Legal Liability
The following has been included to inform committee members of their responsibilities when leading and organising activities. Committee members and leaders should be aware that in most cases they owe participants a duty of care. If an accident does happen and a breach of the duty is established, then the organisers and others could be held liable and a claim for the damages may result.
Negligence
Negligence has been described as conduct that falls below the standard regarded as normal or desirable in a given community. Negligence does not involve an intentional act or omission, but is behaviour that fails to meet the standard of acceptable behaviour. For damages to be awarded in a case of negligence, it must be established that a duty of care was owed to the injured person, and that the injuries sustained resulted from a breach of that duty of care.
Duty of Care
Confirming a duty of care was owed depends upon establishing a relationship between the injured party and the party being liable. Depending on the circumstances, it may be established that the organisers, leaders, coaches, other participants and/or spectators owed a duty of care to the injured party.
Once a duty of care is established in the legal sense, it must then be determined if a breach of the duty occurred at the time of injury, i.e. was the standard of care expected at the time of the incident breached. The test to establish the standard of care is, how a reasonable person would have behaved if in the same situation, i.e. was the result of the act/omission reasonably foreseeable.
For example, if goal posts are not padded, it is foreseeable that a player may run into a post and injure himself. To minimise the risk of injury, all posts should be padded. If the posts were not padded and injuries were sustained from colliding with a post, there would be a legal action for negligence.
The legal aspects of negligence are complex. The best way to avoid this type of situation is to take all reasonable action to prevent injury to participants during camps, day trips, sporting and other activities. To minimise the possibility of negligence being alleged, it is advisable to:
- Prevent accidents from occurring by identifying risks and reducing them as much as possible.
- Prepare an emergency plan to deal with accidents.
- If an accident does occur, first aid should be administered by a qualified person and the emergency plan followed.
Preventative Measures
- Ensure qualified instructors are operating equipment or conducting sessions.
- Check all equipment prior to use it is in good condition.
- Ensure all participants have completed a medical form and the medical forms are readily accessible, should they be required.
- Prohibit the consumption of alcohol while participating in activities or operating equipment.
- Ensure a first aid qualified person is present at activities.
- Identify all possible risks to participants and reduce the risks as much as possible.
If an accident occurs, the following should happen:
1. Stop the activity.
2. Remove remaining participants from danger.
3. A qualified person should administer first aid.
4. Send for help/assistance.
5. Information supplied to emergency services should include:
- Location, time and type of accident.
- How many people are injured.
- The status of the injured people i.e. level of consciousness
- Action already taken.
- Type of assistance required.
