Preventive Law Practice Essay

Sports Business Risks and Liability Limitations

Sports businesses like exercise clubs have risks just like any other type of enterprise. The administration of the facilities has a moral and legal duty to protect their customers from accidents and injuries because gyms function as businesses by charging their customers some user fees. In accordance with the principles of the preventive law process, this paper examines different types of accidents that may happen in gym facilities as well as methods that the facilities can limit their liability in the event of such accidents. As an example, the setup of a gymnasium or sports fitness club exposes sports enthusiasts to a variety of health risks and hazards like physical injuries from accidents, infections, fall from heights, water sports injuries like drowning in a swimming pool. Accidents like blunt trauma, knocks or cuts can occur while using gym equipment. These accidents have potential to inflict personal injury, for which the victim can file a claim for compensation in a court of law. An authoritative statement by James (2013) offers hopes to victims of sports injury by alluding to the fact that if court proceedings prove that the injury directly resulted from a misdoing, mistake, negligence or incompetence on the part of the management of the sports facility, then the victim can be awarded compensation for the resulting injury.

Assessing risks

The risk of injury is highly likely to occur in a fitness club with a high number of clients per session. In such a facility lacking standard regulations, clients have an unchecked freedom and can therefore haphazardly engage in dangerous exercises, greatly increasing the risk of occurrence of accidents. A fitness club that does not compartmentalize its premises to distinguish designate specific areas for different activities runs a huge risk of suffering accidental losses.

Evaluating Risks

A study by Weisenthal et al., (2014) revealed that 20% of gym goers have sustained injuries at the facilities. Males are more prone to injury than females. Having training instructors at the fitness club reduces the risk of injury. In strength and weight lifting exercises, the shoulder joints and lower trunk are more prone to injury than other body parts. Although most of the injuries are mild, there have been a few instances of severe injuries that caused long-term paralysis and incapacitation or even death.

Severe sports injuries

Severe sports injuries require intensive medical interventions like emergency reconstructive surgeries. The medical demand puts a heavy financial strain on the victims and their families. Fear has been induced among relatives of the victims, making them shy away from even simple fitness exercises which are otherwise beneficial to their health.

Designing a Preventive Law Plan

Fitness clubs should draft a well-documented contract between them and interested subscribers. The contract should give the public a comprehensive detail of the terms and conditions of an agreement between the client and the facility. A disclaimer must be put in place to inform the client that all activities in and around the facility are done at the clients’ own risk. This bold disclaimer cushions the management of the facility against any claims for compensation in the event of occurrence of a sports-related injury to any member of the facility, whether accidental or intentional.

Equipment and Attire Safety

The management install should only install quality fitness equipment such as treadmills, benches, power racks, aerobics kits, and weights. Each of these comes with a user guide or manual that enumerates their correct use to maintain safety. They also offer tutorials on equipment use to their clients to acquaint and guide them on the safe use of the kits to minimize accidents. A fully functional gym must also conduct a frequent check-up on the conditions of the equipment. Those that are worn out must be replaced or repaired accordingly to maintain safety.

Gym accidents are also attributed to inappropriate attire by the gym users. According to Knapik et al. (2009), the majority of joint dislocations sprains in sports are caused by inappropriate footwear. For example, a person jogging on a treadmill while wearing footwear with worn-out soles can easily lose grip of the moving floor surface or miss a step resulting in a bad fall. Such accidents are prevented by enforcing strict rules on clients’ appropriate attire. Before gaining access to the facility, they must undergo mandatory attire and costumes check to ensure their suitability for use in each gymnastics activity and equipment.

Some gym equipment like bouncing rubber aerobics floors have capacity limits on a number of users per session. When the capacity is exceeded, the excess weight accelerates tear and wear hence it could accidentally snap and cause injury to the users. It is therefore upon the management to ensure that they only allow the recommended number of users to utilize such equipment at a time. Gyms ought to employ security guards to patrol the area and enforce this rule diligently.

Grier et al. (2013), have attributed some sports accidents to the poor health status of gym users. It is inadvisable for a sick or person to engage in heavy strenuous strength and endurance exercises. To prevent accidents and injuries, every type of exercise and equipment has recommendations on the optimum physical condition requirements on the user. An assessment of the health status and age of prospective clients is, therefore, important before they are accorded membership to the facility.

Implementing the Preventive Law Plan

The final step is the implementation of the preventive legal measures. It involves imposing a raft of stern disciplinary actions against non-compliant clients. The stern nature of the punishments can be graded according to the gravity of the offense and regularity of violation of the rules. First-time petty offenders are normally given light punishments, while repeat offenders receive greater punishments that could even warrant permanent expulsion from the premises of the gym facility.

First, the facility should install closed circuit television cameras within their premises. These invaluable equipment conduct an all-time surveillance to monitor and record the activities and movements of everybody within the premises of the facility, therefore accurately picking out incidences that undermine safety in the facility.

Imposing fines on miscreant gym users is one potent way of implementing the regulations on safety control. Anybody found ignorantly mishandling equipment with disregard to the standard operating procedures, for example, is to be charged a minimal fine bearing in mind that ignorance has never been a defense in a court of law. Awareness of the existence of a monetary charge induces a positive fear of committing offenses hence promoting cautious conduct in the facility, greatly limiting liability. Clients who come to the gym wearing inappropriate attire and costume should be denied access to the gym until they acquire the necessary attire that meets safety standards.

Going by the general standards of practice of law, gross offenders are always punished with vigor and are charged hefty penalties that are commensurate with their offenses. In the setting of the fitness club, clients who disobey safety precautions and instructions from their instructors can be sanctioned and suspended, and their membership terminated if they are serial repeat offenders. This law plan would effectively curb incidences of sports injuries if implemented.

Conclusion

The effective practice of preventive law involves a stepwise procedure. To mitigate the liability of a sports business organization must identify, assess and evaluate the risks involved then develop and implement an effective law plan. However, the legal measures must be implemented with a lot of diplomacies so that the facility maintains its large clientele. Since it is a business organization, the gym management should politely educate its clients on the importance of the strict regulations for their own safety.

References

Grier, T., Canham-Chervak, M., McNulty, V., & Jones, B. H. (2013). Extreme conditioning programs and injury risk in a US Army Brigade Combat Team. US Army Med Dep J, (Oct-Dec), 36-47.

James, M. (2013). Sports law. Palgrave Macmillan.

Knapik, J. J., Swedler, D. I., Grier, T. L., Hauret, K. G., Bullock, S. H., Williams, K. W., ... & Jones, B. H. (2009). Injury reduction effectiveness of selecting running shoes based on plantar shape. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 23(3), 685-697

Weisenthal, B. M., Beck, C. A., Maloney, M. D., DeHaven, K. E., & Giordano, B. D. (2014). Injury rate and patterns among CrossFit athletes. Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2(4), 2325967114531177.