CPSIA – Pool Drain Hearing – Assessing Risk or Doling out Political Favors?

The CPSC has announced hearings on April 5th on the adequacy of TESTING of pool drains under the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGB). This follows on the heels of the recent meeting between CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum and Senators Dick Durbin and Amy Klobuchar. Mr. Durbin requested this meeting urgently in the wake of the disclosure by the Chicago Tribune questioning the adequacy of TESTING of certain VGB drains. No allegations of actual injury have been made yet, to my knowledge. Ms. Klobuchar tagged along, having previously expressed concern about the VGB drain covers. The pending CSPC hearing has been reported by the estimable AboutLawsuits.com blog, an outlet for ambulance chasers.

Ms. Klobuchar is up for reelection in this cycle. Mr. Durbin’s term extends to 2014.

The Chicago Tribune apparently was late to the drain game. I have uncovered a much earlier and more detailed investigation by ABC News that presumably spawned the CPSC investigation of this matter last Fall. ABC asserts that variability in flow data suggests less water flow with certain models than expected. The report was not uncontroversial, however. Flow was not zero, and the manufacturers note that flow depends on the pump used in the test and also the test installation method. An ANSI standard governs pool drains and three specific labs have been cleared to test pursuant to those standards: the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). Not exactly a rogue’s gallery of shady operators. The alternative testing cited by the Tribune was NOT performed by any of the three authorized labs.

[Remember how darned critical it was to use "CPSC-certified" labs under the CPSIA? It's absolutely essential . . . unless media or regulators want to do something else. Industry can't be trusted to use any old lab, however.]

The CPSC issued subpoenas to these three labs and received back a tidy sum of 17,000 pages of documents. Hey, that’s even more pages than toy safety rules, wow! Anyhow, they have scheduled a show trial to investigate the purportedly nefarious goings-on with these drains.

Perhaps you remember also that the Tribune article was apparently spurred by Paul Pennington, chairman of the “non-profit Pool Safety Council”. According to the Tribune article, “Paul Pennington . . . said he has sent 73 e-mails to CPSC and standards officials, pleading with them to do something about unsafe drain covers since the new law took effect in December 2008.” What a guy that Pennington is, a public-minded private citizen only interested in pool safety. . . . and maybe also (just a little bit) his company, Vac-Alert Industries, which owns patented technology that could supplement or replace the drains at enormous expense to pool owners.

Pennington previously succeeded in inducing a bevvy of left wingers in Congress (all Dems) to stand up for his technology, including Ms. Klobuchar and notably, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL20):

“Once it is considered unblockable, a single main drain no longer is required to have a backup device, such as a safety vacuum release system. The [Congressional] letter writers believe the new definition for unblockable drains leaves pool users vulnerable. ‘A dangerous drain outlet is not safe just because an ‘unblockable’ drain cover is installed,’ Congress member Wasserman Schultz said through her spokesman, Jonathan Beeton. ‘Drain covers can and do come off, or they can be improperly installed. … The VGB Act is very clear that multiple layers of protection are needed.’ The House letter also revisits what has been a hot-button issue throughout the formulation and interpretation of the legislation — whether backup devices should be required on all pools, even those with multiple drains. ‘Backup protection should be installed for every pool or spa, regardless of the number of drain outlets, unless there is no drain, or the drain itself is an unblockable drain,’ Wasserman Schultz said.” [Emphasis added]

Paul Pennington (a California resident, but a Florida company owner) contributed to Ms. Wasserman-Schultz’s reelection campaigns in 2008, 2006 and 2004.

Hmmm.

The company making the allegedly dangerous pool drain covers noted to the Tribune that you would have to weigh 500 pounds to block its drain. Very few children weigh 500 pounds . . . . In case you are dense, Pennington clarified his message to the Tribune: “Some child is going to die.”

Get it? Ms. Wasserman-Schultz certainly did.

So the big question here is – is this a real safety issue? In the post-CPSIA era, it “looks” like a safety issue. Why? Because the TESTS have been questioned. It’s not about actual risk or incidents that reveal a risk, it’s all about a controversy over a precautionary step in the product cycle, namely testing (the paperwork). The certified lab test by the certified lab is now in question and a publicity event is being staged to “reassure the public”. No injuries have been reported which suggests that the public has little reason to actually be alarmed, but then again, the papers are not in order.

