Electrical Shock Incident In Fla. Puts Pool Safety Center Stage
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- With the Memorial Day weekend underway, the unofficial start of summer has local pool owners getting their outdoor oasis together.
At Alpine Pools in Hampton Township, employees say they're ready for an influx of customers stopping in to replace what's broken.
For Vanessa Cox, that means replacing a pool light.
She's been a pool owner for eight years.
After seeing video where children in a Florida swimming pool were shocked, she and her family started to question how safe things are.
"I don't have any concerns about this. My daughter said, 'don't replace it [the light]' cause she heard about that, but I told her it's safe," Cox said.
In the Florida case, a preliminary investigation pointed to unconnected ground wires in the pool pump house. They're wires that are supposed to take electrical charges away from the pool.
Matt Zanin works for Alpine Pools.
He says the best way to avoid something like this is to call in a professional.
"If they're concerned about that, have all their electrical work inspected by an electrician, somebody that's qualified and up on the pool code because that's a lot different than just standard household stuff," Zanin said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says lighting and circuits need to be protected by a Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter or a GFCI to prevent electrocution.
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