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of mind to mobilise this in good time.
In addition to preserving some, if not all of its equipment, such
a plan should assist a club in demonstrating to its insurers that
it had adopted reasonable measures to mitigate its loss from
the disaster as well as keeping premiums down and enhancing
the club’s prospects of maintaining some form of continuity in its
sporting activities.
Recovery
Even after the natural disaster has passed, if a sporting body’s
premises has been affected, the physical risks for those involved
in cleaning up will remain. While physical debris is a readily
identifiable hazard, sporting bodies need to be conscious of the
microscopic hazards, such as e-coli bacteria, which can linger in
the wake of a disaster such as a flood.
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, there is a natural temptation
for an organisation to put ‘all hands to the pumps’ to assist in
the clean-up. However, as a risk management strategy, sporting
bodies should endeavour to ensure that those involved in the
clean-up are safe. Machine such as bobcats need to be kept
clear of helpers on foot. Power supply needs to be checked as
safe. Damaged structures need to be cordoned off. Helpers
should wear appropriate clothing such as, at the minimum, closed
shoes, trousers, long sleeved shirts and work gloves. In the wake
of the Brisbane floods, the local government issued extensive
guidance in relation to appropriate clothing and equipment to be
used in clean-up activities. Consequently, in the event of persons
pursuing claims for injuries sustained in clean-up activities, it could
be difficult for a sporting body to argue that they were not ‘on
notice’ of the need to ensure that persons assisting in the clean-
up were wearing appropriate clothing or protective equipment.
Just as sporting bodies need to manage the risk associated with
the clean-up process, before sporting activities can resume,
sporting bodies need to conduct a close inspection of their playing
fields to ensure that they are free from physical debris and that the
playing surface has not become uneven as a result of floodwaters
or vehicles driving across them in the clean-up. Again, in the wake
of a dramatic natural disaster, it would be difficult for a sporting
body to argue that they were not on notice of the possibility that
their playing surfaces might be affected by the disaster. As with
normal playing surface inspections, the post disaster inspection
should be documented to allow the club to demonstrate that it had
taken reasonable steps to ensure that the playing surface was
reasonably fit for sporting activities to resume.
As noted above, even if the physical hazards have been identified
and removed, in the case of events such as flood, microscopic
hazards may remain. Many sporting bodies who use sports
fields managed by a local authority are likely to be subject to the
guidance of the local authority as to when fixtures can resume
after possible contamination. However, sporting bodies which
own their own playing fields should conduct appropriate testing
to assess whether ground contamination has been properly
addressed before resuming fixtures. Similarly, water quality,
debris and submerged hazards need to be assessed for water
sports.
Quantifying the loss
In the clean-up process there is also temptation to dispose
of contaminated and damaged goods as quickly as possible.
However, where possible, sporting bodies should attempt to
retain or at least document or photograph the items which it will
be forced to dispose of as a result of damage. This is likely to
assist discussions with insurers in quantifying claims under the
policy.
Depending upon the scale of its operations and the revenue
which a club might generate from events at its grounds, as part
of its risk management strategy, a club should also investigate
whether business interruption or contingency insurance would be
appropriate to mitigate the loss flowing from a natural disaster.
The scoreboard - lessons learned
In summary, sporting bodies should consider the following matters
when formulating the disaster management plan:
• Identify the type of natural disaster(s) to which it might be
exposed.
• Will insurance arrangements respond to the risks
arising from the disaster? Is the cost of any additional
cover economic compared to the likelihood of the event
occurring?
• Prepare a response plan and identify an officeholder to
review the plan and be responsible for implementing the
plan, if necessary.
• Take care that persons involved in any cleanup are safe.
• Conduct and document an inspection (and possibly
testing) of playing fields before resuming sporting events.
• If possible, retain damaged items to assist insurers in
processing claims. If it is not practical to retain the items,
photograph or otherwise document the items which have
been disposed of.
• Does the sporting body need business interruption
insurance to cover lost revenue?