, drug overdose, engulfed, intoxicated, lack of oxygen, lung, oxygen deficiency, pool, unresponsive, water
At 2:30 p.m. on July 8, 2020, a 64-year-old employee was working for a landscaping service. He was cleaning up tree branches and taking them to a trash can. He was carrying a bundle of sumac tree branches over his back. As he walked past a swimming pool, he fell into the pool. He drowned.
Keywords: drown, drowning, fall, heat, heat index, heat-related illness, landscaper, pool, training, tree trimming, unstable load, water
At 9:00 a.m. on October 3, 2019, Employee #1 was performing routine pool maintenance at a residential home. The employee was found unconscious in the water and assumed to have drown. There were no witnesses.
Keywords: drown, maintenance, pool, unconsciousness, water
At 2:30 p.m. on July 26, 2018, Employee #1 was cleaning a swimming pool, using the company pool vacuum. The employee was working alone and there was no one at the residence while he was cleaning. When the homeowner returned home, he found the employee floating in the deep end of the pool, which is six feet at its deepest point. The employee was pulled to the shallow end by the homeowner, who did not try to resuscitate him. Emergency services were called, and the employee was pronounced dead at the site.
On December 28, 2015, an employee and business owner, was cleaning the pool and spa when he slipped off the concrete ledge between the spa and the pool, hitting his head on the way down. The employee was found unresponsive when removed from the pool and transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead by the coroner after an autopsy. The coroner added that the slip may have been caused by Myocardial Infarction.
Keywords: cardiovasc disease, drowning, heart attack, pool
At approximately 12:00 p.m. on April 6, 2015, Employee #1 was cleaning a pool by himself. After a while, a coworker found him on the bottom of the pool and dead. It is unknown how he died or what causes his death.
At 4:23 p.m. on October 16, 2014, an employee was found unresponsive at the bottom of a swimming pool. The employee was cleaning the pool and had drowned.
On November 2, 2005, Employee #1 and a coworker were at a private residence to close down the owner’s in ground swimming pool. Employee #1 was running a hose from a suction and discharge pump to a natural pond located behind the pool, where the pool water would be discharged into the pond. After verbally calling Employee #1 for a period of time, the coworker went looking for him and found him lying at the edge of the pond, face down in approximately 3 to 4 feet of water. The coworker pulled him from the pond and called emergency services. Employee #1 was transported to Norwalk Hospital, where he died on November 6, 2005.
At approximately 1:17 p.m. on June 24, 2013, Employee #1, with Sam’s Gardening, was found unconscious at the bottom of an 8 ft deep swimming pool, with a leaf blower backpack separated from his body. The leaf blower was manufactured by Stihl (Model Number: BR500) and weighed 22.3 pounds. There were no witnesses to the occurrence of Employee #1’s apparent drowning. Two coworkers and the retired homeowners did not know how to swim. The coworkers used a garden hose to pull Employee #1 out of the swimming pool.
County Of San Luis Obispo Dept Of General Services
At approximately 2:15 p.m. on June 8, 2009, Employee #1, an inmate under the control of San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Alternate Work Program, was cleaning a pool. Employee #1 drowned.
On March 3, 2006, Employee #1, who had worked for the company eight days, was removing clippings from a freshly cut lawn, and shrubs from a private residence. As he worked, he slipped and hit his head, falling into a 10-ft swimming pool, and drowned.
Keywords: head, slip, struck against, pool, fall, slippery surface, drown, water