Welcome to the Third World . . . .

The CPSC had to do something, since a leading Democrat Senator demanded ACTION, accompanied to the photo opp by another Democrat Senator up for reelection in a state leaning right after voting left for some time. After all, who put the Dems in charge of this CPSC? Appointments to the Commission come from where? The (Democrat-controlled) Senate. One wonders what the political calculations might have been. What can the Democrats running the CPSC do to help out??? Why not let Ms. Klobuchar save some portion of the populace? If there were a hearing, the Minnesota Senator could take credit and use that on the stump to help retain the seat. The next election will be essential and the Minnesota Senatorial race might affect both the balance of power in Congress as well as Mr. Obama and his chances to retain the Presidency. Gotta stick together. . . .

Does anyone care that no one has been injured by these drains? Does anyone care that the person apparently driving this controversy has a vested interest in stirring up the mud? Of course not. This is not about making pools safe, this is about manufacturing of political headlines.

The politicization of safety under this CPSC should be of great concern to every stakeholder. It is a great distortion of the rules of the safety game and of our legal and regulatory system. Random and excessive cost will punish industry. Worse still, no one will be made any safer. The news cycle will help feed a rapacious media and reward the political power elite, as well.

The only one guaranteed to be a loser is industry. Consumers won’t win, industry is sure to lose and the politicians will win. Whose country is this anyway?

Like I don’t know . . . .

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CPSIA – Pool Drain Hearing – Assessing Risk or Doling out Political Favors?

CPSIA – Chicago Tribune and Dick Durbin Show Us How to Create a Crisis

On the morning of February 7, my dog brought in the Chicago Tribune and I almost asked him to take it back to the driveway. Blaring at me was the front page headline”Danger lurks in pool, spa drains“. This article was a monster – an entire page (all five columns). Apparently alerted by a “tipster”, a Tribune “investigation” discovered that some pool drains designed to meet the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act (part of the CPSIA) requirements had apparently failed certain lab tests. Notably, there have been no reported injuries as a result of this “defect”, although one manufacturer asked dealers to return stock for replacement “out of an abundance of caution”.

Why does no injuries merit a full page article? The story continues. . . .

Senator Durbin of the great state of Illinois must have read the same article, because he immediately sent a letter to the CPSC alerting them to this hazard. More precisely, alerting them to this article. I am picturing him dropping his toast in horror. What an efficient clipping service. [Two words for the Senator: "Google Alerts".] His obvious and immediate concern are commendable, if you consider reading a newspaper article adequate due diligence for one of our nation’s leaders. Mr. Durbin notes the outcome of his intensive research (reading the newspaper): “This appears to have allowed dangerous drain covers to continue being sold and distributed. The issues highlighted by the Tribune story are very concerning and raise serious questions, not only about dangerous drains but also about accreditation of testing facilities on products generally.”

Next, the Tribune duly reported that Senator Durbin had performed his clipping service for the CPSC, thereby “legitimizing” their investigation. Case closed! The Chicago Tribune to the rescue. . . .

The Tribune must be right if Dick Durbin drops everything to send a letter . . . right?

Ummm, well, let’s take a deeper look. [It's possible Durbin only read the headline. That's enough, right?] The Tribune investigation was started by a “tip”. Someone with an interest in the drains and their effectiveness. Who might that be? I don’t know myself, but there are rumors. We need not speculate on the rumors but we can certainly look at the article itself. In the article, the Tribune quotes an “expert” on pool drains, Paul Pennington. Did you know there was such a thing as a pool drain expert? Mr. Pennington intones: “Some child is going to die.” And he’s an expert! Sounds bad, very bad.

Mr. Pennington is Chairman of the Pool Safety Council. The Tribune notes: “Paul Pennington, chairman of the nonprofit Pool Safety Council, said he has sent 73 e-mails to CPSC and standards officials, pleading with them to do something about unsafe drain covers since the new law took effect in December 2008.” What a guy, tirelessly fighting for innocent children.

But who is the Pool Safety Council? The Tribune explains: “His group is largely funded by the makers of devices that shut off a pool’s pump when a dangerous vacuum forms, like a circuit breaker turns off power when it senses an overload.” In fact, Mr. Pennington is the President of Vac-Alert Industries, Inc. Hey, here’s another “shocker” – Vac-Alert has patents on vacuum alerts used in pools (patent no. 6,591,863 and 5,991,939).

