Safety and Risk Management : Borkowski Articles

Risk Management and Rugby Football

The Legal Duties of a Coach
by Dick Borkowski, Ed. D., C.A.A.

A recent law case alleging negligence has prompted this basic primer about legal responsibilities. Meeting your legal duties lowers the chance of being sued and players being hurt. That is what's called a win-win situation.

I've served as a sport safety consultant and what the courts call an "expert witness" for the past 35 years. I coached rugby for 24 years. I am not a lawyer. This is not "legal" advice. You can only get that from a practicing lawyer. This is what I believe coaches should know about their legal duties
based on my experience.

1. Understand you have legal responsibilities. Volunteers must still meet what is called a duty of care. Organizations have a duty of care to help improve the skill and general knowledge of those that are coaches. Organizations must disseminate material and make in-service programs, such as coaching clinics available. The player also has what is called "shared responsibility." The player has a duty to him/herself. Invite a lawyer to a pre-season meeting to discuss this important area.
   
   Why do most organizations wait to seek advice from lawyers after an incident?
   
   
2. You are held to legal "standard of care" - not a "standard of practice." The "practice" at your pitch might be to run a warm up lap and jump right into contact drills. The courts, in all probability, would not consider this a standard of care for the welfare of the players.
3. You are held to an even higher standard of care than a reasonable prudent person. Coaches must be reasonable prudent professionals. You must know more than the average person about what is or is not correct. Yes, even if you are a volunteer. You have accepted the reasonable responsibility to lower the potential of injury to your players. Unfortunately, too many of us do not appreciate this point! That's the reason for this article.
4. A coach is normally sued because someone (a plaintiff) said you were negligent. You become a defendant. It is alleged that you failed to act the way a reasonable prudent professional would have acted in a similar situation.There is a test for negligence.
   If you meet all the criteria, you can be found negligent.
   1. You have a duty. (You are supervising practice.)
   2. You breach that duty. (You leave practice.)
   3. An injury or wrong occurs. (A player is injured during horseplay.)
   4. There is a connection between the breach and the injury.
      (The presence of a coach would haveprevented the horseplay.)
5. Foreseeability is a major factor in determining if you did or did not meet your professional standard of care. This is another word for common sense. Is it foreseeable that a problem could occur if there is no one lifeguarding at a pool?
6. My experience suggests we have six broad legal duties:
   1. To offer appropriate equipment and facilities.
   2. To offer appropriate instruction. This, of course, means the coach is knowledgeable about the activity and the activity is appropriate for the group.
   3. To offer appropriate supervision. This includes avoiding mismatching in competition.
   4. To appropriately prepare and condition the individual for the specific activity.
   5. To appropriately warn about the risks of the activity.
   6. To offer appropriate post injury care. This includes an emergency plan and the maintaining of records.

Over the next several months, I will review each of these general duties of coaches to reasonably lower the chances of injuries to players. Note the words; "reasonably lower the chances of injuries." No one can insure the safety of anyone. That is impossible.

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