Are you a gym owner or trainer looking for some advice on safety? We’ve got you covered; follow our tips on gym safety and precautions and we’ll make sure that you don’t end up having to deal with a liability claim that could hurt your business.
Liability Waivers
There are many things to consider when you’re trying to ensure that your entire gym setup is safe, possibly too numerous to list. Let’s go over some of the more important precautions that will help you avoid common claims. First of all, be sure to have legal documents enclosed with each membership, and have the people that attend your gym sign a Liability Waiver. If one of your members isn’t exercising proper safety precautions and hurts themselves and it’s their fault, a Liability Waiver will prevent you from being held accountable in court. A Liability Waiver is basically your one-stop to making sure you’re legally covered, so it’s crucial that you have one signed by every member of your gym, and have your waiver reviewed by a professional attorney that specializes in working with gyms.
Is your Equipment Safe?
Next, let’s discuss some common fitness equipment issues so that you can keep a keen eye open for any problems. It’s good to check your treadmills for any missing safety keys, because a missing key could mean an injury that you are accountable for. You can also check to see if your treadmills belts are properly tightened and aligned to ensure proper operation. Also, check for damaged cables, or even missing bike pedal straps, on any of your machines. Make sure that anything that requires inflation, like exercise and stability balls, all have enough air. Lastly, be sure you don’t have any torn resistant bands and that your free weight racks aren’t broken or damaged in any way. Official inspections, whether internal or external, should be done by a professional on at least an annual basis, but we would suggest you keep an eye on your equipment on a weekly basis as well. For a more thorough set of guidelines, feel free to refer to the National Sanitation Foundation’s Health/Fitness Facility Standards. Even though this standard is no longer a legal set of requirements since September 2014, it’s a great set of guidelines to follow in ensure your facility is safe.
Staying Covered
Here at Paradiso Insurance, we are working hard around the clock to advise our customers and clients about the best safety practices so they can avoid claims in any way possible. Having an updated safety policy in place and following these guidelines will make staying in shape a much safer practice, but if you’d like to talk about staying covered in case you do face a liability or injury, feel free to give us a call, and we will let you know what your best insurance options are.