UL Classified Hot Tub Spa Safety Covers
Underwriters Laboratories, one of the agencies that tests spa covers, looks for, among many other things, labels designed and placed according to ASTM safety standards. UL also requires manufacturers to ship safety covers so new owners can't miss the locks or safety instructions.
Much has been said about the safety cover standard first released by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) nearly a decade ago. While many spa covers on the market meet ASTM safety cover standards, not all of them are marketed as such. Some spa cover manufacturers are concerned that marketing a cover as a "safety cover" could open them up to liability if an accident occurred, while others embrace ASTM standards, pointing out that a cover that passes the tests outlined in the standard is more likely to prevent unwanted or accidental access to the spa than a cover that doesn't pass the tests. Listed here are some of the performance and manufacturing specifications required of a spa cover that's said to be a "safety cover" in accordance with ASTM F-1346.
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The Spa Mate is a UL Classified safety cover which meets or exceeds the ASTM F 1346-91 requirements for spas
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A safety cover is defined as "a barrier . . . which reduces, when properly labeled, installed, used and maintained . . .the risk of drowning of children under five years of age by inhibiting their access to the contained body of water, and by providing for the removal of any substantially hazardous level of collected surface water.
Label requirements are quite detailed. Among them: "All covers shall be required to have . . . a signal word - WARNING; a safety alert symbol; a word message [such as] AVOID DROWNING RISK, a list of applicable warning statements [such as] non-secured or improperly secured covers are a hazard." The requirements even address letter size, style, color and placement.
"[A spa] cover not greater than 8 feet shall withstand the weight of 275 pounds distributed over 1 square foot" This static load test is often misinterpreted, or at least misrepresented. It doesn't mean the cover must hold 275 pounds per square foot. If so, an 8-foot cover would have to be able to hold 17,600 pounds. Rather, it means that any point of the cover must support an object whose footprint measures 1 square foot and weighs 275. Note, too, that this static load requirement does not signify that a cover can be safely walked on.
"If a child under the age of five were to fall onto the cover, he or she should not be able to slip through any openings that may occur between the cover and the side of the (hot tub]." This perimeter deflection requirement can be met with by using an adequate number of strong, locking tie-down straps.
"Ties, attachment points . . . or other means of fastening a cover shall include such provisions as keys, combination locks, special tools, devices or inaccessible locations . . . to inhibit children under five years of age from removing or opening the cover." Most locks used by spa cover manufacturers meet the requirements spelled out in the standard, even if the cover itself isn't marketed as a safety cover.
For a copy of the complete standard, contact ASTM at 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428 or www.astm.org. Your spa cover supplier may also be able to provide a copy.
