NEW LAW IN EFFECT TO PROTECT CHILDREN
In December 2007, President Bush signed a new federal law designed to prevent drain entrapments and eviscerations in pools and spas. Under this law, all public pools and spas were to have compliant drain covers installed and a second anti-entrapment safety device, like a safety vacuum release system, installed when there is only a single main drain, by December 2008. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 was named after a 7 year old girl who was killed after getting entrapped in a hot tub.
According to Safe Kids USA, the statistics for entrapment are probably grossly underestimated - only 33 deaths have been officially listed as being caused by entrapment between 1984 and 2004. Since the death of Baker, however, her mother and other advocates have lobbied for a law so these deaths were not in vain.
Despite the the dangers posed by uncovered drain and the new federal law, many pools are not yet in compliance. Several pool operators claim they simply weren't given enough time to get the covers and claimed some models weren't available until weeks before the law went into effect. Others claim that the models they requested were on back order. Complicating matters is the different ways that states are enforcing the law. Because the agency overseeing the law (the Consumer Product Safety Commission) is so small, it is looking to state public health and safety departments for help, but some states are being more lenient than others enforcing the law. For example, the public health department in Riverside, California said it will not enforce the law until a similar law is passed by the California state legislature.
The CPSC knows that some pool operators have had problems obtaining the drain covers and is focusing its efforts on the most high-risk pools, such as wading pools, kiddie pools and the shallow end of larger pools. The CPSC has warned, however, that ultimately, a pool owner will be held liable if there is an injury or death at a pool lacking the proper drain covers.
