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Are you insured for reparation awards?
If you are an event organiser in New Zealand, the Astrid Andersen decision would not have escaped your attention. However, a recent motoring case in the Auckland District Court is likely to have gone under your radar. And, with good reason too – what does a motoring case have to do with sports events and sports events organisers? Well, it all comes down to the protection you get from the ACC scheme. Click
here
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Could your clubrooms be causing harm to your athletes?
Jason continued to complain to the committee that their clubrooms were making him sick. The committee kept brushing Jason’s complaint under the table, labelling Jason as a chronic complainer. Little did the committee know that Jason, a leading international sportsman, was reacting to an unsafe environmental condition at the clubhouse; conditions that would put him in hospital fighting to live. Click
here
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How to ensure the weather doesn't kill your sports event
When John looked out of the window, he knew it was going to be a bad day: teaming rain and no sign of any let-up. And looking at the forecast on the television, the chances of getting the tournament underway were slim. Cancellations seemed inevitable.
Whilst the players were disappointed, that wasn't John's biggest problem. Click
here
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How the law of cause and effect can help (and hinder) a risk analysis of your sporting activity
John knew the basics of risk management planning: analyze where the risks were (foreseeability); have a plan to prevent those risks occurring; and then put in place a response mechanism in case those risks occurred. Sounds simple, but the most difficult part of the process was identifying the risks - what if John failed to identify a risk and as a result, an accident occurred? Then he would be sunk and that is one reason why risk management planning gets put in the "too hard" basket.
John searched for a way to make things easy. Click
here
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Six reasons why you must use consent forms
Fact: you cannot exclude liability for a criminal offence, except in relation to minor assaults.
So, if the police decide to prosecute you for an accident which occurred at your sports event (as they did with Astrid Anderson) then you can't hide behind a consent form. So why bother with a consent form at all? Well there are 6 reasons why you need to bear these in mind when you draft your form. Click
here
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How to keep risk management simple
Risk management is common sense. Or at least it should be. So why do so many people going through a risk management process find it hard work? If it's common sense, it should be easy right? Wrong. And the reason is because something has got lost in translation. Click
here
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Why waiver forms should include the duty to warn
When it comes to putting together a waiver form most event organisers simply cut and paste from a pre-existing entry form or similar document. However, most waivers currently in existence only do half the job they should. As a result, event organisers are leaving themselves potentially exposed if something goes wrong at their events. Click
here
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How to achieve balance in your risk management activities (Geoff Wood)
"A recently released study chronicles how Australian “students at private and government schools … were forced to sit and talk during breaks because they were not allowed to run, play informal games or have access to sporting equipment.” Commenting on the study’s results, Boyd Swinburn, an Australian childhood obesity expert, argued that “fear of litigation stopped schools [from] encouraging physical games at lunchtime but [that] principals had to overcome that fear to help fight obesity.” “‘The Education Department, the minister and the principals' association,’” he related, “‘need to take a leadership role here and promote the concept of active lunchtimes. We've gone too far in wrapping our kids in cotton wool, fearing that they might get injured.”*
If we continue along the path of risk management will New Zealand achieve a balance between avoiding risk and engaging in play? Click
here
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Why event organisers must build relationships with Councils and National Sport Organisations
The “Round the Lake” cycling event had been going for several years. Over those years there had been no serious accidents, although a near miss the year before had raised eyebrows. The race organiser had brushed it off as rider stupidity.
When the organiser applied to the Council for permission to run the event the following year, he was refused and shocked. He had invested a substantial amount of money setting up the event and entries were already starting to roll in. He thought getting permission would be a formality. Click
here
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Why risk management planning doesn’t stop with the plan
When John took the roast out of the oven it was burnt to a cinder. Jane smiled politely as she chewed on the offering. Dessert wasn’t much better – the pavlova hadn’t risen and looked like mush. Jane didn’t stay for coffee, least of all anything else.
Are you sure your sports event won’t turn into a disaster like John’s dinner party? If not, read on.
Click
here
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Why every sports club or event organiser must have a properly thought out response plan
What were your first thoughts when the power went off early on Monday 12 June?
For businesses in the CBD of Auckland it was a minor inconvenience, as many shut down for the morning, but for parts of the South Island the power was out for weeks. How would you cope without power for that length of time?
That’s when your response plan kicks in, and the same applies if you are running a sports organisation or sports event.
