Safety Guidelines for Secondary Interschool Athletics in Alberta

APPENDIX T - Safety in Weight Rooms/Fitness Centres
To qualify to use the weight room:
1. Student athletes should be instructed in proper lifting techniques, use and safety procedures for
activities. This should be reviewed as necessary.
2. Student athletes must be made aware of inherent risks specific to weight training and/or fitness
centre activities. Student athletes and parents/guardians should sign a consent form prior to the
student athlete’s participation in a training session and/or use of the weight room or fitness centre.
3. Student athletes must have an identifiable pass/tag to enter weight training area and/or sign in and
out of the area.
4. Only student athletes training are allowed in the room. No spectators.
Supervision:
A supervising teacher/coach must be in the area. School board supervision policies should be followed.
Weight rooms and fitness centres require an on-site monitor. Monitors may be teacher coaches,
instructional assistants and non-teacher coaches. Monitors of the weight rooms/fitness centres should:
1. Ensure that the school-approved method of check-in is followed.
2. Open and lock weight room/fitness centre using procedure established by the school.
3. Encourage student athletes to follow posted rules and procedures.
4. Bring problems to supervising teacher/coach as soon as possible.
5. Ensure the weight room/fitness centre is left in proper order.
6. The student athlete-to-teacher/coach/monitor ratio should not exceed 30 to 1 to ensure that student
athletes receive safe and effective instruction.
7. Teachers/coaches/monitors must remove student athletes from the weight room/fitness centre who
are endangering the safety of themselves or other users.
8. Student athletes should warm-up before entering the weight room/fitness centre
9. Appropriate footwear and clothing should be worn.
10. All student athletes should participate in a cool-down prior to leaving the weight room/fitness centre.
Additional Rules:
1. Procedures should be established so that facility and equipment are inspected daily and repairs are
made as necessary. It is suggested that a checklist is set up that indicates the routines that are
followed for each inspection, printed name and initials of who did the inspections and, if something
is recognized as needing repair - what was done to fix it, including non-use of equipment until
repaired.
2. Any violation of rules may result in some form of sanction being applied, e.g., suspension or loss of
access, suspension from school, closure of weight room/fitness centre.
3. A minimum of two people must be in the weight room/fitness centre any time the facility/equipment
is in use.
Additional Considerations
1. Food or drink should not be allowed into the weight room/fitness centre during interschool athletic
activity with the exception of water in a closed plastic container.
2. All entries to and exits from the weight room/fitness centre must be clearly marked, equipped with
panic hardware, and in accordance with federal, provincial and local regulations.
3. Weight room/fitness centre should provide a clock and a target heart rate or perceived exertion chart
and must instruct users in self-monitoring techniques so they can safely monitor their levels of
exertion.
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