Conflict of interest? Nah! The Tribune again: “Why did Pennington think the covers were dangerous? As soon as the new drain covers hit the market in 2008, pool owners who had vacuum-release devices complained that their pumps were turning off after they installed the covers. Pennington, who owns a stake in a vacuum-release system company, investigated and concluded that the new covers were allowing the hazardous suction forces they were supposed to prevent. Pennington said his concerns were ignored by the federal government and by the standards committee that writes the testing rules for the drain covers. That committee consists mostly of people who work in the pool and spa business.”

Hmmm. So you have a newspaper trying to sell papers by “saving” the populace, an entrepreneur who is leading the “fight” over pool drains with patented technology ready to replace those drains, an ambitious local politician interested in making headlines while supporting the hometown paper that helped elect him, and what do you get? The feeding frenzy that gave birth to the CPSIA. Everyone’s a winner . . . except for the businesses and markets caught in the middle.

Makes you anxious to vote again, doesn’t it?

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CPSIA – Chicago Tribune and Dick Durbin Show Us How to Create a Crisis

CPSIA – My Letter to Eric Cantor re CPSIA Over-regulation

VIA FAX (202-225-0011)

The Honorable Eric Cantor
United States House of Representatives
Office of Republican Whip
329 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515

Re: ”Delivering on Our Commitment” Letter

Dear Representative Cantor,

I am writing in response to your November 3rd letter entitled “Delivering on Our Commitment” in which you call for increased Congressional oversight of federal agencies legislating through regulations. My industry, the children’s product industry, is a victim of this kind of regulatory abuse. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) blizzard of new safety rules and regulations sharply ramps up government intrusions into markets by adopting the suffocating “precautionary principle” as its legal standard. This European-style approach to regulation, while doing nothing to improve the safety of products, is a job-killer and a business-killer plain and simple.

We really need your help!

In August 2008, Congress passed the “Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008” (CPSIA). The CPSIA had a noble purpose – to improve safety for children’s products by tightly regulating lead and phthalates (a plastic softener). It is a cliché now to observe that this flawed law was beset by “unintended consequences.” Unfortunately, Congress and the CPSC have been unmoved by the chaos that has ensued in the marketplace and the business community’s persistent pleas for relief. Small businesses are notable and well-documented victims of this law.

The children’s product industry, as defined by the CPSIA, goes far beyond toys and spans the U.S. economy. Children’s products under the definition of the CPSIA include ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles, pens, educational products, books, consumer electronics, apparel, shoes, jewelry, DVDs, furniture, musical instruments, carpeting and so on. Even the local resale shop and your own garage sale are now subject to new regulation under this law.

Our objections to this law do not reflect callousness toward safety. Quite the contrary, our industry’s lifeblood is children – and our outstanding safety track record befits an industry of caring adults. None of us want to endanger children. Likewise, we cannot tolerate being subject to laws that make operating our businesses unprofitable or exceptionally risky.

The CPSIA saga has become the poster child for “over-regulation”. While proponents of this safety law stress the possibility of injury to children (the curb appeal of the law), they fail to account for the probability of injury or prove a nexus between our products and the few known injuries. This is a critical distinction. While advocates argue that the so-called “Year of the Recall” justifies the arch new legal regime (473 products were recalled in 2007), the fact remains that children’s product recalls by the CPSC are associated with only one death (from a piece of leaded jewelry) and three unverified injuries over the 11-year period from 1999-2010 (according to published CPSC recall notices). By comparison, CPSIA compliance costs have been estimated to be more than $5.6 billion per annum.

We all agree that lead is a dangerous natural substance that can harm children – but the question is HOW. Other federal agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Center for Disease Control, point to house paint, industrial pollution and the residual effects of leaded gasoline as causes of elevated blood lead levels in children. The connection between lead in children’s products and injuries from lead remains undocumented. Daily intake of lead from children’s products is less than daily intake from food, water and the air, yet the CPSC remains undeterred.

Likewise, phthalates concerns remain highly controversial. The safety advocates have yet to produce a single known victim of phthalates – other than our businesses. Notably, since passage of the CPSIA in 2008, the agency recalled only one product for phthalates – 140 inflatable toy baseball bats. Even so, our company may have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on phthalates testing annually under the new law.

