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Many people make resolutions to get healthy and get in shape. Everyone knows that in addition to improving diet, working out in a public/private gym, home gym or a hotel gym when traveling, will help a person get healthy and, with consistency, may increase a person's ability to stay healthy. Lifting weights, using heavy equipment and walking or running on a treadmill, however, can make the gym, and gym equipment, dangerous. Getting injured while exercising is not anyone's goal; however, a University of Arkansas study says that there has been a 35 percent increase in gym injuries over the last few years.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), fitness and gym equipment found in fitness clubs and home gyms is responsible for almost nine thousand injuries each year.

The equipment most commonly associated with injuries includes:

• Treadmills
• Rowing machines
• Stair machines
• Weight lifting apparatus
• Workout benches
• Elliptical machines

Fitness Equipment Recalls

Treadmills may be one of the most dangerous of all types of sporting equipment. Thousands of treadmills have been recalled in recent years for various reasons, including electric shock to users and fires caused by equipment overheating. 

On January 20, 2015 Johnson Health Tec recalled Matrix Fitness Strength Training Machines because of the risk of lacerations and falls.  The handle attachment on the strength training machines during use can detach and hit the user with force and/or cause the user to lose balance and fall.

Fitness instructors cite faulty exercise equipment, along with inattention because of distraction, using equipment for the first time without proper instruction, and working out too hard and/or too soon following a period of inactivity.

Public and Private Gym Responsibilities

It is a gym owner's responsibility, whether public, such as LA Fitness or Gold's Gym, or private, such as community association gyms, to be sure its customers are given instructions on the proper use of equipment. Many gyms will also post signs near equipment on how to use it. Instruction is only one of the many responsibilities. Insuring that equipment is properly assembled, that routine maintenance is not only done but documented are also their responsibilities. Broken equipment is must be marked and repaired as quickly as possible. Knowing, and acting upon, recalls of equipment quickly to be sure customers are not hurt on equipment is a important.  

Home Gym Equipment

Working out at home may be convenient, but it is not without its dangers. In 2013 The Statistics Portal listed the number of participants aged 6 years and up using home gym exercise was approximately 25.5 million in the U.S.

Home equipment dangers can start at the door when the fitness equipment arrives at the home with instructions on how to assemble. These instructions may be difficult to understand, misleading, or wrong. If home gym equipment is not assembled correctly, the potential for injury rises. It is the responsibility of the gym equipment manufacturer to provide assembly instructions which are easily understood and will not lead to injury.

Hotel Fitness Centers

Unlike traditional gyms, the hotel fitness center offers the unique challenge of catering to a constant flow of new gym users. In the traditional gym setting, new members must participate in a mandatory orientation consisting of health screenings, release forms, equipment operations, and rules and regulations allowing each member to become familiar with the operations of the gym facility. This orientation is not often found in the hotel fitness center setting.

In "10 Top Liability Risks for the Hotel Fitness Center"in Hotel Business Review, injuries related to faulty equipment are perhaps the biggest and most prevalent liability risks found in the hotel gym setting. At the same time, reports the article, these liability risks are often easily preventable. Protecting the gym facility from injuries related to faulty equipment is a two-pronged process. First, care should be taken to purchase commercial equipment from only reputable manufacturers. Second, adopting a detailed preventative maintenance program and contracting a service company factory trained by the equipment manufacturer will keep gym equipment running optimally while at the same time flag any potential issues with equipment performance.

Liability

Not only can public/private gyms and hotel gyms be liable for injury on their fitness equipment or at their gyms, the manufacturers and/or retailers of faulty equipment can also be held legally responsible and required to compensate victims who are injured as the result of using their  exercise equipment.

"If you have been injured because of the negligence of others at a gym or by poorly assembled, maintained or repaired gym equipment, you may have recourse to recover damages for your losses. Contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.," said Fort Myers Defective Products Attorney, Randall Spivey.

Fort Myers Defective Products Attorney, Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by just one (1%) percent of Florida attorneys. He has handled over 2,000 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida. For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at  239. 337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839, or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com  for more information. You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.