Are University Swimming Pools Safe? A Model to Predict the Number of Injuries in Pennsylvania University Swimming Pools

Abstract

Aquatic facilities can end up paying a large amount of compensation as a result of a charge of negligence. There are two main purposes of this study. The first was to use survey methodology to identify the number of injuries that occur in the swimming pools at Pennsylvania state universities and, as a result, to develop a model to predict the number of injuries that may occur in a university swimming pool. Second, the researchers wanted to gain insight from a sample of aquatic directors into the concerns they have managing their aquatic facilities. Multiple linear regression and ANOVA statistics, along with face-to-face interviews and on-site visits/observations were used for this study. Thirty-three universities (71.7%) of the online survey respondents claimed that they had a risk management manual or plan on–site. The researchers visited a total of 14 state owned universities’ swimming pools in Pennsylvania to examine the pool facilities and evaluate risk management practices within their aquatics facilities. When researchers inquired about what procedures the managers followed when they found an unsafe condition in their facility, 10 out of 14 aquatic directors (71.42%) said that they did not have any standard procedures that they followed. Site observations not only provided a clear picture for the researchers in understanding how aquatic directors operate their swimming pools but also helped the researchers to identify several false risk management practices, such as rusted pool side drain covers, broken, tiles, and blocked exit doors, etc. The effectiveness of the model is appropriate in the application of predicting the number of potential swimming pool injuries at the university level. This is valuable statistical information for the aquatic director to obtain and analyze to determine which risk alterations need to occur within the facility management in order to reduce the number of potential injuries.