The agency’s response to lead and phthalates has been to impose a multi-billion dollar annual compliance cost accompanied by threats of heavy penalties, injunctions by the U.S. Attorney and possible felony charges. The agency’s obsession with lead and phthalates has led some staff members to refer to it as the “Children’s Product Safety Commission.” By comparison, the agency devotes few resources to swimming pools and spas, for instance, which account for more than one childhood death and between 11 and 12 serious injuries EVERY DAY according to the CPSC. I believe these confused priorities represent a subversion of the purpose of this agency under federal law.

Efforts to blunt the CPSIA’s impact have fallen on deaf ears. Sadly, Congress’ refusal to address the law’s shortcomings has only made the problem worse for the industry. Since passage, the CPSIA has been the subject of only one oversight hearing with a single witness, CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. There have been two other hearings, one by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Small Business and the other by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Congress has never chosen to act on the many documented abuses of the business community under this law. The agency itself has held innumerable hearings and called for public comments again and again, but few objections of the regulated community have influenced outcomes. Votes on the Commission are now often on partisan lines – an abomination if one concedes that safety is not a partisan issue.

The regulatory nightmare of the CPSIA yawns wide in front of us. I testified before Congress in April 2010 that my company is now subject to more than 2500 pages of laws, regulations, rulings and other disorganized documents. Prior to the CPSIA, we were responsible to follow about 80 pages of rules, most of which did not apply to us on a daily basis. The total number of pages of applicable laws and rules now balloons far larger than Obamacare – and any violation of any sentence constitutes a possible felony offense under the terms of the CPSIA. We also must bear the risk that any of the 50 State Attorneys General might enforce this law if the CPSC defers. It is a regulatory nightmare of Orwellian dimensions. The CPSIA is an economic depressant by any definition.

The issues under the CPSIA fall into four categories: (a) Cost, (b) Complexity, (c) Legal risk and (d) Government intrusion. Our markets are now in total disarray because of the massive intrusion of the federal government along with scare tactics used by regulators trying to coerce compliance and, at the same time, obtain larger funding from Congress. Ironically, the more the agency uses the CPSIA to make us look bad, the more essential and irreplaceable they make themselves look. This perverse incentive is hard to combat. We need Congress to stop this madness.

The problems with the CPSIA and its implementation by the CPSC deserve much closer Congressional scrutiny. Our employees, our retailers and suppliers, and most importantly, the schools, teachers, families and children who want, need and depend on our educational products are counting on the new majority party in the House to restore sanity to federal safety administration.

Thank you for your urgent consideration of this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Richard Woldenberg

Chairman
Learning Resources, Inc.
380 North Fairway Drive
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

Chairman
Alliance for Children’s Product Safety

Read more here:
CPSIA – My Letter to Eric Cantor re CPSIA Over-regulation

CPSIA – Why Hasn’t Data Changed Opinions at the CPSC?

I have recently published numerous blogs on CPSC recall data documenting the dearth of injuries and deaths from lead in the past decade. I am certainly not indifferent to the suffering of any victim, however, I note that data on injuries is a way to measure the urgency of the threat. There has been one death and three asserted injuries in the last eleven years from lead. We are a country of 300 million-plus and have a $15 trillion dollar economy – presumably, we need to prioritize.

I have also provided CPSC data on injuries and deaths from other hazards, such as cadmium (zero), pool drains (very low, but greater than lead), phthalates (zero) and pool and spa (extremely high, more in an average day than in a decade for lead, phthalates and cadmium put together). In fact, I documented the distribution of injuries and deaths among all recalled children’s products over an 11-year period. At one death and three unverified injuries, lead comes in last among all recall categories with more than eight recalls over 11 years (lead and lead-in-paint accounted for 248 of 899 total recalls in the surveyed period of time). Literally every significant hazard facing children in consumer products is worse and much more dangerous than lead according to the CPSC’s own data.

