Covid-19 Updates

Covid-19 Updates

COVID-19 Lifeguard Information

A-Beautiful Pools, Inc. would like to provide an update to our staff, including lifeguards and seasonal management staff, about our current operations and plans for Summer 2020. We hope you and your loved ones are all safe and secure and finding ways to see the joy, peace and laughter during this season of uncertainty. 

  • Water Safety
    • The CDC has not changed their stance on properly maintained pools and hot tubs with disinfectant levels should inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19 (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/php/water.html).
  • Lifeguards and training
    • ABP has moved all interviews to an online format to continue to hire staff for the summer.
    • ABP lifeguard training has been postponed until further notice. As soon as restrictions are lifted regarding the number of people gathering or working in groups, we will begin lifeguard training. If you are already scheduled in a class that is postponed, we will simply reschedule you. For those of you not scheduled for lifeguarding class yet, we will send notification immediately when it is time to sign up!
    • We are unable to recruit in high schools (our most heavily utilized recruiting method), so it is more important than ever to share our flyer and tell your friends to come work for us this summer!
    • Typically, ABP lifeguard classes become more expensive the closer we get to the season to help us have more certified lifeguards early. All lifeguard classes will be locked in at the current price and not have the traditional increase. Credits will be given to anyone who has paid for a higher price class within 7 business days.
  • Service, Projects, Maintenance and Preparation for Summer
    • We are continuing to maintain all pools per our contract requirements without interruption.
    • We are continuing all maintenance work, jobs and projects without interruption.
    • We are continuing all preparations for the pools to open this Summer.
    • We are planning all our events and dates for the Summer as we normally would be. We can’t wait to spend time with you all, keeping pools safe!
  • Summer Season Start Date
    • We will open our pools with trained lifeguards as soon as we can based on restrictions and lifeguard’s schedules. We are planning to have certified lifeguards at our pools for Summer 2020!

COVID-19 Client Information

Top Questions Asked- COVID STYLE

  1. When will pools open? We are not sure based on the reports from our local government and the on-going change and uncertainty daily. We are in the process this week of determining our certified lifeguard’s locations in the City of Houston and where and when we can open in relation to restrictions being lifted. This info will be provided to clients the week of April 13th. The Aquatics Industry is anticipating a rollout of lifting restrictions, when the time comes. The possibilities are endless, but topics of conversation in our industry include disinfecting guidelines, bather count, and/or facility count and possibility other operating guidelines. These additional guidelines can increase our need for staff and other responsibilities. Additionally, we must be aware of the shortage of supplies that are needed to have a clean and safe pool, (i.e. paper products, disinfectants, gloves, etc.). A-Beautiful Pools, Inc. staff is checking daily for many items to move back into stock so we can open and stay open when restrictions are lifted.
  2. Why am I being billed for lifeguards if the pools won’t open in May? A-Beautiful Pools, Inc. first invoice with lifeguards was sent to clients on March 1st, before COVID-19 affected the Houston area with a STAY HOME/STAY SAFE order. To avoid many edits and administrative hours from both our firm a well as management billing, and to keep the invoices matching the contracts, we chose to credit the actual MAY lifeguard hours on the invoice that left our office on April 1st. If pools are closed in June, (significantly too early to tell), we will do the same for May 1st, while also allowing for adjustments needed for maintenance visits as the summer approaches and heat moves in. Our clients will see this credit for May hours on the newly generated invoice. This also allows us to employ and provide tasks ready and open the pools ASAP with the other costs associated with our billing structure. **We have a handful of clients billed on different schedules, please contact me with questions.
  3. Will the lifeguards disinfect the bathrooms or pool areas more than normal when they reopen? Currently, we are not set up to do this. Our company is not specialized in disinfecting for viruses and pathogens on surfaces, restrooms, etc. We use household and commercial cleaning products, but not to the degree of disinfecting that we feel is necessary to reduce the liability of HOA spaces. In addition, we have not billed for this structure of cleaning (possible behind each user, frequency, etc.). Our lifeguards clean the restrooms daily and check them hourly for spot cleaning as needed. There is not any disinfecting in their normal capacity for the gates, diving boards, slides, furniture, and other common areas people may touch. We are exploring the possibility of partnering with a professional cleaning company for additional cleaning services that MAY be needed in the future. We are suggesting our HOA does the same with any janitorial or cleaning company contacts you may have.
  4. Is my pool being serviced? Yes, all pools are being serviced with essential services as in vacuuming and cleaning weekly, visiting the pool per contract guidelines per week, maintaining proper water chemistry, repairs, and etc. If the closure extends into the summer we will need to adjust the number of times per week maintenance is performed and chemicals used with the heat and cleaning responsibilities.
  5. How are we getting pools ready? Repairs, maintenance, requested power washing, supply deliveries in the next two weeks for summer operations, staff meetings, interviews via video and hiring, research and studies regarding online learning for lifeguard certifications, summer schedule preparations, pool party organization and communication, communication and coordination with swim teams and how this will affect them, filling and purchasing emergency equipment, constant inventory of supplies for our pools this summer, communication for summer newsletters, gathering community info for the staff at your facility, communication and connection with our summer staff, and anything else you can think of! 

Here are some ways we are keeping in touch with our summer staff!

Typically, in March or April, we ask our Supervisors to spend a weekend with us where together we learn new ways to be a team, encourage our lifeguards, and learn more about being proactive. This year, our plans had a swift change where we adapted and moved our retreat to Zoom. We asked our Directors, Instructors, Auditors, and Supervisors to meet with us for two nights from 5:30-8:30pm for our virtual retreat!

We are also doing fun giveaways on our Instagram and connecting to lifeguards through media, technology and voice! We can’t wait to see them all!