Municipal Recreation Fields: Maintenance and Liability Considerations for
Community Groups and Non-Profit Organizations
By Insurance Bureau of Canada
Municipal recreation fields are busy places these days. While it’s common to see soccer,
baseball and ultimate Frisbee often played on the same field, they’re also home to special
events such as concerts and community festivals. These fields are multi-purpose meeting
places that bring life to our communities.
But municipal recreation fields also present maintenance and liability issues that require
consideration from their users. Addressing these properly will give your organization
peace of mind when on the field.
Maintenance and safety is everyone’s concern
Slips, trips and falls result in some of the most common and costly liability claims for
many types of organizations – including non-profits. If you are hosting an event in a
public field or park, you should have occupier’s liability coverage as part of your risk
management plan. Both the municipality and community groups renting the space have
responsibilities to ensure the grounds are safe for use and properly signed to advise of
hazards.
Proprietary Responsibility: The municipality has a responsibility to maintain the property
and keep it clear of hazards. It is common for municipalities to have regular inspections
of grounds, report on findings implement remediation’s and post public notice on
dangers.
Occupier’s Responsibility: As a host using municipal property you have an obligation to
eliminate, mitigate or properly advise your audience of hazards in the space you will be
using, including parking lots, walkways and any area of the field. If someone gets injured
as a result of a hazard on the premises, it could be held against the occupier unless it can
be proven the municipality neglected to rectify the hazard that caused the injury.
Below are examples of scenarios where a municipality could be held liable for injury and
where the organization renting the municipal space could be held liable.
Municipality Liable
A piece of a broken glass bottle is embedded in the ground in a Municipal
Playground, having been overlooked by the Municipal maintenance crew. A
child while playing falls and is injured by the broken glass. Investigation reveals
it was a rather large piece which was easily visible and should have been removed
by the maintenance staff.
The Municipality would be found liable for the injury in this case, due to their
failure to remove the hazard.
Renter Liable
A Volunteer Community Group hosts a Picnic Day at a local park. They pay the
Municipality a fee for the use of the space for the day. Volunteers divide their
duties to ensure all children are properly supervised during the event. At some
point however, someone leaves the BBQ unattended briefly. It is then a 5 yr old
child decides to get his own hotdog and ends up getting burnt.
The Community Group would be held liable for the child’s injury due to negligent
supervision. Their Occupier’s Liability policy would cover the claim.
Ensure you’re protected - talk to both your insurance representative and your partners
with the municipality when renting municipal space for your activities. It is important to
understand what safety measures are in place and how your organization can take steps to
safeguard your participants.
For more information on municipal fields and occupier’s liability, you can contact
Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Atlantic Consumer Information Centre at 1-800-565-7189
ext 227 or 228.