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SPN AUG 2011 WorldNews


www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk worldnews


SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR FIRST NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE POOL CASE


David Lionetti, has made history in the United States by being the first pool builder to be held criminally liable for a death in a swimming pool his company built.


ONE MILLION DRAIN COVERS RECALLED IN ENTRAPMENT SCARE


The leading national consumer safety body in the United States has recalled approximately one million drain covers.


The dramatic move is expected to cause widespread reverberations throughout the pool and spa industry. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the “recalled drain covers were incorrectly rated to handle the flow of water… which could pose a possible entrapment hazard”.


The move primarily affects childrens’ pools, wading pools and in-ground spas, as well as single- drain pools that do not have an unblockable drain, gravity feed system or drain covers installed before December 2008.


Manufacturers will have to pay for parts and labour for all replacement parts.


The CPSC launched an investigation earlier this year to determine whether the testing methods used to approve drain covers were sufficient to determine the safety of the product. All covers


are required to comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which came into effect in December 2008.


Drain cover models from the following manufacturers are part of what CPSC has said is a voluntary recall – A&A Manufacturing, AquaStar Pool Products, Color Match Pool Fittings, Custom Molded Products, Hayward Pool Products, Pentair Water Pool and Spa, Rising Dragon Plastics and Waterway Plastics. Some manufacturers already have the parts necessary to make replacements. Others are having to gear up production.


This recall is the latest in a traumatic series of events for the US pool trade since the introduction of the Virginia Baker Act which made the use of proper anti-entrapment drains a legal requirement . In recent years pools which have not completed the introduction of the new drains have been facing closure. There are over six million residential and public in-ground pools and in- ground spas in the United States.


The Chief Executive of Shoreline Pools, based in Connecticut, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide for the 2007 death of Zachary Archer Cohn, a six-year-old whose arm was entrapped in a wall drain meant to feed a spillover spa.


Lionetti was given a suspended one- year sentence, along with three years’ probation in which he must complete 500 hours of community service. “It’s a fair and reasonable outcome,” said Lionetti’s attorney, Richard Meehan. “Throughout all this, he’s been haunted by the fact that something that he and his family have done for 40 years, which is try to bring fun to people, ultimately had a part to play in the death.” A year after the drowning, police charged Lionetti with second-degree manslaughter, saying he recklessly caused Zachary’s death. The builder faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. But a carefully crafted agreement allowed him to plead guilty to negligent homicide, while his company accepted the second- degree manslaughter charge. Pool and spa professionals have been watching this case since the entrapment occurred.


Shoreline was hired in 2005 to build a pool for the new home that


was eventually purchased by the Cohns. The vessel contained four drains – two in the pool and two in an accompanying spa.


However, each outlet was connected to a different pump, thus creating four separate single-drains. The project was not equipped with safety vacuum release systems. Both deficiencies violated a state code, which had passed the year before, which required dual drains on new constructions.


The drain that entrapped Zachary fed into a pump that controlled the spa’s spillover water feature. It sat on the pool wall about three feet below the surface of the water.


In July 2007, Zachary’s arm became stuck in the drain, and even though two adults tried to free him, he was not extricated until his mother shut off power to the entire house. Shoreline Pools faces the same probationary period as Lionetti. In addition, company officials must identify 100 installations that do not meet safety codes and update them free of charge within a 10 year period. The company further agreed to give US$150,000 to the ZAC Foundation, a safety-awareness organisation started by the Cohns. Shoreline also must supply the ZAC Foundation with the addresses of every pool built in Connecticut since the SVRS and dual-drain mandate began, and pay to send a safety brochure to those owners.


COLOUR CODED WRIST BANDS TO AID CHILD POOL SAFETY


A wave of new safety measures are soon expected for public swimming pools throughout Canada. A high profile coroner’s inquest into the 2008 drowning of eight-year-old Edine Ilunga ended with a series of recommendations aimed at making pools and other public swimming facilities safer for young, less-experienced swimmers. Among these recommendations is the


implementation of colour-coded wrist bands for children that indicate their level of swimming ability. The inquest jury also recommended mandatory swimming tests for children between the ages of eight and 10 who wish to swim by themselves. While these same measures were already adopted in Ottawa shortly after Edine’s death, the jury suggested a wider implementation.


Other recommendations include reviewing the use of flotation swimming mats, ensuring that parents and young swimmers are aware of public pool rules and asking the province to continue educating people about the importance of swimming lessons for children. Edine died after she was found floating face down in a leisure centre pool.


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