The policies and practices of sports governing bodies in relation to assessing the safety of sports grounds

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Summary

Sport is an important context for physical activity and it is critical that safe environments are provided for such activity. Sports safety is influenced by the presence of sports ground environmental hazards such as ground hardness, poorly maintained playing fields, surface irregularities and the presence of debris/rubbish. To reduce injury risk, sports governing bodies need to ensure regular assessment of grounds safety and the removal of identified hazards. This study describes sports ground safety guidelines and recommendations of a sample of sports governing bodies and provides recommendations for how they could be improved. Semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with nominees of state governing bodies for Australian football, cricket, soccer and hockey. The use of matchday checklists to identify ground hazards, as mandated by insurance companies was widely promoted across all levels of play. Sports governing bodies had more direct involvement in assessing grounds used for higher level of play, than grounds used for community or junior sport. There was a general presumption that identified hazards on community grounds would be corrected by local councils or clubs before anyone played on them, but this was rarely monitored. Sports governing bodies run the risk of being negligent in their duty of care to sports participants if they do not formally monitor the implementation of their ground safety polices and guidelines. There is also further scope for sports bodies to work closely with insurers to develop ground safety assessment guidelines specific to their sport.

Introduction

Sport is an important context for physical activity and it is critical that safe environments are provided for such activity. Questions about the suitability of grounds for sports activities have risen to the fore, particularly with ongoing drought conditions in some regions. Concerns about the impact of drought conditions on turf playing surfaces are mainly associated with surface hardness and traction.1 There is accumulating evidence that harder sports grounds, and some types of grass coverage associated with dry weather patterns, could predispose sports participants to a higher risk of injury.2, 3, 4, 5 In the light of this evidence and public concern about ground hardness during drought conditions, sports organisations (including governing bodies, regional associations and clubs) have begun to ask questions about: the suitability and safety of their grounds; how they should go about assessing them; what they should do to address identified safety concerns; and what specific safety policies they need to develop and implement in relation to grounds. As weather patterns and climate change effects occur around the world, this is likely to become even more of a global issue. From a health promotion perspective, these changes could result in the development of unsupportive environments with the potential to impact negatively upon physical activity participation rates and community well-being.6

Ground hardness is not the only potential hazard associated with sports grounds. Other sports ground environmental hazards cited as being associated with injury risk7 include: exposed sprinkler heads and uncovered cricket pitches; surface unevenness; debris; type of surface, type of soil; grass/turf coverage and type; surface hardness and traction; weather conditions; playing ground surrounds and fixtures (such as goal posts). A risk management approach to assessing the suitability of grounds for sports activity must consider all of these factors and hazard assessment before play is a critical component of good sports risk management.7, 8 Matchday checklists have been developed to support a visual inspection of sports fields before play is undertaken and the absence or presence of hazards are ticked-off against a set of pre-determined criteria.

A review of studies describing sports clubs’ policies in relation to the inspection of the safety of sports grounds in Australia found that the majority used matchday or other checklists (range 50–100% in each study).9 The proportion of clubs that also assessed sports grounds before training was lower (range 25–65%), even for those that regularly checked their surfaces for the presence of physical hazards before matches.

Whilst some clubs may be undertaking risk assessments of local sports grounds, there has been no published study of the role that sports governing bodies play in setting guidelines and policies to support or encourage such practices by their member organisations or clubs. This information is needed to ensure the uptake and sustainability of injury prevention programs, including those aimed at sport safety.10 It has been shown that health promotion policies and practices are more likely to be adopted, when clubs are fully informed by a lead agency.11 This is also true for safety policies.12, 13 This study describes current grounds assessment policies and practices advocated by four major state-level sports governing bodies and provides recommendations for how they could be improved across all such bodies.

Section snippets

Methods

A tiered structure governs formal sports delivery in Australia and this influences the policy setting context. National sports organisations and state sports associations (SSAs) largely govern international, national and professional level sport. The SSAs also have a role in overseeing delivery of broader sport participation in the community and more recreational contexts and delegate the responsibly for actual delivery of safety initiatives for community sport to regional sports associations.

Results

All SSAs provided copies of their guidelines and matchday checklists that they advised all clubs and regional associations to adopt. The delineation between policies and guidelines was not clear in the material provided but there was consistency amongst the checklists provided, as they were developed by the one insurance agency. These checklists covered both field of play issues (e.g. ground surface conditions and irregularities, debris on the surface; perimeter fencing; padding of goal posts;

Discussion

Sports organisations, from international governing bodies through to local clubs, have a duty of care for the health and safety of their participants at all levels of play7, 15 and to manage the risks of participation in their sport.16 Sports clubs have only recently been recognised as a potential health promoting setting11, 15 and much of the discussion has been centred on the promotion of healthy behaviours11, 17, 18, 19 rather than adoption of safety measures for injury prevention. With

Practical implications

  • Peak sports bodies should establish formal ground safety assessment policies and guidelines for local clubs to use.

  • Sports bodies should undertake regular assessment of the safety of their sporting grounds, across all level of play, and implement any remedial actions to remove identified hazards before play.

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted as part of a larger study commissed by the Sport and Recreation Victoria portfolio of the Department for Victorian Communities to which Ian Chivers and John Orchard contributed. Caroline Finch was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship. Dr Alex Donaldson provided valuable comment on the draft paper.

References (20)

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