Safe Kids Canada

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Municipal Child Injury Prevention Advocacy
Four-sided pool fencing laws
Denyse Boxell and Rebecca Nesdale-Tucker, Safe
Kids Canada Date May 2007
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Outline

• Safe Kids Canada - Public Policy and Advocacy
• Safe Kids Week Campaign 2007
• Drowning prevention and four-sided pool fencing
• Municipal governments
• Build a coalition
• Gather the evidence
• Determine a strategy
• Raise awareness
• Demonstrate support to decision-makers
• Questions and Discussion

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Our Main Goals Safe Kids Canada

• To increase public awareness of knowledge and
  action regarding proper safety practices
• To advocate for measures that will create safer
  environments and improve compliance with proper
  safety practices
• To stimulate local action by providing services
  to those working in injury prevention at the
  community level
• To provide and promote child injury prevention
  strategies and tools to targeted audiences
• To prevent unintentional injury to children and
  youth

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Advocacy for Injury Prevention

• Advocates can take action to make Canada the
  safest country in the world to live, learn, play
  and travel
• Reducing injuries efficiently requires a
  multi-faceted approach combining the three Es
  - education, engineering and enforcement
• Safety can be built in Safety requires
  healthy public policy, a safe built environment,
  safe product design, well-enforced laws and
  regulations

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Municipal issues in child and youth injury
prevention

• Injury prevention issues with a municipal focus
  include
• Pedestrian Safety
• Playground Safety
• Helmet Safety
• Pool fencing Safety

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Drowning Call to Action!
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Safe Kids Week 2007

• Goal of advocacy campaign
• Increase information to target audience(s) about
  the need for pool-fencing safety laws
  four-sided with self-closing, self-latching gate.
• Build capacity for enactment of laws municipal
  by-laws with municipal enforcement and/or
  provincial minimum standards enforced at the
  municipal level.
• Reduce water-related injury and death.

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Safe Kids Week 2007

• Theme Drowning Prevention
• Defining the Problem Pool drowning
• Drowning is the second leading cause of injury
  death to Canadian children. Swimming pools are
  the site of nearly half of all drowning and
  near-drowning incidents for children age 14 and
  under, measures must be taken to reduce drowning
  in these environments.

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Identifying Solutions drowning prevention

• The only passive prevention strategy that has
  been shown to significantly reduce drowning in
  home pools is four-sided fencing with a
  self-closing and self-latching gate.

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The Problem - backyard pools

• Pools are a particular hazard for children under
  age five when the pool can be reached directly
  from the house. Children wander into the pool
  area when they are momentarily out of sight.
• Drowning can happen quickly and silently
  children who survive a near-drowning (submersion
  injury) frequently have long-term side effects
  from brain injury, due to a period of time
  without breathing.

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Problem - Solution

• Many residential pools fencing laws in place in
  Canada require only three sided perimeter,
  fencing and as such do not protect the children
  who live in the house with the pool.
• At minimum a 1.2 m (4ft) high, four-sided fence
  that completely encloses the pool with a
  self-closing and self-latching gate is proven to
  help prevent children from reaching the pool.

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Solution

• Researchers estimate that proper fencing around
  pools could prevent 7 out of 10 drowning
  incidents in home swimming pools for children
  under age 5.
• Public pools are covered by separate regulations

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Snapshot safer pool fencing laws

• International
• Australia, France and New Zealand have put
  legislation in place requiring safer pool
  fencing.
• Canada
• No national laws
• No provincial laws in place
• Patchwork of municipal laws

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Municipal Action examples of safer bylaws

• Safer Pool fencing bylaws Ontario
• Mulmur
• Peterborough
• Oakville
• Anticipated in French River

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Decision-makers

• Safe Kids Canada and our partners urge municipal
  governments to enact and support four-sided pool
  fencing laws requiring barrier fencing with
  self-closing, self-latching gates to reduce child
  drowning rates.
• Provinces could mandate a minimum level of
  pool safety. Quebec has been investigating a
  province-wide law. There is a private members
  bill in Ontario which, if passed, would require
  pool fencing in every municipality. This law
  would require a minimum standard which
  municipalities could exceed. As with other
  building/permit issues, enforcement would likely
  be at the municipal level.

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Municipal Governments

• Municipal planning is critical to quality of life
  in Canada as municipal government shapes the
  communities in which we live

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Municipal Jurisdiction

• Municipal Government is a corporation that has
  defined geographic boundaries and an elected
  council. It has the ability to collect property
  taxes and to deliver services.
• The primary source of authority for municipal
  governments is the Municipal Act.
• Many other provincial laws and regulations
  delegate powers to the municipality including
  building codes.

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Municipal Council

• Who forms municipal government?
• A head of council (Mayor or Reeve)
• A varying number of councillors

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Municipal Council

• What does a municipal council do?
• Legislates Enacts policies that direct the
  operations of the community through resolutions,
  by-laws and budgets
• Executive functions Initiates proposals for
  municipal action, administers programs and
  policies

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Municipal Mayors / Reeves

• The mayor is usually elected at large
• Acts as head of council and as spokesperson
• The mayor has a regular vote (in some provinces a
  veto power)

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Standing Committees

• Made up of members of council
• Provide a forum for public input
• Provide advice to rest of council
• Link council and administrators

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Municipal Government

• Fencing laws are typically found at the municipal
  level in Canada.
• By-laws are enforced at the municipal level.
• It appears that many municipal fencing laws,
  where they exist, deal with property/perimeter
  fencing. Self-closing, self-latching gates
  should be specified.
• Fencing must also protect the children in the
  home with the pool.

