Need to strengthen management of household swimming pools

On April 29, a child drowned at Xuan Giao swimming pool in Hung Xuan 2 village, Xuan Giao commune, Bao Thang district. After the incident, many questions were raised, such as: How is the operation and management of swimming pools currently? Do swimmers know anything about swimming, what precautions should they take? In the above incident, how long did it take from the time the child drowned until he was discovered and given first aid? If it had been discovered earlier, would there have been any unfortunate consequences?...

Swimming pool where the child drowned in Xuan Giao commune.

Speaking to reporters, the leader of the People's Committee of Xuan Giao commune said that the swimming pool where the incident occurred fully meets the business conditions. The inspection report of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Management, Department of Culture and Sports of the province dated June 15, 2023 also showed that through inspection, the conditions of facilities and professional conditions are all ensured according to Circular No. 03/2018/TT-BVHTTDL dated January 19, 2018 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

According to the pool owner, the pool started operating around July 2023. On the day the child drowned, the pool opened to welcome guests earlier than the registered operating time.

According to statistics from the Department of Culture and Sports of Bao Thang district, there are currently 13 swimming pools in the area, of which 5 are inactive and 1 pool stopped operating after the incident of a child drowning; 1 pool is in a school, the rest are owned by individuals and households.

Along with the socio -economic development, the people's demand for entertainment and recreation is increasing, including swimming - both to exercise the body and help reduce heat in the summer, so the number of swimming pools and family-scale swimming pool business services in the district is increasing. Every year, Bao Thang district regularly directs the strengthening of propaganda work to prevent drowning for children; communes and towns review and grasp the business situation at swimming pools; the Department of Culture and Sports advises the District People's Committee to organize inspection teams, review, grasp the situation of operations, and manage swimming pools to ensure safety...

Bao Thang District People's Committee met to discuss solutions to improve management of swimming pools operating in the area.

6 days after the child drowned at Xuan Giao swimming pool, Bao Thang district held a conference to discuss solutions to improve management of swimming pools operating in the area. In particular, the district People's Committee directed the Department of Culture and Sports to advise on the establishment of an interdisciplinary inspection team to comprehensively inspect the operation of swimming pools; advise on organizing training for pool owners, lifeguards at the pools, and instruct the pools to operate effectively. For communes and towns, from the beginning of the year, a plan must be developed to review, urge, and remind swimming pools to ensure operating conditions.

The district will resolutely and strictly handle swimming pool establishments that violate the law; promote propaganda about the risk of drowning accidents and knowledge of water safety to all people through mass media. In particular, pay attention to post-inspection work to ensure that swimming pools maintain good operation.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Binh, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, admitted that the management of private swimming pools in the area is facing certain difficulties due to State regulations. On the other hand, entering the hot season, the need for swimming of people, especially children, increases, so in the process of organizing activities, some facilities are negligent or due to overload, do not have enough human resources to manage...

According to Mr. Dang Thanh Tung, Head of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Management, Department of Culture and Sports of the province, not only in Bao Thang district but also in localities in the province, the number of swimming pools at household scale and in schools has increased over the years.

However, according to statistics, the unit currently has a management list for 14 business swimming pools and 6 individual swimming pools that have been granted a Certificate of eligibility to operate swimming sports activities from 2019 - 2020. This means that individual swimming pools operating after Decree 36/2019/ND-CP dated April 29, 2019 of the Government are not required to apply for a Certificate of eligibility to operate swimming sports activities, so the functional department does not know the specific number. Households with swimming pools only need a Business Registration Certificate issued by the District-level Finance - Planning Department and ensure the accompanying standard conditions specified in Circular No. 03/2018/TT-BVHTTDL dated January 19, 2018 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to be eligible to operate.

Mr. Tung affirmed: Changes in legal regulations cause difficulties in management and ensuring the safety of swimming pools in individual households.

Every year, the Department of Physical Education and Sports Management, the Department of Culture and Sports, together with relevant functional sectors and localities, have made many efforts to propagate drowning prevention and control; provide training to improve management, ensure safety in swimming pool management activities and provide first aid for drowning.

On the other hand, the rapid increase in the number of swimming pools at household or school levels has brought positive results, which is to contribute to creating safer playgrounds for children during the summer, so that they do not have to go to rivers and streams to swim, limiting more tragic accidents. However, there also needs to be a mechanism to strengthen the management of swimming pool operations more effectively so that unfortunate incidents like the one in Xuan Giao commune recently do not happen again.

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