SportsTurf

April 2012

SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.

Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/60100

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 31 of 47

Facility&Operations Dawn Shoemaker And, this is just one example of a slip and fall accident. Although the statistics can vary, the number of slip and fall accidents in the US is staggering. For example, it is es- timated there are about eight mil- lion slip, trip, and fall accidents each year. They occur in homes, offices, gyms, and other public fa- cilities. Of these, about half a mil- lion people require some sort of hospitalization and more than 16,000 result in death. In fact, slip and fall accidents are considered one of the leading causes of death in the workplace. However, just as with the unfortunate case discussed earlier, many of these accidents can be prevented through preventive strategies, proper floor care, clean- ing, and maintenance. Slip and fall issues always sticking around N DECEMBER 2005, Bill Williams sued a well- known US chain of gyms because he fell in the sauna at one of their locations. Apparently he slipped on the floor, fell on a bench and now, according to court documents, experiences "persistent neck and head pain and associated intermittent tingling feelings" in his hands. Williams sued the gym claiming negligence and alleged I that several members of the gym had warned gym managers about hazards in the sauna, indicating it was a "problem waiting to happen." At trial, the court agreed with Williams and awarded him $15,000 for medical costs, pain, and suf- fering. However, in what was considered an unexpected turn of events, an appeals court reversed the decision, stating that Williams as well as all gym members had signed a contract "expressly releasing gym management from liability due to improper maintenance." [*Editor's note: The names have been changed here, this is an actual occurrence and involved a Gold's Gym.] Although the appeals court sympathized with Williams and did believe gym management was negligent, the signed 32 SportsTurf | April 2012 contract by gym members super- seded any compassion for the vic- tim. Though the gym's management may have ultimately won this case, it still cost several thousand dollars in legal fees, plus a lot of negative feelings and press that impacted the gym's member base and the local community where the accident occurred. RISK FACTORS Before venturing further, some clarifications are due. A slip is the result of too little friction or trac- tion between footwear and the floor. Trips, on the other hand, occur when one or both feet strike or hit an object, causing loss of balance. Both slips and trips can affect your forward motion, caus- ing your upper-body positioning to fall ahead of or behind your lower body—eventually, you lose your balance and a fall is often the result. Slips, trips, and falls can occur just about anywhere in an office setting, school, factory, public building, and gym. A variety of It is estimated there are about eight million slip, trip, and fall accidents each year. They occur in homes, offices, gyms, and other public facilities. Of these, about half a million people require some sort of hospitalization and more than 16,000 result in death. www.sportsturfonline.com By

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of SportsTurf - April 2012