About eighty percent of pools not in compliance with new safety law.

The Wall Street Journal (1/20, Athavaley) reports, "The bulk of the country's public swimming pools are in violation of a new federal safety rule aimed at keeping people from becoming trapped in underwater drains, and some pools have begun closing down temporarily while they scramble to comply with the law." The Journal says, "About 80% of the country's roughly 300,000 public pools and spas, located in communities, hotels and fitness centers, still need to retrofit their facilities to meet the new requirements, which took effect last month, according to the National Swimming Pool Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes aquatic education" and "pool operators complain that the new, safer drain covers required by the law didn't hit the market until the fall and continue to be in short supply." A few pools have closed out of fear of legal liability.

 

 

Cribs, baby clothes recalled

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Stork Craft Baby Manufacturing Inc. and federal regulators in the U.S. and Canada recalled more than one million cribs Tuesday because of metal support brackets that can break, the latest in a rash of crib recalls linked to hardware problems that have led to infant deaths or injuries." The issues involving "U.S. crib safety have spurred the recalls of more than three and a half million units in the U.S. since September 2007, many prompted by reports of babies being strangled or injured in cribs with malfunctioning or missing hardware." According to regulators there has been "one toddler injury and 11 incidents of malfunctioning hardware." The AP added that in addition to the cribs, "about 16,000 Taggies Sleep'n Play baby garments, made in China and imported by Rashti & Rashti of New York," have been recalled "because the snaps on the garments can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children."