• Swimming pool nets protect children from drowning.Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images
  
  Swimming pools present a severe danger to children. Many children play near swimming pools and fall in. Swimming pool drowning represents the greatest cause of child mortality. Swimming pool safety nets protect children from falling into the swimming pool. When the child falls into the swimming pool, the net catches the child so that the guardians of the child can rescue her.
  
  

Holes

• The holes of the net must be small enough that the child will not fall through them or get his head stuck in the holes. However, if the net has holes that are too small, children might climb on to the net for fun and might break the center of the net where there is more danger. Also, the holes must allow adults to see into the pool in the case that a child does get underneath the net. Many nets have abrasive surfaces so that children do not find them comfortable and won't want to climb on them.
  
  

Complete Covering

• The swimming pool net must completely cover the swimming pool; otherwise, if someone falls into the pool and falls through the gap in the net, that individual will be even more likely to drown when trapped underneath the net. Many swimming pools have unusual shapes, so the net should stretch out broadly enough to cover the entire pool.
  
  

Support

• The swimming pool net must support the weight of those who fall onto the net. If the swimming pool net breaks, the individual falling on the net might get tangled in the net, and the chance of the individual drowning can increase rather than decrease. Some children might try to remove the swimming pool net or crawl underneath it. The net must anchor to the edges of the pool so well that the child cannot pull the net off.
  
  

Resistance to Environment

• The swimming pool net must not shrink when exposed to ultraviolet lights and chemicals used in the swimming pool; otherwise the net might develop gaps that children can fall through.
  
  

Stainless Steel Fittings

• The swimming pool net should use stainless steel fittings since environmental conditions can erode the fittings and damage them, causing them to fail. However, the stainless steel fittings can resist the erosion and also look consistently attractive.
  
  

Supervision

• When adults use safety devices, such as the swimming pool net, they should still keep their children under close supervision. Regardless of how well the engineers design the swimming pool net, various events can still damage the net. The swimming pool net does not serve as a replacement for parenting.