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What a SafetyAudit Can Do

for You

By Floyd Perry and Steve Guise

Though sports turf and sports-facility managers now are moreconcerned with designing and

operating safe facilities and programs thanever before, it's impossible to prevent allinjuries. In today's litigious society"covering your bases" is essential.

The most important aspect of fieldmaintenance within this litigiousenvironment is safety, both the users' andyour own. When problems, such as abad ball hop, do occur, it's not enough tosay, "See my lawyer." The field must beproperly maintained to protect usersfrom injury and to protect field ownersand operators from frivolous lawsuits.

The three key words are prudent,reasonable and consistent. If grounds-keepers are prudent and reasonable intheir maintenance — even if they don'thave the most extensive equipment andsupplies — if they do the best they canwith what they've got, and they do it ina consistent manner, then they may befree of liability.

Many field operators often run aMonday-Wednesday-Friday mainte-nance schedule, meaning that Tuesday'sgame may be played on a field thathas ruts and holes. If an accidenttakes place, you haven't been prudentand reasonable.

If a case is brought under suchcircumstances, it will be settled out ofcourt because the field owners knowthey are wrong. If an injured playertakes some pictures of the facility, andthere are holes in the playing field,that's strong evidence of negligence.

If, on the other hand, the field is in top

14 sportsTURF

Field construction, maintenance and safety were key topics as STMAmembers toured McKechnie Field at the 1995 STMA meeting last Februaryin Bradenton, FL.

condition, and the team has the foresightto take pictures of the field right after theaccident and has at least two eyewitnessesimmediately file reports, the facilityshould be able to claim, "We are notliable. Our field care is consistent, andwe did everything that was prudentand reasonable."

A workable program of safetyaudits and risk-management practicescoupled with management andmaintenance practices to get and keepfacilities in the best possible conditionswill help prevent injuries — andthe resulting litigation.

If you don't look for problems, you prob-ably won't see them. Changes may beharder to spot when you see thefacilities on a day-to-day basis. That'swhy a formal safety-audit system canprove beneficial.

A safety audit protects yourcompany, players, workers and patrons.Remember, no one segment of this groupis more important than the othersegments. You will assume some degreeof liability if you know of a problem anddo not rectify it or at least demonstratea reasonable desire to address andrectify it.

Include Utility CompaniesA safety audit assesses not only field

conditions but structural issues, includ-ing utilities — the electrical, water andgas lines into and within the facility. Localutility companies should be contacted andshould be responsible for conducting a

safety audit on all mainlines into thefacility on an annual basis. This shouldinclude such things as the integrity of thepipes or lines themselves, their abilityto handle the volume of water, gas orelectricity, the placement of wires andpipes, and the integrity of connections.For water systems, the integrity andefficiency of backflow valves should alsobe checked.

Structural audits include assessing theoverall integrity of the basic structure andthe exterior and interior space. Howsafe are your offices, storage rooms,restrooms, parking lots, walkways,fencing, field lighting, and dugouts?Audits include the big things, like thestructural integrity of buildings, andthe little — but also potentially dangerous— things, like the number of connectionsat an electrical outlet, the placementof electrical cords and the condition of thewater heater.

Having an outside firm perform asafety audit puts more clout in theaudit results. Though the informationrelayed may confirm what youhave been saying, the external knowledgeof the problem makes it a knownfactor that cannot be avoided.

Obviously, field conditions are a majorfocus of the safety audit. One area ofconcern is solid structures within theplaying area. For example, the constantinfiltration of skinned-area clay intothe grass in front of the pitcher's moundand around home plate has led some turfmanagers to place artificial turf on top

of an asphalt or concrete base in thesespots. Though these areas may seemeasier to maintain, they can increase therisk of injury to players. The surfaces areless forgiving than soil and naturalgrass. Also, if a drain and drain cover areneeded within these hard structures topermit proper drainage, a player's cleatcould slip into the drain cover.

