What the legal system thinks about the value of certification
The Value of Certification What the legal system thinks about the value of certification QUESTION: Does having a strength coaching or personal training certification decrease your liability in the weightroom? ANSWER: First, to add some context to my answer, you should know I’ve been a professor for 40 years, 31 of them in the Human Performance and Sport Department at Metro State College in Denver; and I’ve also been an administrator. So whether we’re talking about continuing education or formal education at the undergraduate or graduate level, I am 100 percent behind education. Education is critical, especially in conditioning programs that use weight training equipment.
But does it reduce liability? Liability always stays the same because, by definition, you remain liable for the children, the athletes and the students who are under your control. What certification does do is give you a formidable defense to prove that you were well trained and knew what you were doing. And it’s a lot easier to prove that if you’ve gone through a training program. The best certification programs are cognitive, by requiring study and testing on material from research and lit- This January a new group of trainees came to BFS headquarters in Salt Lake City to begin their two-year educational process of becoming BFS clinicians. erature, and include a practical exam.
In the practical, you have to demonstrate to an expert instructor that you actually know how to teach those lifts and how to spot them. The testing should also show that you know the environment: everything from how to use the benches to the protective matting to the collars. Once you put a badge on that says Joe Smith or Mary Jones is a fitness instructor or coach, your actions are included within the concept of what a reasonable and prudent person would have done in the same and similar circumstances. That’s basically a legal concept that will apply in issues of negligence and standard of care. So, in answer to your question, Does certification reduce liability? – no.
But what it does do is tell a jury – if it comes to that – that you studied and learned the material. And that looks much, much better to a jury than if you just read some magazines and decided to teach weight training or teach personal training.
“The Dark Side of Sports” is a question-and-answer feature by Dr. Marc Rabinoff that answers questions about safety and liability based upon actual litigations. You can watch a free video presentation of Dr. Rabinoff’s question-and-answer ?cfb[c[djWj_ed?dijhkYj_edi M[_]^jheecIW\[joL>I%:L: M[_]^jheecHkb[iFeij[h 'O[WhCW]Wp_d[IkXiYh_fj_ed Updated Package!
8<IEdb_d[M[XI_j[7YY[ii IjkZ[dj%7j^b[j[ 7Yademb[Z][c[dj<ehc IW\[joFeij[hi" JhW_d_d]Feij[hi DEMM?J>I?NÇ78IEBKJ;ÈFEIJ;HI J>;D;MÇI7<;JOB?78?B?JOC7DK7BÈ Prepare yourself with the information you need as a coach or administrator to avoid and/or win lawsuits that deal with the weightroom.
From BFS Magazine — March/April 2008. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
