A recent drowning in a swimming pool accident that received national attention demonstrates why individuals in Chicago should take swimming pool safety seriously. Recreation officials admitted that they allowed swimmers to use a murky swimming pool at the same time that a drowned woman's body remained submerged and unnoticed by those at the pool.

The pool was cloudy enough that it took two days to discover the woman's body. Nevertheless, with such cloudy conditions in the pool, the pool remained open to the public (including children) until the woman's body was discovered. Those recreation officials in charge of maintaining the pool had been criminally charged with reckless endangerment of children that were using the pool.

Just like all other premises liability cases, individuals that maintain swimming pools for public use have a duty to keep such facilities safe. Though injuries and even deaths accompany a failure to keep an area such as a swimming pool safe, owners of such facilities often do not pay close attention to their duties or take such duties seriously. Such failure is why attorneys bring lawsuits on behalf of individuals injured on particular premises.

Though in this particular instance lifeguards were on duty at all times that members of the public were using the pool, because of conditions at the pool the lifeguards were unable to even detect that an individual had been submerged in the water or was in danger of drowning. Even though standards had recently been reviewed and changed requiring improved water clarity, those maintaining the pool disregarded such standards.

Those that disregard such standards, obviously implemented for public safety, need to be held accountable for their negligence.

Source: Reuters, "Plea deal in drowning case at murky Massachusetts pool," by Zach Howard, Feb. 7, 2012