Risk Management Guideline Recommendations.pdfVIP

Fitness Standards Council www.FitnessS 1 Risk Management Guideline Recommendations Protective Legal Documents Three of the most common legal documents used by fitness practitioners include the informed consent/assessment, agreement to participate and the waiver. The sample Protective Legal Documents provided by the FSC include all three forms. However, it always is best to have such documents reviewed by a legal representative since specific state or federal requirements may need to be included. Consequently, use the FSC forms as templates from which to expand or modify. These forms cover a number of aspects, besides serving as a screening method to determine if a client can, in fact, participate in an exercise program. An informed consent explains the purpose of the activity, risks of the activity (assumption of risks), benefits of the activity, and provides confidentiality with appropriate listed names and signatures. An agreement is similar, although it addresses the issues slightly differently and includes the nature of the activity, possible consequences of injury (assumption of risk), behavioral expectations of the participant, condition of the participant, any summary or concluding statements, and signatures. A Practitioner/Client contract of this nature is presented in FSC Protective Legal Documents as well. The waiver (protective release) can be part of one or both documents and helps to protect the fitness practitioner against legal action in the event of injury caused by negligence, i.e., failure to act reasonably and prudently under the circumstances. This may include failure to inspect exercise equipment or to provide sufficient medical assistance including CPR or First Aid, for example. The waiver section in the document set is general in nature and should include any particular clauses relevant to state, provincial or federal laws. A waiver may include an exculpatory clause, description of risks (assumption of risk), indemnification language, se