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With some American high schools having more than 4,000 students enrolled, not to mention the numbers in the primary and post-secondary education facilities, it’s no wonder safety is a priority. As each of these students is bound to cross through the facility’s gymnasium at least once during their tenure at the school, the chance for injury is great, especially with poorly serviced equipment.
As more gymnasiums are becoming multi-sport and multi-use facilities, now more than ever the inspection services of a trusted industry partner are needed. With busy schedules, staffing issues and hoards of students to service, today’s facility staff cannot always keep up with the maintenance side of things.
For this reason, together with our partners at Performance Sports Systems, we offer the Orange Zone safety inspection program for our clientele. As our professionals descend on your athletic facility, they look closely at each lug, nut, weld and working part to ensure the facility’s athletic equipment is working in a safe and effective manner.
When it comes to the common problems we find during these inspections, they are often minor in nature, but when left unattended can escalate quickly. Here are a few of the more common issues we see and their causes.
Loose Nuts, Bolts & Screws
Just the same as bolts are often tightened by maintenance staff in the chairs and desks found in the classrooms in these schools, oftentimes the equipment in the gymnasium gets neglected. When it comes to large pieces of equipment that feature moving parts such as telescopic bleachers or ceiling-suspended basketball systems, the risk of injury can be catastrophic. After periods of extended use, these bolts and connections can come loose and can render the equipment inoperable, or worse, can cause someone bodily harm.
Faulty Guardrails
Bleacher seating systems both indoors and outdoors must be equipped with safety guard rails once a certain height is reached. This requirement varies depending on your geographic location, but at times, the very railings set out to keep us safe can be a hazard all their own.
These railings can either become loose over time or can deteriorate all together, depending on how they were originally constructed.
Hoists & Safety Straps
The motors and electronics that power some of the athletic equipment found on campuses and in other recreational facilities are in need of regular servicing as well. Just the same as you would bring your car for regular servicing at your local garage, the same can be said for any motors used to power bleachers, gym divider curtains or overhead basketball systems.
We have also seen instances in which safety straps such as the AUT-O-LOC basketball safety system are not working properly, not connected or worse, not installed at all. Products like these were created for one reason; safety. You always want to ensure they are working properly and installed where and when necessary.