I have also shown that the data on recalls publicized by the CPSC tends to magnify the scale of lead recalls, making the recalls seem more threatening and the implied hazard more urgent than they really are. Among other things, the quantity of recalled products typically (if not always) includes inventory in the possession of the manufacturer. This inventory NEVER MADE IT TO THE MARKET. In addition, recall data also includes product still on the shelf at retailers. This inventory, which was sold by the manufacturer to the retailer, was never sold to consumers. Inventory in the possession of the manufacturer, its factories or its retailers has no conceivable potential to harm a child. The amount of product in the hands of consumers could be tiny. Please consider these facts when evaluating the claims of consumer groups on the “poor” effectiveness of recalls. The math gets all tangled up, doesn’t it?

Call me crazy, but this seems like some rather shocking data. The deaths and injuries from lead and phthalates are so small that they are trumped in a single day by pool and spa deaths and injuries. [The reported deaths and serious injuries from pools and spas since Memorial Day, at least 210, are AT LEAST FIFTY TIMES THE NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM LEAD IN THE LAST ELEVEN YEARS. In other words, it will take more than 500 years for lead to produce as many deaths and serious injuries as the last 53 days from pools and spas (if the lead death and injury rate doesn't taper off).]

And yet the CPSC seems to have no interest in this data, their OWN data. Why? Well, the best I can say is that they believe every life is precious and thus, economics cannot be considered when designing a response to the hazard. I did not invent this view of the consumer group-dominated Commission – I asked this very question of a person in a position to know, and got this answer. So there you go.

Does this hold water, that economics are irrelevant and should never be considered? First, on the relevance of economics, I think that’s a silly proposition. Of course economics matters. Please don’t feign shock or disgust. Let’s do an exercise: How much shall we spend to save a life? A child died from swallowing a lead charm on a single bracelet several years ago. This is the lone reported death from lead or lead-in-paint from a consumer product in at least 11 years and has been cited as a justification for the CPSIA maelstrom. In this space, I have adopted a proxy estimate of $5.6 billion in annual CPSIA compliance costs for the children’s product industry (based on a submission of the HTA to support their Congressional testimony).

So, is $5.6 billion the “right” amount to spend annually to prevent the next loss of life? Sure, you say, spend the $5.6 billion each year, every life is precious. Okay, does the cumulative spend of $61.9 billion over 11 years (to match the period in which the one death occurred) sound a bit extreme? Can you think of anything else that might be a better use of $61.9 billion? [Like a new national highway system? A new electrical grid? A few more cruise missiles? A few months of national health care?] I would note that $62 billion is double the provisional losses of BP from the Gulf oil spill. That’s a lot of coconuts, if you ask me.

Should we spend $61.9 billion on every cause of death? What about causes of death that are “worse”, meaning that loss of life is greater? Should we spend proportionately? If our resources are limited (I used to think that was relevant but lately, who knows?), how should we allocate our limited dollars? Is it okay to prioritize? Does lead make the cut if we try to allocate rationally?

It is worth noting that the value of a life or an injury is a heavily-litigated subject. It is a staple of tort litigation to estimate damages by assessing the economic value of a life or an injury. The U.S. government also engages in the same analysis. Certain agencies are forbidden by law to issue regulations that do not show an economic profit, that is, the cost of the regulation must be outweighed by its economic benefits. [Money spent or saved by the public versus the government is not relevant to this analysis - a dollar's a dollar no matter who spends it.]

The benefits of the regulation are calculated by assessing the economic value of lives and injuries. To regulate otherwise is economically irrational – which is where the CPSC seems to be. More to the point, economic irrationality is against the weight of U.S. jurisprudence, not to mention laws limiting the ability of the government to issue regulations. Hate to sound trendy, but it is Big Government completely out of control to contend that lives are “priceless” and to assert that the cost to avoid injury or death should not be limited by economic considerations. Please note that the EPA assesses the economic “value” of a life at $6.1 million. For even more perspective, the EPA says that one IQ point lost to lead is worth $8,346. CPSIA compliance costs are not less than $5.6 billion EACH YEAR. Do the math.

Okay, this is bordering on insulting your intelligence. Yet, astoundingly, the CPSC doesn’t get it. What about the behavior of the CPSC itself – do they ever consider economics? Again, at the risk of insulting your intelligence, of course they do. For one thing, they themselves have limited resources. They can’t do everything they want, and have to make choices. They have a BUDGET. They can’t hire everyone they want, can’t inspect everything, can’t process every claim immediately and so on. They also make practical judgments on some things. I reported recently the tarring the Commission received for making a practical judgment about how to implement the pool drain law. In that case, they chose to agree with the recommendations of industry, which is heresy in some circles . Certain members of Congress live in those circles . . . . No doubt the savaging of the Commission over that minor practical judgment will have the intended effect of eliminating whatever shreds of common sense or backbone extant at the CPSC and the Commission. Perhaps this is the end of their consideration of economics . . . .

