Why Let Safety Get In The Way Of Government Regulation?
Another utterly dumbassed decision by the CPSC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, blogged by safetyandcommonsense, which is the antithesis of this commision's rulings:
In a remarkable reversal, a 3-2 majority of the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted today to reinterpret the phrase "unblockable drain" under the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGB Act) to no longer permit the use of unblockable drain covers to protect against entrapment in public pools using single drain systems. As a result, cash strapped schools, municipalities, community pool organizations and others will be required to install an expensive and less protective back-up system.The Commission's original interpretation was based on the recommendation by its career technical experts that a $40 unblockable drain cover provides better protection against entrapment and drowning than does a $1000 - the least expensive and therefore most popular - back-up device, a safety vacuum release system (SVRS). According to Commission staff, unblockable drain covers prevent an entrapment before it happens, whereas an SVRS kicks in 4 seconds after a drain is blocked. As a result, a child playing in a pool without an unblockable drain cover can be eviscerated, or inextricably trapped by hair or a limb and drown before the SVRS turns off the pump. Even the SVRS manufacturer acknowledges this limitation in its product.
The rea$ons for the reversal at the link.
via Walter Olson
The tragedy of this sort of regs is that most of the stolen cash is just wasted. Better to just hand the rent-seeking firm a clear cut $100k bribe...instead of forcing $2 million in spending, of which only $99k ends up as after-tax profit in the rent-seeker's pocket.
TJIC at September 30, 2011 11:38 AM
Note this: "...the legislation was co-written by Vac-Alert Industries President Paul Pennington, whose company manufacturers an SVRS and will profit richly from the new mandate"
If this is true, and some consumer organization will only take the time, it ought to be a slam-dunk in front of a court to get this thrown out.
One really ought to go a step farther, and charge the commission members with corruption. Of course, that won't work - they will just claim "an abundance of caution".
a_random_guy at September 30, 2011 12:28 PM
Well, what do you expect?
If you insist that college degrees and law school are mandatory for public office, you'll get this sort of thing all the time from people with no experience whatsoever.
I have six "not-E"'s over my door (the international "not" sign, circle with a bar through it, over a capital "E") to commemmorate instances where I found licensed professional engineers installing schoolboy mistakes.
I'd much rather be asked beforehand what a new installation will do to our process, but somehow, no one at the facility with field experience is ever asked (yes, I have the design papers to show this).
Radwaste at September 30, 2011 12:47 PM
Somewhat related: back when we were looking for shovel ready jobs, the VGB deadline was expiring, and I was watching the local cities declare they would have to close down municipal pools because they didn't have the funds to meet the VGB requirements. I think this affected schools as well as apartment complexes.
But, no, no one seemed to suggest that shovel ready jobs might including retrofitting city pools, school pools, or even apartment complexes.
And so the pools closed.
The apartment complex I lived in dug up three pools for at least a week each to bring them into compliance.
I do wonder why they chose that over a $40 drain cover....
jerry at September 30, 2011 12:58 PM
Prediction: Within two months, most of the SVRS systems installed will be bypassed by their owners, after repeatedly tripping off line every time the pool is vacuumed, or whenever the skimmer baskets get a bit full of leaves.
Cousin Dave at September 30, 2011 4:03 PM
Too bad we can't have a law put on the books that if there are less than three suppliers for a product, they can't implement a law or regulation.
This sounds so much like the Saw Stop system (sawstop.com) that OSHA was trying to push a few years back. There is only one supplier and the system is great, as long as the conditions are perfect. But if you have any liquid, such as sweat, spit, soda, or wet wood; metal such as a small nail; or the smallest touch it will, for all intents, destroy a $40-100+ saw blade. As a business that could happen multiple times a day.
Jim P. at September 30, 2011 7:07 PM
Actually strike my last comment -- the real question is why is the government even making such a law or reg?
If these individuals or companies were actually held liable by a lawsuit, don't you think they would change on their own?
Jim P. at September 30, 2011 9:59 PM
Sure, but then who would need that government bureaucrat?
brian at October 1, 2011 7:42 AM
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