When gym operators must recognise and manage the foreseeability of this type of accident
What happened?
A twenty three year-old student and fitness fanatic fell off a treadmill at the gym and hit his head on the floor, triggering a fatal brain injury.
The student was taken to hospital and later transferred to another, where he died six days later. Doctors carried out a series of operations to relieve the pressure on his brain, but the injury was too deep-rooted and they were unable to save him.
Legal Outcome
Recording a verdict of accidental death, the Coroner said that she would recommend the use of a safety wire on treadmills in the city council’s gyms.
What can we learn from what happened?
We can learn that this can happen. When assessing the risk associated with use of a treadmill, when asked the question what is a ‘reasonable worst case scenario’ or whatever terminology you use, then fatality must be the answer. It has happened, so therefore it is totally foreseeable that it can happen again.
There is always plenty of space behind a treadmill. There is a gym floor (not a crash mat), which yes may be carpeted or sprung, but will always be hard, so falling backwards at any speed introduces the risk of hitting your head, and any accident that has the potential for a head hitting a hard surface can be fatal. Very unlikely, but reasonably foreseeable. And the age of the man in this case (twenty three, so clearly very young) just reinforces the notion that it needn’t be an age-related risk.
This is not to say that treadmills are dangerous, and there is absolutely no doubt that the benefit of their use massively outweighs the risks involved. Falling off a treadmill is, however, a risk factor that all fitness instructors must be aware of and must manage accordingly. The Coroner recommended the mandatory use of the safety a safety/emergency cord. Whether this is entirely necessary is for gym operators and the fitness industry to contemplate, and certainly it isn’t something that is being enforced at the moment, but ensuring treadmill users at least know of this safety feature and how it could reduce risk surely must be essential.
Source of Information
Mail Online
Coroner’s Report from Judiciary.uk