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Ponds can bring great enjoyment and fun for adults and of course children.

Parents should check the garden regularly. In addition to ponds there are several other potential dangers for children. Containers holding rainwater should be emptied or sealed to prevent children gaining access, and paddling pools should always be emptied and turned upside down after use.

Supervision of ponds

Almost all child drowning incidents in the back garden or garden pond occurred after a break down in supervision. If parents with children under the age of 6 choose to maintain a garden pond they must be aware that they need to constantly supervise these children in the garden. They also need to ensure that the pond is inaccessible to the child who may escape supervision.

Protecting a garden pond with a mesh or grille

Rigid mesh or a grille can be used to create a secure cover for a garden pond. The following points should be considered in having a grille installed on your pond:

• The mesh must be firmly secured and regularly checked for signs of deterioration.
•  The mesh or grille needs to be able to support the weight of a child and should remain above the surface of the water at all times. Grilles beneath the surface will not remove all of the risk of drowning especially to toddlers and crawling babies who could still end up face down in water and not be able to get themselves upright.
• Modular interlocking plastic grids that can be made to fit various shapes and sizes of ponds are available as well as steel mesh.  The mesh should ideally be heavy duty (i.e. 6-8mm diameter wire) and so be self-supporting. Thinner wire mesh will require supporting with a frame. Fencing materials, such as chicken wire, are unsuitable as they will sag in the centre with the child’s weight. A number of tragic accidents have occurred when children have managed to crawl beneath wire, or pulled the wire aside. The mesh should have a grid size of no more than 80mm x 80mm – this size ensures against entrapment.
• Drowning incidents have occurred in less than 300mm of water.
• Depending on the size of the pond, a frame may be required to provide stability and anchor points. The frame needs to be sited so that it is clear of the maximum water level height that the pond can reach and take into consideration any deflection or sagging that could occur.  Methods used to secure and lock the frame in place should ensure that there is no risk of entrapment between any moving parts. The cover should be left in place until the child can recognise and understand danger.

For more information on pond safety visit the ROSPA website.