As a new personal trainer, there are a number of legally required documents that you must be aware of and work through before signing up with new clients or taking fitness classes. If you're part of the International Confederation of Registers for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs), you should be aware that workplace risk assessments are not only part of your job description, but they are also required in order to validate your fitness insurance. This is because it demonstrates that you have mitigated as many risks as you possibly can and are confident that you can deliver training to both groups and individuals without putting them in danger.
Workplace Risk Assessment - Outdoor Group Training
Whenever conducting an outdoor training session, you must conduct a risk assessment on the day of the class. This is because conditions can change over time, and so the risk assessment must be up-to-date. You may already have a risk assessment template either from your fitness course or your new workplace; however, you can create a simple one as long as it has the relevant pieces of information.
Firstly you should note down the date, the type of class and where it is to be held. Risks could include anything from the possibility of broken glass hidden in the grass of the field you're going to train on, to the route that must be taken in order to get to the location of the class. Once you have identified everything that could cause harm or injury to your clients, regardless of how likely it is, you must then prioritise the risks in order of probability. Once you can see where your greatest risks lie, try to mitigate them, noting on the risk assessment form how you have done this. For example, if you plan to train in a field, you could perform a visual check of the grass to ensure there is nothing that could cause an injury. If after the assessment you feel that it is safe to continue, you should sign the document and get it countersigned by your manager and store it on file. Initially, the risk assessment might take a while to complete. However, if you're using a regular spot to train, you can always reuse the same risk assessment, highlight any changes in circumstances in red, adjust the date and re-sign it. The risk assessment will still be valid; you will just be saving yourself some time.
