mark wrote:
>
 I notice a rather interesting warning label on the side of my square 5
gal
> (U.S. not imperial) specimen bucket, "Warning small children could fall into
> bucket and drown." is really a problem with square 5 gal buckets or with all
> 5 gal buckets and should we erect safety barriers around our buckets to
> prevent this. This seems a bit far fetched that a child would dive head
> first into a bucket, and if the buckets empty shouldn't we warn parents to
> keep buckets full of water to prevent head trauma to the child from hitting
> it's head? This has me pondering the future of warning labels, "warning ,
> use caution when drinking from this cup, you could drown."
 
Mark, while it seems unlikely that a child could drown in such a small
bucket, the fact remains that small children have drowned in small
buckets!  Perhaps it is less likely if you think of a child going feet
first into such a small bucket, but a child whose head is small enough
COULD in fact drown if he/she entered the bucket head first!  In
fact--it has happenned.  There is a recent incident which comes to mind
of a baby drowning in a bucket used as a makeshift toilet by occupants
of the "home".
 
Most warning labels on products sold in the US are there because someone
somewhere has tried to sue the manufacturer for safety-related issues.
Have you ever noticed that a common step-ladder has a large number of
assorted warnings taped all over it?
 
In closing, I must say I have never seen a warning label on a seashell.
Perhaps they should come with warnings about the danger to the
collectors bank account.  Or maybe those plastic aquarium shells should
have labels which read, "Warning!  This is NOT an authentic shell.  Do
not purchase this shell to add to your scientific collection!"
 
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