Where does this leave us? Come on, guys, right where we were for the last two years! We continue to rail against this awful law, and the CPSC gets progressively more and more stone deaf. I feel increasingly like I am mumbling to myself, especially when they won’t respond to their own data or other data-driven rational arguments. Given that the Dems have made their name by being totally deaf to the legitimate concerns of industry, what choices are left to us? I am turning more of my energies to the 2010 Midterm elections. I hope you will also do what you can to change the dynamic in Washington. You’ve seen what these people have done in the last 18 months. Ready for more?

I’m not. And I am doing something about it.

Read more here:
CPSIA – Why Hasn’t Data Changed Opinions at the CPSC?

CPSIA – Losing Sight of the Issue in Pool Deaths

These are the people who are protecting you:

“[The] CPSC, which kicked off a pool-safety campaign Thursday, emphasized that [pool safety] issues go beyond drains: At least 70 people drowned in pools since Memorial Day; 80 more almost drowned. ‘There were thankfully zero drain entrapment deaths in 2009,’ says CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. ‘Our campaign is aimed at reducing child drownings and keeping entrapment deaths to zero again this year.’” [Emphasis added]

USA Today, July 3, 2010 “Pool-safety advocates decry loss of drain backup rule“

Yes, the safety enforcement circus carries on. The USA Today reports that AT LEAST 70 people have died in pool drownings since Memorial Day (May 31). The July 3 article appears 33 days after Memorial Day, so that’s more than TWO DEATHS A DAY. Another 80 almost drowned – the total serious injuries and deaths is about FIVE A DAY. And the CPSC’s reaction – if the deaths didn’t occur from pool drains, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. WHEW! If they had died from a pool drain, that would have been really TERRIBLE.

Of course, the victims are still dead. Not a safety concern, apparently. We must stay focused on pool drains . . . .

I know you think I’m kidding BUT to judge by the reality-detached hyperbole of our heroic Democratic Congressional leaders, you’d never know it. Consider the remarks of the estimable Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, one of Ms. Pelosi’s attack dogs in the CPSIA drama: “CPSC interpreted the law in the ‘most egregious and narrow way possible’ by eliminating the requirement for backup systems, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and co-sponsors of the law said in a letter to CPSC Commissioner Robert Adler last month.” [USA Today article]

And why did Ms. Wasserman Schultz think this action was so “egregious”? Here are her words: “We understand that the interpretation that CPSC adopted is the same one that the pool and spa industry endorsed, and is not the interpretation that public interest groups and victims’ families had urged the Commission to adopt.” Aha – how DARE the CPSC defy consumer groups in favor of evil industry?! Doesn’t the agency know that if industry wants something, it must be bad for consumers?!

Democratic Senators pitched in as well they could. Drawn from the same rogue’s gallery that brought you the noxious CPSIA (Pryor, Durbin, Klobuchar, Nelson (FL) and Dodd), the Senators stated that the Commission violated “both the spirit and the letter of the act.“

Okay, Junior Scientists of Congress, committed to making us so so SOOOO safe, please note that deaths from pool drains totalled 11 in ten years according to the CPSC. However, total deaths from pools is more than two a day since Memorial Day, and has averaged 385 per year for children under 15 in recent years. So you guys are hassling the agency over a design flaw that causes 11 deaths a decade, and seemingly want it to be the priority of the agency over, say, general pool deaths which total almost 4,000 kids each decade (about 3,000 are under five). Perhaps you should have sent your letters to the families of the 70 victims in the last 33 days so they’d know how much you care.

For a change (it’s been a long-g-g-g-g time coming), the agency was trying to make a practical decision on how to implement a very expensive law focusing on a small problem. The data now suggests that the expense of the Virginia Graeme Baker repairs are prohibitively high, especially in light of the infrequent injuries (however horrific).

