Issue Date:  -  Wednesday, 2 October 2002

Dangerous skimmer box seller fined $2,000.

Darrel Marwick of DJ Pools WA in Neerabup today pleaded guilty in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions to seven breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

The offences date back to the end of 2001 when the trader failed to fit compliant skimmer box covers to fibreglass swimming pools it installed at locations from Carramar to Waikiki.

Mr. Marwick was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay costs of $150. The maximum fine that could have been imposed was $6,000 but Mr. Marwick pleaded financial hardship.

Mr. Marwick had no prior record, and has given a Court undertaking to ensure all of the non-compliant pools he has supplied will comply with an Order of the Commissioner by 15 February 2003.

In August 2000 another pool supplier was fined $1,000 for similar offences.

Older style skimmer boxes were banned in 1988 after a string of accidents, which included the disembowelment of a child. All pools with integrally moulded skimmer boxes, installed after 1988, are now required to be modified and made safe.

"The biggest danger of non-compliant skimmer boxes is that to young children they can appear to look like a potty or a seat and the force of the suction created by sitting on them can cause grave injury or death in just a few seconds", Consumer Protection Commissioner Patrick Walker said.

Consumers should check their skimmer boxes to ensure they comply:

 - Make sure the safety skirt is in place and is not loose or damaged. The safety skirt is a vertical barrier moulded into the fibreglass that is permanently fixed.
 - Make sure the horizontal lid is securely fixed in place and only removable by suitable people.

If any person is concerned that their pool may not comply, they should contact Consumer Protection on telephone number 9244 1299. Brochures detailing how to recognise and fix a non-compliant skimmer box are available free of charge.