When Your Gym Becomes Dangerous
While a gym is a place you turn to when you need to get heart-healthy and strong, it can also hold a lot of danger. Gyms are chock-full of dangerous machinery, wet areas and plenty of opportunities to get hurt. Read on to find out more about how that waiver you signed may or may not affect your ability to get money damages from your injury.
Waivers and how they protect the gym
When you joined the gym, you probably had to sign some paperwork. Just like most activities and businesses, the gym attempts to protect itself from lawsuits when someone gets injured there, and so a waiver was likely included with the other paperwork. In most cases you never need to give this waiver a second thought, but if you get hurt you might need to take another look at it. There are really two types of waivers, and they are very different.
The negligence waiver
This type of waiver is meant to protect the gym, and not the users. As already mentioned, gyms can present a lot of chances to get hurt, so this type of waiver attempts to prevent a user from suing when it was their own careless actions that caused the injury. For example, multiple signs and warning cones surround the wet areas of the pool, but a member who is running slips and falls. The gym should not be responsible for a member who failed to use due care (and common sense) and ended up getting hurt.
Total waiver of liability
The word "total" here sums up the protection the gym is attempting to use against lawsuits. If this is the type of waiver you signed and you were hurt by the negligence of the gym, you should not let it stop you from seeking damages. The courts often find that these types of waivers are too broad and offer too much protection to a business. In fact, a business that tries to use a waiver of total liability to hide low staff, badly maintained machines, poor hygiene and more, may find itself not only paying damages to victims, but they also can incur punitive damages as well. All places of business are required to present a safe environment for customers, and failure to do so is grounds for a lawsuit. Here, for example are some common problem areas for gyms:
1. Inadequate sanitation of pools, hot tubs and saunas
2. Using too much chlorine in the pool area, creating a toxic hazard
3. Gym equipment not being maintained
4. Hidden cameras in dressing rooms
4. Ice accumulating on winter days at the entrance
5. Failure to install proper safety equipment, such as an External Defibrillator
When it comes down to it, the waiver you signed is only as good as the paper it's written on. Speak to an attorney that specializes in personal injury law services to learn more.