If you are a hot tub owner there’s certain hot tub safety tips that you should learn along with anyone who plans to use the hot tub.

The first safety item on the list, is to never let children near the hot tub without being supervised by an adult. This is an important hot tub safety rule. Even if your child is a strong swimmer, do not ever leave the child unattended. It’s too dangerous to take a chance especially when it’s easily preventable just by supervising any children in the area.

The number one cause of fatalities in any pool or body of water, is drowning. Hot tubs are intended to bring on relaxation so it’s important to stay aware of how long a person should stay in the tub. There have been too many cases where people, even adults, that have fallen asleep and then drowned as a result. Be mindful that the benefits of soaking in a hot tub can sometimes bring on confusion, light-headedness and dizziness so it’s a good idea to be aware of these possible side effects whenever you or your guests are in the hot tub.

Two of the biggest concerns with hot tubs are the possibility of hair being entangled or body parts entangled. The drain's function is to suction the water from the bottom and circulate the water through the heating units and return it back into the hot tub. When a drain is working properly it can be very powerful. There have been cases in which a body part was sucked into the drain causing the person to be held underwater. Drains that become partially clogged will work harder than normal (which produces more suction) in order to circulate the water. This can be a dangerous situation. Ideally, it’s best if there are two drains working together so that if one should become blocked, the other is able to take over reducing the risk of someone’s body part becoming trapped in the drain. For more information on caring for your drain see the Pool Care Guy’s article, How to Drain and Clean Your Hot Tub.

The other safety concern is hair getting entangled in the drain. For someone who has long hair and falls asleep or is unable to quickly untangle themselves, the end result could be drowning if their hair causes their head to be held underwater for any length of time. It’s a good idea to be aware of the emergency cut-off switch and immediately respond by turning the power to the drains off and untangling hair.

Hot tub safety isn’t complicated. When you understand what can go wrong and use good common sense, it’s easy to keep you and your guests safe.

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