Showing category "Health & Safety" (Show all posts)

Run a Swimming Pool? You Need a PSOP!

Posted by poolplantcourses.com on Friday, August 26, 2016, In : Health & Safety

Looking for information about PSOPS?

Try here.

Swimming Pool Outlets Can Kill!

Posted by poolplantcourses.com on Friday, June 17, 2016, In : Health & Safety

This week, the Royal Life Saving Society published a news article concerning the risk of drowning via suction entrapment in hot tubs.

The outlets of a swimming/spa pool are connected to a powerful circulation pumping system. If the outlets are blocked, whatever is causing the blockage will be exposed to the suction force of the circulation pumping system. The circulation pumps will be sucking on whatever is causing the blockage, causing a vacuum. At this point, it will be very difficult to rem...

Is the commercial swimming pool sector regulated? YES (but not very well)!

Posted by poolplantcourses.com on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, In : Health & Safety

Whilst there is no specific legislation covering the management of commercial swimming pool water, there is plenty of general legislation that is applicable. Read on for a quick primer.

Management Responsibility

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) , the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations1999 (MHSWR) and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) impose certain statutory duties on all managers of non-domestic swimming pools. Duties unde...

Got a Spa, Hot Tub etc.? You need to know about legionella.

Posted by poolplantcourses.com on Friday, May 13, 2016, In : Health & Safety

Legionella is a type of bacteria that is of particular concern to the pool operator, or indeed, any operator of a facility that has a hot and cold water system. The legionella bacteria causes legionairres disease, which is an infection of the lungs. The mortality rate is currently 12%, which means that if 100 people were to contract the disease during an outbreak, approximately 12 of them would die.

Legionella bacteria multiply in water and the disease is caught by inhalation. This means that ...

Chlorine Gas Leaks - Pool Operators Beware

Posted by poolplantcourses.com on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, In : Health & Safety

danger of chlorine gas in swimming pools

Swimming pool operators ought to be aware that it is possible to create highly toxic gaseous chemical substances if something goes wrong in the plant room. For example: mixing calcium hypochlorite (an alkaline substance that contains chlorine) with an acidic substance (like sodium bisulphate - which is commonly referred to as dry 'dry acid') will result in a reaction that will produce chlorine gas.

The above scenario may happen because an operator inadvertently introduces a chemical into the i...
Continue reading ...

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Assessments

Posted by www.poolplantcourses.org on Monday, January 23, 2012, In : Health & Safety

This article aims to provide a worked example of a PPE assessment for the routine task of filling up the chlorine day tank with calcium hypochlorite granules. Please note that the assessment does not cover issues relating to chlorine gas and therefore, a separate assessment would need to be carried out for this.

Download (free) HSG53 - Respiratory Protective Equipment at Work.
Get the MSDS sheet for the substance in question (go here for calcium hypochlorite MSDS).
Work through the steps. There ...