Readers of this blog will likely remember that splash pad safety is something of an obsession around Life Floor. After years of attending industry trade shows, doing sales talks, and even participating in parks and rec town hall meetings, we’ve realized that safety regulation has severely lagged for splash pads.
We decided the best way to effect change in this area was to find a way to lead that change ourselves. That’s why our CEO, Jonathan Keller, presented a white paper and proposal regarding the need for splash pad safety surfacing at this year’s NSF-50 annual meeting at NSF International.* The NSF Standard 50 joint committee responded by creating a task group to develop recommendations for new standards. We were especially excited when Jonathan was asked to chair the task group. He’ll be working with a number of regulators, industry leaders, and NSF staffers to tackle this important problem.
Despite a number of jokes from the veterans about the relative dryness of the proceedings (Copper silver ion generators are, we learned, secondary or supplemental disinfection devices, and should never, repeat never, be used in a primary capacity. Apparently, this cannot be stressed enough in some quarters.) we actually found the meeting to be surprisingly interesting. For those of us in the aquatic recreation industry, this was truly the room where it happens. A number of important public health issues, with the potential to affect millions of people, were presented, discussed, and debated with enthusiasm and professionalism.
Over the next several blog posts, we’re going to be sharing a blog-friendly version of our presentation and white paper. We’ll also keep you updated on Jonathan’s work on the task force.
*NSF International is a independent organization that tests and verifies consumer product safety. You probably have some NSF certified stuff in your home or office. NSF Standard 50 is body of standards for aquatic recreation, mainly pools and spas.