Gym Accident Claim: Compensation For Gym Member And Gym Staff Injury
In this article we look at how to claim compensation for an accident in the gym. We consider both gym member injury and injury to gym employees and the self-employed.
The duty owed by the gym to its members and staff is explored as are the records you should keep to support your claim.
We address gym liability insurance, how to calculate your likely payout and gather evidence to support your claim.
Our article concludes with real life gym accident claim questions we have responded to in our Q&A and FAQ.
- Gym Accident Claim: Compensation For Gym Member And Gym Staff Injury
- What is a gym accident claim?
- Gym Accident Claim Q&A And FAQ
What is a gym accident claim?
Should you suffer injury as a gym member using gym facilities or partaking in a gym class or as a worker in a gym, so long as the gym business can be shown to be legally at fault – you should be able to make a claim for compensation for your injuries and any financial loss and expense you may experience.
What is the duty a gym owes to you as a gym member?
A gym owes its members a duty of care to keep gym members safe whilst on the gym premises. This duty is primarily owed to lawful visitors under a piece of law known as the Occupiers Liability Act.
| Who Is The Occupier? |
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| The primary occupier of the gym is the gym business. Also the premises owner may be considered an occupier – although prime liability will attach to the gym itself. |
Examples of dangers to gym members
Examples of some ways to keep gym members safe, include:
- Ensuring the gym premises does not have a dangerous defect – such as a hole in the floor,
- Ensuring the gym equipment is well maintained, in proper working order and has no defects. Imagine – a squat weights rack that collapses or a gym mat that is torn and so a tripping hazard.
- Gym staff are well trained and do not present a danger to members. For example – gym staff may tell members to use the equipment in an incorrect manner that can cause injury or might drop a weight causing member injury. Some gym staff – such as personal trainers and instructors, may themselves have public liability insurance for liability to gym members.
- Hazards, such as wet floors, are avoided and if cleaning is in process – proper warnings to gym members are given and safety cones used.
Can workers in the gym – employees and self-employed – claim for injury?
Generally the answer is, “Yes”. However – a claim can only be made if the gym accident is due in some way to the gym’s error. In other words – the gym business must be found legally-at-fault in some way.
Duty to employees
A gym employer owes a duty to their employees to keep them safe at work.
Self-employed and contractors
The gym also owes a duty to other workers whom they treat like their own workers, such as self-employed personal trainer or gym class instructor. A duty is also owed to contractors working at the gyms. such as a cleaning or maintenance contractor.
Health And Safety At Work Act
The main duty is via covered by a piece of law known as the Health and Safety At Work Act.
How do you claim compensation for injury in a gym accident?
The process of claiming depends on whether you are a member of a worker in the gym.
Use a specialist personal injury solicitor
However, either way we recommend you contact a specialist personal injury solicitor to help you claim.
Making a gym accident claim yourself
In theory however – you can make a claim yourself, but using a solicitor is by far the best approach.
| Keep Records To Support Your Claim |
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| Whether you use a solicitor or not – keeping your own records is essential to support your claim. Records can include a diary of your symptoms and receipts for expenses. |
FREE LEGAL HELP FROM OUR SPECIALIST SOLICITORS
We provide specialist personal injury solicitor free legal help – by telephone and online.
Gym Accident Claim Q&A And FAQ
In this section we detail gym accident claim questions we have received from victims just like you. We provide our answer to the specific question.
QUESTION 1 – Can I Claim Compensation For My Gym Weight Training Accident And If So Will This Include Lost Income?
In this Q&A we explain how to claim compensation for personal injury as a result of an weight training accident in the gym. In this example – a dumbbell snaps causing injury to a gym member’s foot.
Gym Weight Training Accident Description
Weight training in the gym
I have an annual gym membership. Whilst at the gym I was using the weight’s room leg squat machine, which I am familiar with. As usual I positioned a free weight barbell on the weight rack to my height and picked the weight off the rack on my shoulders to squat with.
Barbell and collar failure
As I was squatting a bar loaded with 80 kg – the bar broke and the securing collar failed causing a 10 kg metal plate to fall onto my right foot.
Witnesses to the accident
There were several other gym members present who came to my assistance – removing the remaining weights from my shoulders.
Gym staff assistance
I was in agony and my foot immediately swelled. Some gym staff came to my assistance and an ambulance was called.
Accident book entry
Whilst we were waiting for the ambulance, an accident book entry was made.
Incorrect barbell in the weights area
The gym staff were surprised that the bar could break and the collar fail – but one member of staff realised that the bar was a body pump bar that had been left on the squat machine by gym staff when doing a class in the gym area.
Comments were made that a body pump bar was not designed to take such heavy weights and the collars were very basic plastic collars.
Ambulance to hospital and injuries diagnosed
I was taken to hospital and x-rays were taken revealing that I had a fracture of the metatarsal as well as a fractured big toe. A pin had to be inserted into my foot as the toe fracture was a nasty one.
Unable to work
I am now unable to work and as I am a self-employed scaffolder by trade. I am experiencing significant loss of income as a result.
Can I claim compensation for my gym weight training accident and if so will this include lost income?
ANSWER – Gym Weight Training Accident Claim Response
Establishing legal fault for your gym weight training accident
The weight training accident does not seem to have been caused by a faulty bar, but by use of an incorrect bar.