Sadly, when it could finally take the high road, the agency flinched in front of the press, insulting the memory of the 70 recent drowning victims. To slough off the 70 recent deaths because they weren’t caused by pool drains is nothing short of abdication of duty (or resignation to failure). I don’t know about you, but I am plenty tired of politically-motivated, pet project, holier-than-thou safety. This benefits no one other than the pandering politicians hoping to dupe you into voting for their reelection.

Will this madness EVER end???

Read more here:
CPSIA – Losing Sight of the Issue in Pool Deaths

CPSIA – CPSC Jumps Into Action to Solve Pool Deaths

As the CPSC announced when it kicked off Pool Safety Week in late May, deaths and injuries to children from pools and spas are breathtaking in scale. CPSC statistics indicate that deaths from pools and spas average more than ONE PER DAY and serious injuries requiring emergency room treatment average more than 11.5 PER DAY. Now THAT’S a serious problem.

By contrast, lead accounted for one death and three unverified injuries over eleven years. So in one day, pools injure more kids than lead did in eleven years.

And how does the CPSC respond to these two threats? Well, for lead, they force industry to spend more than $5.6 billion per year in compliance costs (this doesn’t even count aggravation costs).

And pools? The agency runs some PSA commercials. Here’s a new one:

Love that sense of balance and proportionality. Of course, whacking innocent companies over lead gets good headlines and makes the regulators look valiant. No one wants the agency to crack down on pools. Perhaps it’s only cynics like me that think this lame approach reveals a lack of commitment to safety by both the agency and Congress. Perhaps our regulators think Public Service Announcements are PERFECT to reduce the scourge of pool deaths and injuries, but only asphyxiation of the children’s product industry will address the lead “threat”.

Particularly amusing, then, is the response of municipalities to the Pool Safety Initiative. Who remembers Chairman Inez Tenenbaum’s hearty self-congratulation on February 17, 2010 for conducting inspections of 1200 pools? Her words: “We’ve carried out my principle of firm but fair enforcement of product safety laws by inspecting 1200 public pools and spas for compliance with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act – the results gave us good reason to believe that the law is working”. She made a similar assertion in Congressional testimony in September 2009: “In addition, CPSC investigators have inspected over 1200 pools and spas in 38 states as part of a recently launched enforcement initiative. The good news is that CPSC’s public outreach and education efforts seem to be having a positive impact in this area. Recent inspections show that most public pools and spas have installed or have plans to install the new, compliant drains covers and safety equipment in the near future. Let me state again, contrary to some reports, there are many more public pools and spas that have been made safer because of this important law.”

Problem solved? According to the Fresno Bee, it’s hardly a closed book: “About half of the 1,300 public pools and hot tubs in Fresno County do not comply with new state safety standards designed to prevent swimmers from being caught by suction on drains, county officials say.” [This is the Virginia Graeme Baker law.] What explains the hold-up? The repairs are costly and then there’s the sense of urgency: “Mary Jo Quintero, water safety program coordinator for Children’s Hospital Central California, said she is not aware of any entrapment injuries occurring in the Merced-to-Bakersfield region during her 30-year tenure at the hospital.”

Perhaps you have heard of the financial problems in California and in municipalities in general. Think of the impact of this law when money is in short supply: “The city of Fresno retrofitted its four large pools more than a year ago, costing about $60,000, said city spokeswoman Heather Heinks. ‘We are totally compliant. It’s been county-inspected,’ she said.” So a few public pools have been fixed . . . and as for the rest of the public pools – no one is in much of a hurry. “Although many pools are not yet up to code, officials say they have no plans to immediately shut them down.”

So the local government is blowing this off. What about private owners? Are they just as bold, or are they afraid to defy government agencies armed with heavy penalties? “However, some apartment owners are closing pools on their own because they can’t afford the upgrades, said Bob Waterston, a former Fresno County supervisor who owns a pool company that specializes in the retrofits.”

The CPSC is running Public Service Announcements telling you to watch your kid in the pool (duh) in response to a childhood activity that is wildly popular and scandalously dangerous. The agency is also bragging about its enforcement of this high-profile law, asserting results that seem to be untrue. Hmmm. And as for the lead “problem” that produced one death and three unverified injuries in more than a decade, the CPSC has been actively developing rules that will lead to business death by compliance.

I just love our government!

Read more here:
CPSIA – CPSC Jumps Into Action to Solve Pool Deaths