Holiday illness and holiday accidents? Just dive in to your hotel swimming pool!
We often talk about food poisoning being the major cause of holiday illness – but that sparkling blue swimming pool could be just as much to blame for several serious holiday illnesses.
The programme found that the pool water contained high levels of E-coli caused by faecal contamination – there was 41 times the acceptable amount of E-coli in the swimming pool. The pool water also contained the bacteria pseudomonas at 68 times the acceptable level. This causes eye, skin and ear infections, just the sort of illnesses to ruin a holiday and ones which can cause illness long after the holiday has come to an end.
The BBC programme The Secret Tourist carried out tests on the swimming pool and the matting around it at the hotel Armar in Turkey. And whilst the results are worth diving into, the water certainly wasn’t!
Naturally, the swimming pool was found to have no chlorine in it and so there was absolutely no chance of disinfection – any guest with a holiday illness could pass on the bacteria simply by jumping in the pool. Speaking of which, there was no health and safety around the flumes – the big slides beloved of children and us adult big kids too. People were seen blasting down the slides and into the water putting other pool users at risk of injury.
The programme’s expert said that the pool posed serious public health issues and should be closed down immediately.
And the dangers didn’t just lurk in the water. The matting at the side of the pool – meant to prevent slips, trips and falls – was infected with the salmonella bug, another major cause of holiday illness.
And, of course, all around the pool there were holiday accidents waiting to happen. The matting itself was torn in several places, making it easy to trip and fall. Young children racing around the pool were at particular risk.
Other trip and fall hazards included uneven tiles and broken tiles – one child had a nasty gash on his foot after a trip on a broken tile.
Slips, trips and falls weren’t confined to the pool area. The programme showed electric cables trailed openly across floors in the hotel Armar in Turkey. And, worryingly, in a bedroom they found an electrical socket not properly fitted and a live electrical socket in the bathroom – which could have caused fatal injury.
We all tend to relax on holiday and not be as aware of the dangers around us as we are at home. But holiday illness caused by bacteria in food or swimming pool water is unpleasant enough. A slip, trip or fall caused by shoddy maintenance can mean serious injury – or worse.
If you have a holiday illness or accident on holiday that was not your fault, you should be able to claim compensation. But you might also just think twice about cooling off in the pool – it could land your health in the deep end. Get in touch with our Holiday Compensation Experts today on:
Freephone: 08081293329 or drop us a line using the form above.