Improperly constructed, damaged orloose fencing all have potential for injuryto players and spectators. A foul ball canfly through a loose strip of fencing andinjure a spectator. A player can be hurtby c jming in contact with fence polesplaced on the inside of a fence or withbarbs improperly installed at the top,rather than the bottom, of the fence.

The field itself — the evenness andrelative softness and hardness of theplayi g surface — will be audited.Auditors will be looking for obviousunplayable conditions such as holes,ruts and rocks, but also for inconsis-tencies in the surface. All athletes —thoroughbred horses, baseball, soccerand football players — compete based onthe field conditions, gauging their moveson the amount of available traction andthe relative softness or hardness of the

surface. An inconsistency — a soft spot,a hard spot, more or less traction —may cause the athlete to exert aninappropriate degree of force and, thus,sustain an injury. The extent ofturf cover — cushioning and traction —will be evaluated.

Develop Safety Audit CommitteeDon't stop the safety process with a

one-time audit. Develop an inter-facility safety audit committee. Individualsinvolved with different areas of thefacility should participate in the safetyaudit committee. Include financialdecision-makers in the group, so they willbe sure to understand the problemsand help in setting priorities from thefinancial aspect.

The group can develop an audit sheetfor the facility that will be used quarterlyto spot wear and tear, turning uppotential problems that might other-wise appear down the line. The groupshould review the safety audit todevelop a checklist of concerns, thendiscuss these concerns and decide howto resolve them.

Install a reminder system to ensurethat quarterly safety audits arecarried out. Use a calendar or

computer tickler system, whatever ittakes to ensure compliance.

Safety is an ongoing concern andrequires the cooperation of all parties.Once a facility is proactive in safetyauditing, that facility must beproactive in maintenance to be sure noproblems are developing.

Design a daily checklist that main-tenance personnel can use. Once anemployee registers a concern on thedaily audit checklist, that concern mustbe addressed and resolved.

Everyone has to take responsibility forresolving problems. If a field crewemployee reports a problem, he or she hasthe responsibility to follow up to makesure action is taken. Each staff memberbecomes part of the solution.

Interim actions show awareness of aproblem and willingness to rectify thatproblem. For example, coning off andposting warning signs to steer foot traf-fic away from an unsafe walkway are tem-porary measures to avoid injury untilmore permanent solutions can be made.

Some problems are temporary andwarrant only temporary solutions, suchas signs posted to denote a wet floor

continued on page 16

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APRIL 1995 15

Field Safteycontinued from page 15

that may be slippery right after main-tenance personnel have scrubbed it.

Products that make it easier to main-tain facilities in a safe manner mustbe considered. Someone connected withrisk management for the facility shouldbe involved in field design. Fields thatare safer by design are also cost-effective. The cost to players in terms oftheir longevity in the game is a lossthat can be measured in both financialand personal terms.

Systems that improve field condi-tions may be more expensive to installinitially but create a long-term, highlyusable playing surface that is safer forthe athletes. Consider the effectivenessof sand-based field construction sys-tems employing USGA specifications.Consider a system that gives a uniformconsistency to the rootzone media, suchas the Netlon Advanced Turf System,which improves field drainage, relievescompaction and reduces surface impactresistance, giving athletes a playablearena that is stable, yet not too hard,with more consistent turf develop-ment and increased traction inunfavorable conditions.

Consider the improvements made inbaseball fields because of the inherentproblems with clay surfaces. Skinned-areaclay surfaces now are being mixed andmaintained to reduce the hardness of theinfield. Sand, calcined clay and otheradditives are widely used to help smoothhard bumps and prevent spikes fromleaving pick marks and divots.

Bring coaches into the fieldconstruction and maintenance equa-tion. Coaches, from the high school to theprofessional level, know what anindividual player's contribution can beto his team and can visualize that

contribution to the game throughoutthe player's career. The industry mustdeal with engineering and design thatextends the active careers of playersand their long-term contribution totheir game. Just listen to what playershave to say. (See the NFL PlayersAssociation sidebar below.)

