Accident notification mechanism set for HK swimming pools
The Office of The Ombudsman announced on Tuesday that a review would be launched urging an accident notification mechanism for Hong Kong’s licensed swimming pools to avoid safety issues.
According to the Ombudsman Winne Chiu Wai-yin, a total of 1,371 licensed swimming pools, as of June last year, were still lacking an accident notification system.
"That means that if an accident occurs in a swimming pool, the government would only be informed by media reports or through complaints," she said.
The Food and Environment Hygiene Department has received 470 complaints about safety issues in licensed swimming pools from 2017 to 2022, Chiu added.
She announced that the government would urge the Food and Environment Hygiene Department to put into place monitoring mechanisms, including; reviewing licenses and license extensions for swimming pools, as well as an inspection system for licensed swimming pool premises to ensure the hygiene and safety measures.