Pool suction drain covers injuries

Pool suction drain covers injuries… addressed in revised Australian Standard AS1926.3-2010, Swimming pool safety – Water recirculation systems.

This revised Australian Standard now specifies more technically qualified criteria is required both in manufacture & installation of the drain covers,  for entrapment avoidance, and succeeds the previous Standard AS1926.3-2003, bringing the Standard in-line with International Standards.  A brief summary of the improvements over the 2003 Standard include;

  • Suction drain covers must now be certified for compliance with documented testing procedures, by an Australian NATA approved laboratory for entrapment of;
    • Hair
    • Body (limbs – evisceration/disembowelment – etc)
    • Physical (jewelery – clothing etc.)
    • Structural integrity
  • Most prescriptive specifications have been removed in favour of performance criteria
  • Drain covers certified by the USA Standard ASME A112.19.8 are deemed compliant under this Australian Standard
  • Provision of compliant installation instructions with every outlet
  • Removal of specified pipe velocities in the system

Serious and fatal injuries can and do occur with swimming pool pumps and submerged suction outlets, if they are not designed and installed in compliance with published Standards.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES;

  • Transanal wading pool suction-drain injury resulting in complete evisceration of the small intestine: case report and review of the literature.
  • Queensland Coroner calls for Australian Standards compliance for pools and spas;
      • Details of the Coroner’s report into the death of a 13 year old girl whose hair was entrapped underwater in a Noosa resort spa pool’s suction outlet in 2006 can be found here: Coroner’s Report.
      • In this incident a workplace health and safety report found that the spa in question did not comply in several ways with Australian Standards and that the non-compliance and some operational deficiencies were the primary cause of the girl’s death.  The Coroner also recommended that, “all public spa pools should be brought into compliance with Australian Standards, and owners who have service agreements with professional pool cleaners, should clearly set out in writing the responsibility of each, such that each is clearly aware of the obligations that each has to ensure that the spa pool complies with the relevant standards from time to time and most importantly, whose responsibility it is to ensure that the spa is working to an optimum standard to avoid risk of injury or death to users”.
  • NSW Deputy Coroner appeals to pool and spa industry
      • Deputy NSW State Coroner Paul MacMahon has found the tragic death of Shannon Rankin in a 2006 entrapment incident in Forster was avoidable (http://www.scribd.com/doc/26912953/NSW-coroner-s-findings-into-spa-death-of-Shannon-Rankin).
      • The deputy coroner recommended that “the NSW government ban the installation of drains in the floor of spa pools in future constructions, and that an independent expert should certify that pools and spas are compliant with statutory requirements before they can be used.  David Rankin said that it was critical that the pool and spa industry takes the lead in implementing changes to eliminate safety shortfalls, and that the new processes are underpinned by legislation”.

LACK OF REGULATION CONTRIBUTES TO NON-COMPLIANCE FOR POOLS & SPAS

These situations involving sub-merged suction outlets, have been allowed to develop as a result of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Australian Standards, Department of Health Guidelines and Local Laws, by the swimming pool industry, and, in community projects, the subsequent lack of experienced regulation by Building Authorities. This lack of regulation by Building Authorities has encouraged the installation of non-compliant pools and spas by poorly informed installers that include;

      • Inadequate domestic grade equipment, designed on domestic filtration bed velocities, that is incapable of coping with periodic large bather loads common to these community facilities,
      • The installation of non-compliant submerged suction outlets, and
      • The inability of pool operators, either through lack of qualifications, or inadequate design and/or installation of pool water treatment plant, to comply with testing procedures and water quality required by State Department’s of Health Water Quality Guidelines.

NEW BUILDING INSPECTIONS FAIL TO IDENTIFY IF POOL & SPA EQUIPMENT IS ADEQUATE AND COMPLIANT

In the Winter 2008 edition of Body Corporate Services plus Magazine, strata law experts stated that “Australian courts have recognised that builders (and other professionals) owe a duty of care to Community Title Schemes to ensure they design and construct buildings according to reasonable standards and will therefore be liable for defective construction.  So CT Schemes can take civil legal action against builders for the cost of rectifying defects”.

Normal Building Authority inspections of aquatic spaces in new buildings, mainly check for approvals only. They do not check for compliance with Australian Standards, State Department of Health guidelines and hydraulics safety. If the aquatic spaces were not designed and/or inspected by an outside qualified organization, there is no indication for the eventual obligation holders, that the facilities are compliant & operationally safe, regardless of the Building Certification.

There are countless installations in Australia where non-compliant (with Australian Standards) submerged suction outlets have been installed, especially in spas. Unfortunately, due to uninformed interpretations of AS1926.3-2003, suction outlets manufactured in Australia did not strictly comply with Australian Standard 1926.3-2003. These non-compliant manufactured submerged outlets have then been installed (also non-compliantly), exposing all building developers, installers and the eventual obligation holders, to litigation in the event of an entrapment accident causing injury or death. This situation, prior to the publishing of the 2010 Standard, is present in practically all existing swimming pools and spas in community complexes where submerged suction outlets are installed.

ACCIDENTAL ENTRAPMENT INVOLVING SUBMERGED POOL & SPA SUCTION OUTLETS

A search of pool spa entrapment on the internet, reveals that suction entrapment is a significant cause World-wide, of incidents causing injury or death. On December 19, 2007, the President of the USA signed into law, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, named after the daughter of Nancy Baker and the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. Graeme Baker died in a tragic incident in June 2002 after the suction from a spa drain entrapped her under the water. In the USA there is an annual average of 283 drowning deaths (2003-2005) and 2,700 emergency room-treated submersion injuries (2005-2007) involving children younger than 5 years of age in pools and spas. In addition, from 1997-2007, there were 74 reported incidents associated with suction entrapment, including 9 deaths and 63 injuries. The new law is aimed at reducing these deaths and injuries by making pools & spas safer, securing the environment around them, and educating consumers and industry on pool safety.

The USA Act specifies that on or after December 19, 2008, swimming pool and spa drain covers available for purchase in the United States must meet specific performance requirements. Additionally, public swimming pools, wading pools, spas and hot tubs must meet requirements for installation of compliant drain covers. New drain covers which meet the current standard are now beginning to make their way into the marketplace. Additionally, in certain instances, public pools and spas must have additional devices or systems designed to prevent suction entrapment. For a better understanding of the dangers associated with non-compliant submerged suction outlets go to this report by Brian Ross (the blotter play list 41) at this ABC News Site on 23/7/2008: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5432181  (wait one minute for tape to load).

In August 2008, the President of a USA pool building company was charged with manslaughter after the drowning death of a bather by suction entrapment in a residential pool, due to his company’s negligence in non-compliance with current Codes.

Information and statistics on child drownings in Australia have mainly been centered around safety fencing requirements. There is very little documented information available on sub-merged suction outlet entrapment injuries or fatalities in Australian pools.

As of October, 2010, Australian Standard AS1926.3-2003 has been revised, and now places more liability on home owners of swimming pools, to ensure that submerged suction outlets are safe.  I community (commercial) precincts, there may also be a “duty of care” to ensure they are compliant with the latest Standard.