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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
IN SPORTS EQUIPMENT
SAFETY
Disclaimer
Please understand the purpose of this
presentation and handout is educational.
Nothing in either should be construed as
specific legal advice for a particular
situation. Sound legal advice requires an
understanding of all the facts of a
particular situation, something that cannot
occur in an educational setting.
Goals of Workshop
 To review some of the most recent
developments in safety of sports equipment
 To apply this information to school and
youth athletic programs in a meaningful
manner
 To answer participants questions
concerning equipment issues in their district
Helmet Testing
 NOCSAE regulations
 New/Proposed
testing formats
 Impact on current
equipment
TIMEOUT!
Remember:
 Helmets are designed to prevent skull
fractures and skin injuries
 Helmets are not designed to prevent
concussions
 Helmets are only
as
good as their fit and
upkeep (see handout)
Helmet Testing Apparatus
 What happens during a
helmet test?
 What do testing results
tell us?
 Demo of testing!
Baseball Safety Equipment
 Catcher’s Gear
 Bats
Softball Safety Equipment
 Bats
 Mouth guards
 Facemasks
Wrestling Equipment
1. Mat safety
2. New mat impact
standards and
thicknesses
3. Weight
management
changes
4. Cleaning mats
Field Safety
1. Turf fields
2. Fences-fabric and topping
3. Lights and
illumination
4. Off-season use
Helmeted/Non-Helmeted
Sports
1. Mouth guards
•
•
•
Old styles
Smart mouth guards
X2IMPACT
2. Chin straps
3. NOCSAE approval
So Why the Fuss?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Checkbook
Deed to your house
Title to your car
Loose change
Kid’s piggy bank
School District at Risk
Determining Liability
 Duty of ordinary care
• foreseeable
• “known or should have known”
 Breech of that duty
• doing something you
shouldn’t have
• not doing something you
should have
Determining Liability
 Damages or injuries occurred
• to the individual
• to property
 Proximate cause
• natural and continuous sequence of
events with no casual element
• Interrupting sequence and nothing
outside the chain of events impacting
cause and effect
Coaching Staff
 Duty to Provide Safe Environment
• Equipment must adhere to current rules
and regulations
• Sports equipment must undergo proper
maintenance and repair to ensure player
safety
 Duty of Warn
• Participants, parents/guardians must be
warned that accidents and injuries may
occur during sport participation
Schools Responsibility
 Duty to Instruct
• Each school must instruct the
participants and coaches/supervisors as
to the activity/sport rules and regulations
and disciplinary consequences
for misbehavior
Coaching Staff/School
 Duty to Keep Records
• Each school must maintain on file
periodic activity site inspections, accident
reports, repair work requests, disciplinary
action reports, witness statements,
activity rules and regulations as a record
of the entity’s effort at maintaining a safe
activity. Participants accident records
should be kept on file
until the student’s age is twenty-one.
Coaches & Supervisors
 Duty to Foresee
• Each supervisor/coach must report and
document any unsafe condition or activity that
may cause a preventable accident. (facility, equipment,
behavior)
 Duty to Supervise
• Each supervisor must be alert and aware of
participants actions that could result in a
preventable accident.
• Each activity supervisor must attend to
participant injuries and disciplinary needs in
such a way as to not put another participant in
jeopardy.
#1 on the Supervision Checklist
When in Doubt
 Ask
 Ask ahead of time
 Don’t be a “Lone Ranger”
Claims Professionals • Personnel Experts • Risk Managers
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