How to prevent a flying umbrella: new safety standards for deadly risk
TAMPA, Fla. - With Memorial Day Weekend approaching, many are planning to spend the day at the beach, but there are new safety standards many may not know about when it comes to your beach umbrella.
Just two years ago, a woman was killed when she was impaled by an unsecured umbrella at the beach and that wasn’t an unusual injury.
Thousands of people a year end up in the hospital because of flying umbrellas; the sharp aluminum and wooden spikes at the top pose a serious danger.
Now, the American Society for Testing and Materials has issued a new standard to anchor them with at least 75 pounds of weight, or you could have to take it down.
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"In the past, umbrella incidents have been viewed as like an act of god, a wind gust comes and ‘oh well’ nobody is responsible, but there are responsible measures out there that you can take to not only protect yourself on the beach but protect all the beachgoers around you," Sarah Murphy, with BeachBUB Umbrella Systems, said. "That new standard that was put out to add resistance to your umbrella."
Employees of BeachBUB will be touring beaches in Tampa and St. Pete this Memorial Day weekend to educate beachgoers on the importance of properly securing umbrellas.
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They will also be distributing free anchor systems that meet the new guidelines.