Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Keeping Kids Safe: Swimming Pool Safety-Anti-Entrapment Drain Cover Law
Swimming is not only a great sport, but a wonderful pastime and source of enjoyment and relaxation.
Pools are a vital part of many school athletic programs, an endless source of entertainment for kids when on vacation and hot tubs can provide families hours of relaxation. Unfortunately, drowning is one of the primary causes of accidental deaths among children.
Federal Law Regarding Swimming Pool Safety
In order to improve the safety of pools, spas and hot tubs, a new federal law now requires all public pools, hot tubs and spas, including those at community parks, YMCAs, apartments, condominiums, and other homeowner associations, waterparks, hotels, schools, and universities to be equipped with drain covers that are certified to comply with the new ASME/ANSI 2007 standard, as well as other safety measures to prevent entrapment and evisceration.
CPSC, the enforcing agency of the Act, may impose enormous financial penalties and seek imprisonment for violators.
Starting December 19, 2008, every public pool in this country has to have two layers of protection to prevent entrapment in the drains of pools.
They have to have an anti- entrapment drain cover. The law requires that any drain produced or manufactured in this country has to get the anti-entrapment drain cover.
Safety Vacuum Release System
Public pool owners and operators also need to actively change the bad drain cover to the good drain cover. They also have to have a second layer of protection, which is a device called a “Safety Vacuum Release System” (SVRS) that detects if there is any unnatural suction or blockage at the drain and automatically shuts it off.
Public Swimming Pool Yet To Meet the Requirements
The bulk of the country’s public swimming pools are in violation of a new federal safety rule aimed at keeping people from becoming trapped in underwater drains, and some pools have begun closing down temporarily while they scramble to comply with the law.
About 80% of the country’s roughly 300,000 public pools and spas, located in communities, hotels and fitness centers, still need to retrofit their facilities to meet the new requirements, according to the National Swimming Pool Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes aquatic education.
Pool operators complain that the new, safer drain covers required by the law didn’t hit the market until the fall and continue to be in short supply. For most facilities, the new equipment costs between $1,000 and $10,000 to purchase and install, depending on the type of pool and the size of the drain.
The CPSC, the agency in charge of enforcing the standards, said “For us, the attention will be on the areas that pose the greatest risk to young children,” such as wading pools, kiddie pools and in-ground hot tubs. These pose the greatest risk because children are most likely to have direct contact with a drain in shallow water. Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said “We will be focusing our initial efforts on the littlest swimmers in the littlest pools.”
Make certain the pools to which your family has access whether at school, home or the gym have the new anti-entrapment drain covers, and if your child has suffered injuries due to pool drain entrapment, contact the experienced Boston child injury lawyers at Kiley Law Group to ensure you and your loved one receive the compensation to which you are entitled.
Call 888-208-1695 to speak with one of our attorneys today.
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