| Releases & Statements
Fifty (50) out of 56 City swimming
pools surveyed by the Office of the Public Advocate are operating
with health and safety hazards according to a new report, released
today. At the Thomas Jefferson pool in Manhattan, Public Advocate
Betsy Gotbaum pointed out a loose ladder and said her investigators
had found insufficient chlorine in the water—conditions
that are common at public pools in New York City and can lead
to injuries and recreational water illnesses (RWIs), including
skin, ear, eye, and respiratory infections and diarrhea. Gotbaum’s
report also cites numerous City pools for serious hazards that
could result in drowning or even electrocution.
“New Yorkers depend on public
pools in the hot summer months when they need to cool off,”
Gotbaum said. “The City has a responsibility to ensure that
they are clean, safe places for children and families, but apparently
they’re not getting the job done.”
Investigators from the Office of the
Public Advocate made unannounced visits to 56 of the public outdoor
pools operated by the Department of Parks and Recreation between
July 5 and July 11 and evaluated each pool using a checklist based
on the State Sanitary Code and the City Health Code. They also
used one-dip test strips to determine whether pools’ chlorine
and pH levels fell within the range required by the State Code.
They identified the following violations:
• 15 pools had inappropriate
pH or chlorine levels
• 6 pools had murky water, indicating problems with water
quality
• 8 pools had floating matter, including leaves and grass
• 15 pools had loose or wobbly ladders
• 8 pools had slipping or tripping hazards, such as puddled
water and cracked or uneven pavement
• 1 pool had an overhead electrical wire in close proximity
of the water
• 4 pools had inattentive lifeguards; 5 had lifeguards who
were not in control of visitors; and 1 had no lifeguard at all
• 5 pools had no first aid and/or lifesaving equipment
“This report is not about the minor bumps and scrapes that
are a part of every child’s summer,” Gotbaum said.
“It’s about violations of City and State codes that
could lead to serious illness, broken bones, drowning, or electrocution.
And some pools don’t even have the equipment or personnel
to deal with a major accident.”
Gotbaum called on the Bloomberg administration
to immediately take the following steps to make City pools safe
for the public to enjoy:
• Assess all pool sites and
correct safety and structural hazards, with special attention
to those identified by the Public Advocate’s Office.
• Conduct unannounced visits to check for hazardous conditions
and evaluate the performance of lifeguards.
• Conduct an inventory of first-aid and lifesaving equipment
at pools and immediately provide pools with all necessary first-aid
and lifesaving supplies.
• Direct pool staff to keep lifesaving equipment on the
pool deck, rather than in a separate office or storage facility.
• Re-train and test pool employees responsible for water
treatment to ensure they understand when and how chemicals should
be added to the pool, and at what point a pool becomes unsafe
for public use.
“There is still plenty of summer
left. The administration needs to act now so that New Yorkers
can enjoy their pools safely,” Gotbaum said. “Anything
less would be a major belly flop.”
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