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Your Communitys Pool Fencing By-law

• Does it need changing?
• Is there a pool fencing by-law in place?
• Is it comprehensive?
• Do people know about it?
• Is it enforced?

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Comprehensive By-law Key features

• Clearly specifies 4-sided pool fencing
• Requires a self-closing and self-latching gate
• Minimum height of 1.22m (4 feet)
• By-law covers in-ground, above-ground, inflatable
  and spa pools/Jacuzzis
• Specifies fence construction that inhibits
  climbing
• Requires retrofitting of 4-sided fencing for
  existing pools

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Action next steps

• Do you need
• A new by-law?
• An amendment to your current pool fencing by-law?
• And/or plan to promote and enforce the by-law?

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The Incremental Approach

• Changes in public policy are often made
  incrementally.
• To be successful, asks are often refined.
• We make gains and build upon them.

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Municipal Advocacy Activities

• Share background documents
• Letter writing to council
• Public speaking
• Work with the media
• Collaborate with other groups who can help to
  influence municipal policy
• Use tools for local action
• Meet with decision-makers

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Coalition Building

• Change the local by-law in your area
• Speak with other concerned people or
  organizations about how you can protect local
  kids from drowning
• Work together to encourage your community to
  require the installation 4 ft (1.2m), four-sided
  fencing around home swimming pools with a
  self-closing and self-latching gate.

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Ideas for membership / consultation

• Safety groups (Red Cross, LifeSaving Society)
• Local leaders
• Councillor (s)
• Permit officer, By-law enforcement officers
• People with personal experience of the issue
• Public health
• Medical personnel
• Chief administrative officer
• Fencers
• Provincial/ Territorial municipal associations

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Pro and Con understanding stakeholders

• Advocates
• Stakeholders
• Decision-makers
• Influencers
• Opponents Be prepared with counter-arguments

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Pool Fencing - known supporters

• Safe Kids Canada
• Safe Kids Worldwide
• The World Health Organization
• Canadian Red Cross
• Life Saving Society
• Pool And Hot Tub Council of Canada
• Safe Communities Canada
• SMARTRISK
• ThinkFirst Canada

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Supporters continued

• Institut national de santé publique du Québec
• MPP Lou Rinaldi, Northumberland, Ontario
• AHSC Trauma Program
• Alberta Centre for Injury Prevention and Control
• Atlantic Network for Injury Prevention
• IMPACT, Manitoba
• BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit
• Plan-it-Safe, Childrens Hospital of Eastern
  Ontario
• Child Safety Link, Nova Scotia
• Canadian Parents (81 majority of those polled)

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Public Support National Survey

• Safe Kids Canada worked with Decima Research to
  understand how Canadian parents feel about
  mandatory safer pool fencing.
• Participants were asked
• Would you approve changing laws to make
  four-sided fencing around swimming pools
  mandatory?.
• Results A resounding 81 per cent would approve
  changing laws to make four-sided fencing around
  home swimming pools mandatory. Nearly half (48
  per cent) of Canadian parents polled have a pool,
  a spa, or a hot tub.

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Gather the Information

• Pull together the information that you need to
  make your case
• Research
• Drowning facts
• Benefits of fencing
• Costs of fencing
• Costs of doing nothing
• Local stories and opinion

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Plan Your Strategy

• Plan your strategy to influence decision-makers.
• Use the resources at your disposal to make
  change
• Human
• Financial
• Tools
• Templates
• see our municipal guide

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Plan

• Target people
• Target dates
• Delegate tasks
• Strategy development
• Who, how, where, when
• Timing can be important think about election
  schedules etc.

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Public Support - Local

• Garner and demonstrate support in your community
• Petitions
• Testimonials
• Letters of support
• Public meetings / surveys
• Committee participation
• Familiarize yourself with arguments for and
  against mandatory pool fencing - see the
  Frequently Asked Questions included in your
  partner update.

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Meetings with Politicians

• Build Rapport
• Learn what you can about them and their record on
  safety issues before you go
• Position yourself as a resource
• Be organized to provide key messages and
  information (facts sheets, briefing notes)
• Position the issue in the context of politicians
  constituents and the municipalitys strategic
  plan
• Try to keep meeting small, be aware of how much
  time you have
• Debrief, prompt follow-up with letter thank you

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Presenting to Council

• Consider making an appearance or delegation in
  front of council. Council meetings are generally
  open to the public. You may be required to
  register your intention to present, submit a
  letter and/or brief prior to an appearance.
• Councils may also hold meetings to talks about
  particular issues.
• Be prepared with your presentation respect time
  limits.
• Be prepared to answer questions that the council
  may have about your proposal.

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Ask your representative to take action

• Encourage your municipal councillor, alderman,
  mayor or reeve to present the proposed by-law to
  council.
• Equip your representative with a presentation and
  the specific wording for the new by-law,
  amendment or resolution.

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Resources templates and tools

• Safe Kids Week 2007 Resources
• Petition form
• Model by-law and checklist
• Fact sheet
• Discussion document
• Fencing diagrams
• Chart of current pool fencing laws
• Sample letter (To send to Council personalized
  letters are best!)

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Resources templates and tools

• Matte story
• Presentation on pool fencing
• Municipal Advocacy Guide
• Sample resolution
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• SKW 2007 partner updates
• Sample pamphlets pool fencing and by-law
  compliance
• www.safekidscanada.ca

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Discussion

• Outstanding issues
• Questions

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Thank you!

• Thank you all for joining us!
• Safe Kids Canada/SecuriJeunes Canada
• 1-888 SAFE TIPS
• (1-888-723-3847)
• www.safekidscanada.ca/www.securijeunescanada.ca
• fax [phone]