The Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces issues a negative opinion on the framework bill on health and safety in swimming pools: too many unresolved issues, from the unconstitutionality of inspections in private pools to questions of plant liability and the lack of resources in local health authorities.
At the session of the State-Regions Conference held on 17 March, the framework bill on health and safety in swimming pools received a no from the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces.
Although formally classified as a conditional favourable opinion, the document submitted to the Government lists so many substantial requests for amendment as to render the text, in practice, unacceptable in its current form. The Regions are unequivocal: the bill presents legal, constitutional and operational flaws that undermine its overall structure.
Equal protection for all: sports facilities cannot be excluded
The first sticking point concerns the scope of application. The Regions strongly contest the exclusion from the bill of pools managed by amateur sports associations, national federations and sports promotion bodies, including Paralympic ones. Without regulation, these facilities — open to and frequented by the public — would be exempt from any form of health and hygiene oversight: a disparity in protection deemed unacceptable and at odds with the stated goal of ensuring uniform safeguards across the country.
Private pools: both a constitutional and a resource problem
Equally firm is the Regions’ position on constitutional grounds. The text provides for inspections by local health authorities (ASL) in domestic pools, but the Regions point out that health agencies have the power of access only to workplaces: entering private property without consent would constitute a violation of domicile. Domestic pools cannot therefore fall within the scope of the bill, as a public body has neither the legal authority nor the operational capacity to intervene in them.
Furthermore, extending inspections to private properties would be operationally unfeasible, since Prevention Departments within local health authorities are already suffering from staff and resource shortages. Diverting resources away from the oversight of public pools — the only ones that pose a real risk to collective health — in order to inspect private properties would be an unacceptable mistake.
The danger of suction devices remains unaddressed
Among the most serious omissions highlighted by the Regions is the bill’s silence on the risk of drowning caused by suction devices located on the floors and walls of pools, which can trap swimmers — particularly young children — with often fatal consequences.
The Regions had already developed specific technical proposals on this issue, submitted to the Ministry of Health as part of the document “National Health and Hygiene Regulations for Swimming Pools.” The bill ignores them entirely, failing to address one of the most serious risks to swimmers’ safety and leaving the legislation with a critical gap on the very front it claims to be protecting.
The text needs to be rewritten
The message from the Conference of Regions is clear: as it stands, the bill does not hold up and risks diverting health and hygiene oversight away from the objectives that truly matter for prevention and public health protection. Only if all the observations are fully incorporated can the bill be considered fit for approval.
Source: https://www.regioni.it/download/news/663688/
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