Gym weight training bar maximum load capacity
Most weight training bars have a maximum weight capacity and body pump bars are typically not made of solid metal and have a lower maximum weight capacity than the typical squat bars.
Gym staff error
It seems that gym staff had left the bar on the rack after a class and it would be reasonable for you to presume that bars on the squat rack could be used.
Foreseeable type of injury
It is also foreseeable that failure of a barbell could lead to weights plate falling and causing injury of the exact nature you have experienced.
Inappropriate weight securing collar
The failure of the securing collar may also have been due to the fact that this was a body pump collar and also not able to cope with the violent force of the weights acting when the bar broke.
Gym’s public liability insurance
The gym will have public liability insurance and they would be pursued as being liable for the negligence of their staff (vicariously liable for the torts of their servants) and would also owe a duty as occupiers.
The types of compensation you can claim
In a weight training accident of this kind you can claim for pain, suffering and loss of amenity for the physical injuries (here a broken metatarsal and fractured big toe) and financial loss and expenses (including lost income past and future, medical expenses, etc.).
Proving your losses
An independent medical expert – here most likely an orthopaedic surgeon will set out in a medical report the extent of your injuries with an estimate as to how long it will take you to fully recover and whether there will be any ongoing disabilities.
Lost income claim
The expert will also comment on your ability to work as a scaffolder. If there are any psychological injuries – this expert will recommend a psychological expert to assess those injuries.
| Keep A Diary Of Your Symptoms |
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| You should keep a daily diary of your symptoms and ensure any new or ongoing symptoms are reported to your treating doctors, so that your medical records will fully illustrate the extent of your problems. The independent medical expert will have access to your medical notes, so this could prove influential Calculation of financial loss and expense will be based on the details you supply. |
This report will be used by your solicitor to establish compensation amounts for pain and suffering.
| Keep A Record Of Your Losses With Receipts |
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| Keep a record of your losses with supporting receipts. Lost income for the self-employed is slightly more complex than for the employed, so keep all information you can to support this (your solicitor will also need access to your annual accounts to show this loss). |
Your solicitor’s calculation of financial loss and expense will be based on the details you supply.
Free Legal Help
We offer a number of free online and telephone personal injury solicitor help options.
Why not ask an online question, speak direct to our specialist solicitors or have your potential weight training accident claim assessed.
QUESTION 2 – How Do You Claim Compensation From A Gym’s Public Liability Insurance For A Defective Spin Bike Injury?
Find out how to claim compensation for injury in a spinning class gym accident from a gym’s insurer for injury due to a defective spinning bike whilst taking part in an instructor led gym class.
Spinning Class Gym Accident Description
I was taking a spinning bike class in a well-known gym chain in London where I have been a member for a couple of years.
Spin bike handlebar failure causing injury
Suddenly the bike handlebar stem snapped and without support I fell forward – slicing my leg open on the broken rusty metal stem.
Old spin bike
The class instructor stopped the class. A gym manager was called who said that the bike was an old one which had been brought in as the class was getting lots of people.
Photos of defective bike taken
An entry was made into the accident book and I made sure it referred to the broken handlebar stem. I friend took a couple of photos as she had her mobile with her in the class. I was taken to hospital by ambulance, as the cut was pretty deep and I was bleeding a lot.
Hospital treatment – stitches and scarring
At hospital I was given a tetanus injection and 20 stitches on my right thigh. At present I am left with a long ugly raised scar, which I am very conscious about and is stopping me from wearing some of my shorter skirts.
Will the gym have insurance, how would I go about claiming compensation and is there anything I should do to assist my claim?
ANSWER – Gym Accident Claim Response
Gym’s public liability insurance
The gym will have appropriate public liability insurance which would cover claims such as yours.
Correct steps taken following spin class accident
You took all the correct steps in notifying the gym, having it recorded in the accident book, having a photo taken and attending at hospital.
Proving gym liability
The gym owes a duty of care to members and should be held liable for providing a defective spinning bike. A doctrine known as res ipsa loquitur (the facts speak for themselves) could be used to prove the bike was faulty.
The gym’s admission that the spinning bike was old helps explain how faulty equipment could come to be in the class and might be relevant should the gym attempt to defer liability to the spinning bike manufacturer.
How to make a claim for compensation from the gym
The best approach to make a gym accident claim is to instruct a specialist solicitor using a funding arrangement, such as a no win no fee or household contents legal protection cover.
Your solicitor will:
- Prove the gym’s legal liability (show as a matter of law the gym was at fault).
- Prove the extent of your injuries using independent medical evidence.
- Gather all the details of financial loss and expense you may have incurred.
Calculating your gym accident compensation payout
The medical evidence will be used to compare to case law and judicial guidance to allow your solicitor to calculate scarring compensation payout amounts for pain and suffering and psychological injury.
The financial loss and expense form your special damages and would be added to the overall compensation figure claimed from the gym and their insurers.
Records you can make that can support your claim for compensation
See our article records & checks when claiming compensation that will guide you on things you can do to help support your claim for compensation.
Speak To Our Specialist Solicitors
We offer a number of initial free services. You can call direct to our solicitors, have you spinning class gym accident claim assessed online or ask a question.
