In February, a Chicago Tribune investigation exposed that thousands of drain covers were installed in pools across the country despite the fact that they underwent flawed safety evaluations and then failed further testing. Now, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has stepped in to address problems with the current tests and investigate test lab, safety standards and manufacturers.
Drain covers are meant to keep swimmers, including children, from being trapped underwater because suction forces in a pool can turn that drain into a supercharged vacuum that traps a swimmer underwater with hundreds of pounds of force causing serious injury or death.
Pool drain covers receive their ratings based on the number of gallons per minute of water they can safely handle without causing an entrapment hazard. However, those ratings have been called into question after federally mandated tests yielded extremely different results. In one instance, a lab's rating for a drain cover was 614 percent higher than another lab's rating for the same cover.
Last week, several manufacturers testified in a hearing convened by the commission about concerns with safety problems and lab results. In an interview, a vice president of one of the pool drain cover firms expressed his concern, saying some of these covers can create "a death trap for little kids.”
The attorneys at Messa & Associates have pursued many cases involving injuries as a result of products with manufacturing and design defects. We combine our years of experience, thorough research, and the knowledge of highly regarded experts to prepare these cases. If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or death that may be related to a pool drain cover, please contact us at 1-877-MessaLaw.
No comments:
Post a Comment