Letter to Ben Favret, ASTM International Subcommittee Chair - Ahead of Labor Day, Warner & Kaine Push for Protection from Hazardous Beach Umbrellas

Letter

Dear Mr. Favret:

We write to urge ASTM International to update its testing method standard to account for wind speed as it relates to beach umbrellas.

As you note on your website, "[t]he deleterious effects of a Market Umbrellas [sic] being blow[n] over or broken by wind forces can range from acute injury, such as cuts or bruises to blunt force trauma, such as concussions or broken bones and in some cases death." Further, you state that "[t]he lack of any voluntary standard for the safe performance of Market Umbrellas puts millions of consumers and employees around the world at risk unnecessarily." Indeed, as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stated in a June 2019 letter to the Senate, over the nine-year period from 2010-2018, an estimated 2,800 people sought treatment in emergency rooms for injuries related to beach umbrellas. A majority of those injuries were caused by a wind-blown beach umbrella.

In March 2021, the CPSC wrote to ASTM requesting that it "expand the standard to address fully the hazards of injuries and death due to beach umbrellas implanted in the sand." In addition, the agency suggested "mentioning the known fatality in the introduction of the standard, along with the injury data already there". We could not agree more. Given the grave danger posed by beach umbrellas we feel it is imperative that ASTM include beach umbrellas in any new test methods.

Summer is in full swing, and as millions of newly vaccinated Americans emerge from their homes to spend time at the shore, we must do all we can to ensure the safety of beach umbrellas. We appreciate ASTM's willingness to consider this issue. Should you have further questions please contact Shelby Boxenbaum in Senator Menendez's office at 202-224-4744.

Sincerely,