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AGENTS & BROKERS ONLY |
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Other Sports & Recreation Insurance Programs |
Is a League Liable for Faulty Sports Equipment?We received a phone call the other day from a coach of a youth lacrosse club who was concerned about the use of 20 year old helmets that have not been reconditioned or recertified. He wanted to know if he could be liable in the event of a head injury to a player since he is responsible for verifying to the referee prior to the game that all equipment is in safe operating condition. He also wanted to know if such a lawsuit would likely be covered by his General Liability policy.
The short answer is that league administrators and coaches are responsible for the following aspects of equipment safety:
* Long range planning for the repair, refurbishing, and replacement of helmets. These decisions need to be made far in advance as they can take time to budget and complete.
* Confirm that the helmets meet current NOCSAE requirements as well as the requirements of the sports governing body.
* Helmets should be inspected for defects in post season, pre season, weekly, and prior to any game or practice.
* Maintenance, repair, and conditioning on a regular basis.
* Reconditioning to restore to “like new” basis of safety equipment such as helmets should be performed by a reputable reconditioning business as opposed to an on staff trainer for liability reasons. NOCSAE may require recertification.
* Replacement of helmets should be done on a periodic basis per manufacturers recommendations of the useful life of the helmet.
* Record keeping for documentation purposes on all of the above.
There is no doubt that many of the above outlined principles may have been violated and the coach is justified in his concerns about liability.
As regards coverage under General Liability, such policies generally don’t have an exclusion for lawsuits arising out of injuries due to failure to follow proper equipment safety protocol as outlined above. Therefore coverage is likely to exist under most policies. However, a minority of policies may have a punitive damages exclusion. Willful disregard of known safety protocol could result in punitive damages. In addition, any litigation, even if covered by General Liability insurance, results in a “black eye” for the program in the community as well as the emotional drain of league administrators and coaches of pre trial discovery and litigation.
For a more detailed resource on Equipment Safety, see our Risk Management Program For Sports Organizations
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