Can I Claim for Injuries Suffered in a Gym Accident?
In the last two years, gyms have become more and more popular as people look for ways to keep fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle. While there are many positives that come from attending the gym on a daily basis, there are also some risks involved. If you’re injured in a gym, you could aim for compensation from the operator or gym owner if their carelessness caused your accident.
For instance, gym injury claims might be based on poor instructions from a personal trainer or on damaged equipment.
While most gyms are well-organized places, gym accidents happen. More often than not, the less experienced, novice gym attendees suffer an injury. Sometimes this is because they try to do too much too soon or because they don’t understand how the equipment works.
Not every gym accident is someone else’s fault. Whether you will succeed in your gym accident claim depends on your case’s particular circumstances.
Common Causes of Gym Injury Claims
Most gyms are relatively safe places. Of course, there is always some risk involved when using the equipment, but managers are trying as much as possible to keep everyone safe at the gym. Some accidents just happen, and more often than not, they could entitle you to claim because of:
● You were injured due to a faulty or poorly maintained piece of equipment
● Tripped and fell over equipment that was not cleared away (free weights, for example).
● You slipped on a wet floor in the changing room that has been recently cleaned, and no warning signs were in use.
● You were given poor advice on training techniques by a personal trainer at the gym.
● Fall due to losing or raised training mats
Some of the common injuries sustained in a gym are listed below. If you have experienced one of these injuries or a related injury to no fault of your own, then it is recommended to get in touch with a personal injury professional.
● Hand injury
● Strain or sprains of muscles
● Spinal injuries
● Arm injury
● Hand injury
● Crush injuries
● Achilles’ injury
● Ligament injury
● ACL injury
● Cuts, bruises and lacerations
What are the responsibilities of a gym?
There is no particular health and safety legislation at gyms. Yet, for the benefit of both parties, there are several responsibilities that the gym should comply with. Some of these responsibilities are:
● Frequently check all the equipment
● Ongoing monitoring of potential slip or fall hazards
● Constant staff training
● Providing all gym members with training on how to use equipment
All gym managers have a duty of care to try to ensure any member, staff, and visitor is safe while using their facility. That means they have to keep the premises as safe as possible, ensure gym members use the equipment correctly and that it is properly maintained. If the gym fails to comply with these duties of care, you could sue for compensation if:
● You’ve been injured because of the gym operator’s negligence
● You are injured as a direct result of that accident
Payouts for injuries sustained in a gym vary massively because each and every claim is something else. The compensation amount you would obtain if you won the case will be determined by several factors.
The settlement will be based on injuries you have experienced and whether you will continue to suffer in the future. If your injury causes a permanent or a long-term disability, any compensation amount should reflect this.
While we can’t pronounce the amount you will receive without knowing the details, you can always ask for a case review by way of a phone consultation with a personal injury attorney. If one of your personal injury solicitors review your case, they should be able to provide a customised compensation estimate for you.
Not all gym accidents will lead to a claim against the gym.
For the gym operators to be responsible for your accident and therefore be liable to pay for compensation (though their injurers), they must have been negligent in some way.
Whether a gym is accountable for an accident involving one of its members is not always easy to determine. For that reason, it is important to seek out the advice of an experienced personal injury claims attorney.
What to do if you’re involved in a gym accident?
1. Seek immediate medical attention
Your health should be a top-of-mind priority. Immediately after an accident, take a second to evaluate your injuries. Then check if anybody else involved in the accident needs medical attention.
Note that minor injuries where you “feel fine” could progress to a more severe injury in the future. If that’s the case, it’s always better to be safe than sorry and recommend that you go to the nearest emergency room to be checked out.
2. Report the accident
It is crucial that you report the accident to the gym management. You may be required to fill in an accident form and provide insights into how the accident happened and details of the injury. You should also request the gym management to preserve the CCTV footage.
3. Interview any witnesses
Collect contact details for the accident – their names and contact information.
4. Document the accident
For a successful claim, it’s important that you collect all the relevant information related to your accident:
● Time, date and how the accident happened
● Details of any witnesses to the accident ( including staff and other customers); their names, contact information.
● If there are any CCTV recordings of the accident
● Take pictures from various angles of where the accident happened and what caused you to trip, slip or fall.
● Take pictures of the injuries suffered, as this will help your personal injury attorney understand how the accident happened.
5. Contact a personal injury solicitor.
It is advisable that you speak with a personal injury attorney if you’re considering moving forward with your claim. The first step will be submitting your claim to the Injuries Board for assessment.
A personal injury solicitor can help you figure out how to prepare your application and ensure that you follow the process in the correct format, meaning that you can move forward with your claim without further delays.