Prepare for Worst-Case ScenarioDespite your best construction

methods and maintenance practices,injuries can occur. Prepare yourfacility to deal with the "worst-case" scenario.

Develop a plan of action in the eventthat injuries occur. Establish a reviewcommittee made up of the audit coordi-nator, a few of the people who serve onthe audit committee, some members ofthe financial group and representativesfrom all other segments of the facility.This safety committee will serve as therisk-management arm of the facility,reviewing the process of rectifyingconcerns addressed by the safety auditcommittee and forming a unified actioncommittee in the case of injury orlitigation. In time, the facility may wishto hire a risk-management specialist.

Of the potentially dangerous areas ona field, the playing surface has comeunder the most scrutiny by lawyers.Many lawyers know of no such thing asa bad hop. Instead, poor construction orpoor maintenance procedures are blamedfor injuries.

Even if your actions are prudent,reasonable and consistent, do not assumeyou will have the opportunity to defendyourself in court in a liability situation.Studies indicate that more than 95percent of all personal injury lawsuits aresettled by insurance companies priorto trial.

According to a survey conducted byGary R. Gray, Ed.D, an assistant professor

of physical education and leisurestudies at Iowa State University, the mainfactors that influence the decisions ofinsurance company attorneys on whetherto take a case to court fall into threegeneral categories. The first is theuncertainty or risk of a trial. Given thequality of the factual evidence,witnesses and attorneys, the degree ofpreparation of the plaintiffs attorney andthe degree of clear-cut liability, howsolid is the facility's position? Second,consider the cost of a trial versussettlement. Will the facility face greaterfinancial exposure with the added courtcosts and potential settlement should theverdict be in favor of the plaintiff? Third,settlement is the "expected" system ofdispute resolution. Does the attorneyfor the insurance company have areasonable expectation of reaching asettlement with a plaintiff who appearsto be willing to compromise?

Strong facility safety programssignificantly reduce liability exposure.Remember, liability litigation is notautomatically settled in favor of theplaintiff. A system of safety audits andrectification of concerns combined withintelligent field construction methods andproper maintenance procedures, allpracticed remembering the three keywords — prudent, reasonable andconsistent — can cover your bases. •

Floyd Perry Jr. is a facility consultantand director of Grounds MaintenanceSeminars, Orlando, FL. His book, FloydPerry's Pictorial Guide to QualityGroundskeeping, covers all the bases. SteveGuise is a turf consultant, national salesmanager for Netlon Advanced Turf,treasurer of the national STMA and amember of the association's TechnicalStandards Committee.

NFL Players Prefer Natural GrassThe National Football League Players Association recently announced

the results of a league-wide player survey concerning NFL playing sur-faces. The written survey, which was directed by the Board of PlayerRepresentatives at its March 1994 meeting, was conducted by NFLPAstaff members at team meetings during the 1994 season. The playerswere asked a series of 13 questions concerning their preferences in fieldsurfaces. The survey revealed that 85 percent of the 965 players whoanswered preferred to play on natural grass, seven percent preferred arti-ficial turf and eight percent had no preference. Seventy percent of theplayers also indicated that playing on a natural grass surface was eithervery important or somewhat important in selecting the teams theywould consider signing with as free agents.

Other results of the survey:• 93 percent of NFL players believe that artificial turf is more likely

than grass to contribute to injury.• 96 percent believe artificial turf causes more soreness.• 91 percent believe artificial turf is more likely to shorten their

careers.• 90 percent believe artificial turf is more likely to worsen their qual-

ity of life after football.• 54 percent identified an artificial turf injury they suffered that they

believe would not have happened on grass.The NFLPA has asked the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to

conduct an epidemiological study of grass and artificial turf injuries. TheNational Center for Injury Protection and Control, which is part of CDC,will work in conjunction with the National Institute of OccupationalSafety and Health (NIOSH) on the project.

16 sportsTURF April1995 16