Build field safety audits into your schedule
20 Mar, 2009 Athletic Turf NewsSAN JOSE, CA — Safety is the primary responsibility of asports turf manager. That's safety in respect to his or her employees and also in respect to users of the fields under the manager's care.
David B. Schlotthauer's presentation at the recent Sports Turf Managers Association Conference (STMA) here provided excellent suggestions for conducting safety audits at sports facilities. Schlotthauer is the sports turf manager at Brigham Young University and also the president of the STMA Inner Mountain chapter.
Why should you do regular safety audits of your sports fields? Schlotthauer offered three compelling reasons:
• They remind you to get out onto your fields and look at them with a critical eye. “The playing surface of your fields will change depending on how much use they get,” said Schlotthauer.
• You find problems and get an opportunity to correct them when they're still small and before they get to the crisis stage.
• They help you avoid litigious situations, especially if you keep written records of what you find in terms of field problems, and what you've done to correct them. Your actions, with your notes as documentation, show that you've made the best effort to keep your fields safe.
During each audit yourself the following questions, continued Schlotthauer:
Is my facility safe enough for use today?
What can I do today to make my field safer for users?
Is this field safe enough for my own children to play on?
What is the worst thing that could happen because of the conditions on this field today?
“Step out of your comfort zone,” advised Schlotthauer. “Walk your entire facility and take a good, long, honest look, including the spectator areas. When I do this I always find areas that I have missed before.”
You don't have a written checklist to use and document what you find during your safety audits? Not to fret.
The STMA has an excellent checklist that you can download from its website and use. Click here for a copy of the checklist.
Print it out, make copies, set a schedule for regular safety audits, do them.
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