As summer heats up, seperate recalls involving pool and lawn equipment may cause a few headaches for individuals and businesses throughout the Chicago metro. Recently, a handful of public pools throughout Chicagoland closed due to a CPSC recall on pool drain covers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued recall last week on approximately one million drain covers made by eight different manufacturers.
The CPSC’s ruling frustrated many pool owners nationwide because it was released right before their perennial openings on Memorial Day Weekend. The CPSC says that the drains were incorrectly rated and cannot handle the flow of water they are approved to handle. The following drains should be replaced or retrofitted immediately. All were sold from 2008-2011.
*A&A www.aamfg.com
*AquaStar www.aquastarpoolproducts.com
*Color Match www.poolfittings.com
*Custom Molded www.c-m-p.com
*Hayward Pool www.hayward-pool.com
*Pentair Pool www.pentairpool.com
*Rising Dragon www.risingdragonplastics.com
*Waterway www.waterwayplastics.com
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act requires all pools with public access, including those at hotels, apartments and residential communities, to be fitted with “anti-entrapment devices” that meet ASME/ANSI standards. The law is named after Virginia Graeme Baker, the 7 year-old granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, who drowned in a hot tub after becoming entrapped in the drain in 2002.
In an interview with CNN, Baker’s mother tells of how she frantically tried to pull her daughter up from the bottom of the tub. “I couldn’t understand why, despite all my efforts, I couldn’t get her off the drain,” Baker said. She describes her daughter as being ”essentially cemented” to the bottom of the pool. It took two other adults to pull her up from the drain, and by the time they got her to the hospital, there was nothing the doctors could do.
The hundreds of pounds of suction pose a special risk to children because it can easily trap them under the water. From 1985 to 2004, 33 deaths due to entrapment were reported. However, Alan Kom of SafeKids USA believes that statistic is grossly underreported because the dangers posed by pool drains were largely unknown until recently. Though federal law requires only those pools with public access to be fitted with drains, Kom says that all residential pools should be fitted with effective drains to prevent children from “particularly horrific deaths.”
Thus far, no injuries have been reported involving these drains. Though it may be inconvenient for residents and businesses, catching the drain cover problem before injury is an ideal situation for the CPSC. It is with this pre-emptive philosophy that caused the CPSC to also recall a series on lawn equipment.
The Office for Occupational Health &Safety reports that STIHL Inc. has voluntarily recalled about 2.3 million lawn tools because ethanol and other fuel additives can distort the fuel cap causing a potential spill and fire risk. The recalled items, ranging from blower to clearing saw, are listed below:
*Blower, backpack: BR 500 | Up to 284053456 BR 550 | Up to 284053456 BR 600 | Up to 284053456 BR 600 | Magnum Up to 284053456
*Hedge Trimmer, extended reach: HL 90K | Up to 284101483 HL 100 | Up to 284101483 HL 100 | K Up to 284101483
*Pole Pruner: HT 56 C-E | Up to 284398635 HT 100 | Up to 284097165 HT 101 | Up to 284097165 HT 130 | Up to 284097165 HT 131 | Up to 284097165
*Edger: FC 56 C-E | Up to 284180999 FC 70 C-E | Up to 284180999 FC 90 | Up to 284012099 FC 95 | Up to 284012099 FC 100 | Up to 284012099 FC 110 | Up to 284012099
*Trimmer/Brushcutter: FS 40 C-E | Up to 284180999 FS 56 C-E | Up to 284180999 FS 56 RC-E | Up to 284180999 FS 70 RC-E | Up to 284180999 FS 90 | Up to 284012099 FS 90 R | Up to 284012099 FS 100 RX | Up to 284012099 FS 110 | Up to 284012099 FS 110 R | Up to 284012099 FS 110 RX | Up to 284012099 FS 130 | Up to 284012099 FS 130 R | Up to 284012099
*Clearing Saw: FS 310 | Up to 284012099
*Kombi Engine: KM 56 RC-E | Up to 284180999 KM 90 R | Up to 284012099 KM 110 R | Up to 284012099 KM 130 R | Up to 284012099
All of these products were made in the United States and were sold at authorized STIHL dealers nationwide from July 2002 through May 2011 for between $190 and $650. Anyone with these products should stop using them immediately and return them to a STIHL dealer for a free repair.
While these recalled products pose considerable inconvenience for the owner, it is well worth it to remedy the problem now before it causes injury to your loved ones or your property. Please take preventative action as soon as possible.
If you are a loved one have suffered injury or death from a defective product, please contact Dolan Law Offices for your free consultation.
–Steven Flores
‘ Returning to England
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