Click
here
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Why every sports organisation must learn the lesson of the Tsunami
Margaret had only just woken when the phone went. In a slightly panicky voice the caller warned of a impending tsunami to hit the Bay of Plenty. Margaret had seen the effects of the Thailand tsunami on TV and feared the worst. Her immediate reaction was to grab the kids and head for the high ground.
An hour later Margaret realised that it was a hoax. She resolved not to be so gullible, but how could she have known whether it was real or not? And what should she have done had it been real?
Click
here
FREE Article
When do you need event insurance?
Emergency services have been booked, the course laid out, the catering ready, and the entry fees banked. So when John woke up to hear the wind howling through the trees outside, he knew it would be a bad day.
By 9.30 am, the decision had been made to cancel the Regatta and already people were demanding the return of their entry fee. But expenses had been incurred and the bills had to be paid.
The event didn’t carry any event insurance and competitors complained when they didn’t get their full race fee back.
Click
here
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Why event organisers shouldn’t send conditions of entry after the entry has been made
The reason Joe was knocked off his bike was because he wasn’t seen. Contrary to the Conditions of Entry, he didn’t have lights on his bike, nor was he wearing a reflective vest. Claims of negligence were made against the Race Organisers. They fell back on the Conditions of Entry, but they weren’t worth the paper they were written on.
If you are an Event Organiser and have spent time putting together your Conditions of Entry, you may find that they are useless if you haven’t taken the proper steps to bring them to your competitor’s attention.
Click
here
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Why educating the community and your athletes can save sports administrators from personal liability
Denis walked down a back corridor on the way back to his office. He smelt it before he even turned the corner. Vomit was splattered along the floor outside the boy’s toilet. Denis pushed open the door to the toilet and there on the floor was John, drowned in a pool of vomit.
John had consumed almost a 5th of a bottle of whisky. He had died of suffocation. The Police, Department of Labour, facility host, national EXPO programme office, programme insurance broker, the staff, the media, the community, the parents and of course the kids, were all asking questions. Despite warning signs popping up throughout the day, few noticed what was going on and those that did were too busy to take action. With a few simple measures this could have been avoided. Let me tell you how.
Click
here
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How to save money by never pre-judging the cause of an accident and always investigating thoroughly
On 28 January 2006 a cyclist died when he fell over the centreline of a roadway and was run over by a support vehicle during a cycling event in Eltham, Taranaki. He died on the scene from internal injuries and immediately comparisons were being made with the R v Andersen case.
It wasn’t long before Radio New Zealand was on the ‘phone to me asking for comment on the risk management implications of the accident. If you had been a representative of the cycling event what would your response have been? How would you have dealt with comparisons to the R v Andersen case? Click
here
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Why you should make risk management part of your New Year’s resolutions
They say air travel is the safest form of travel. But when disaster strikes we all hear about it and the consequences are often catastrophic. But when the plane took off the runway at Auckland Airport for my Christmas trip home to London what reassured me was that prior to take off the pilot had gone through a series of pre-flight checks to ensure the flight was safe.
Are you this rigorous in your organising of sporting events? Or are you leaving safety to chance?
Click
here
FREE Article
Why not playing by the rules can lead to a prosecution
This month [October 2005] former Otago basketballer, David Jarvis, was ordered to pay $10,000 as reparation following being found guilty of assault upon former University of Otago student, Tony Ashton. Ashton was left severely disabled by traumatic brain injury after he was elbowed in the right temple and fell during a game between the University of Otago and the St Kilda Wildcats.
Have you ever committed a foul outside of the rules of the game? If so, it is important to know that the consequences could be greater than a penalty or sending off. Click
here
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National Sporting Organisations may be responsible for accidents in their sport
A recent case in the UK may go some way to explain whether national and international sporting organisations could be liable for accidents which occur at a sporting event. New Zealander’s will be aware of the Queenstown Car Rally case in which Motorsport NZ took the blame for the death of spectators during the Queenstown rally. Click
here
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Why sports activity organisers and coaches must heed the duty to instruct
As Janice rushed forward to grab the rebound she hit the side-wall of the gym with her knee and slid down its surface toward the floor. Just above the surface of the floor a small board edge caught the sole of her shoe and forced Janice to severely twist her knee and ankle. The forces applied to the knee were so severe that Janice ruptured her collateral and cruciate ligaments. Click
here
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