Risk Management Alert Topic: Fitness Equipment Safety & Maintenance Safety and prevention of injury in the fitness area should be of the utmost concern in the daily operation of your YMCA. It is important that you have an established program with written guidelines and documented inspection procedures. It is important that one individual ultimately is responsible, but the entire fitness staff certainly can, and probably should, be involved in the overall process. Your preventative maintenance program should address all of the equipment in your facility...free weights, cardiovascular devices, selectorized weight equipment (e.g., Nautilus-type), etc. Everything should be cleaned and serviced to reduce both the spread of infectious disease and the potential of injury to users. Cleaning is an important part of equipment maintenance because sweat is corrosive...when left on metal components it will eventually cause corrosion or rust. All equipment should be wiped down with a damp cloth, then dried at least daily. Encouraging users to wipe off equipment after each use is a very good practice. At least weekly the equipment should be thoroughly cleaned, the bright surfaces polished with car wax, and any Naugahyde(tm) or similar upholstery cleaned with lanolin based hand cleaner. Lanolin based hand cleaners will dissolve the sweat and lubricate the vinyl, thus maintaining its natural flexibility. Use of cleaners like Windex(tm) or Lysol(tm) for this task will dry out and crack the upholstery. During the cleaning process is a natural time to inspect the equipment for operational smoothness, wear-and-tear, and missing, loose, or broken components. The following are the minimal functions that should be performed. Any repair or maintenance should be immediately completed or reported to the appropriate individual.
Please call us at 800-463-8546 to discuss this or any other risk management safety tip, or visit our web site at www.redwoodsgroup.com to learn more about YMCA risk management related issues.
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| Risk Management services are provided by The Redwoods Group to assist the insured in fulfilling its responsibilities for the control of potential loss-producing situations involving their YMCA operations. The information contained is not intended as legal advice; it simply represents trends in the YMCA industry, related industries and/or law. Laws and suggested standards are under constant review by courts, states and trade groups. They can be vastly different in each jurisdiction. For legal advice relating to any subject addressed, YMCAs are advised to seek the services of a local personal attorney. The information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind and The Redwoods Group expressly disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to any information contained, including all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The Redwoods Group assumes no liability of any kind for information and data contained or for any course of action you may take in reliance thereon. |
| released 04/12/04 |