From worn treadmill belts to slippery floors due to sweat, the array of risks in your training environment is constantly changing. Your focus is on helping clients reach their fitness goals, and part of that is ensuring safety risks are properly identified and addressed.
That’s where a personal training risk assessment comes into play. It’s an essential process you must complete regularly to keep your training space as low-risk as possible, guided by a form you fill out detailing hazards and steps to address them.
Looking to get right into it before your next session? Jump ahead to get your free personal trainer risk assessment template now!
What Is a Personal Trainer Risk Assessment?
A personal training risk assessment is what you do to identify, evaluate, and minimize hazards where you train clients so that you can keep everyone as safe as possible.
Whether you train indoors, outdoors, in a private studio, in client homes, or in a gym with multiple members, there are always inherent risks involved with physical activity — some more dangerous than others.
When clients choose to work with you, they trust that you’re taking reasonable care to keep them safe from preventable injuries while they train. Doing a risk assessment is your due diligence as a professional personal trainer and an unskippable step for instilling confidence within clients.
You can think of each risk assessment as a detailed rundown of these main questions:
- What could lead to an accident in this environment?
- How serious is the issue?
- What can I do to fix it?
Always store your risk assessment notes for future reference. They should also be organized well and easily accessible to any other coaches, trainers, staff, or landlords who might need to see the information.
How Often Should You Do Client Risk Assessments?
How often you perform a risk assessment depends on:
- The number of clients you have
- The frequency of your sessions
- How often equipment is used
- Weather and external factors
- Gym or facility requirements
- Changes in equipment or layout
- Changes in client health or ability
- If your facility has staff that also monitor the space
- Traffic from other parties (like non-clients who share your space)
If you train multiple clients a day, back to back, you likely won’t have time to perform a full risk assessment between each session. But you are constantly scanning for potential hazards while you train. So it may be reasonable to set a cadence of once at the start of the day or once a week to complete your risk assessments.
On the other hand, if you’re a part-time trainer with just a handful of clients per week, you may have the capacity to do full risk assessments more frequently.
You constantly check in with your clients and stay aware of your equipment and space during sessions. Consider a risk assessment as a formal, written version of what you’re already doing — enhancing the safety of your training environment!
Why a Physical Training Risk Assessment Is Important
No one wants an injury — not you, your clients, or your employer. Performing regular risk assessments is a simple, effective way to reduce the chance of people getting hurt (and avoid all the costs of making it right).
Sport and fitness injuries can range from minor strains and sprains to broken bones and bad falls that can result in traumatic brain injury.
Slips, trips, and falls accounted for 50% of all Insurance Canopy’s claims since 2020. And in 2023, over 480,000 people went to the emergency room for exercise equipment-related injuries.
If any of these injuries occur as a result of something preventable or easily fixable, like a spot of spilled water or a slippery machine seat, you could be held liable for not maintaining a safe environment for your clients. This means you’d be responsible for any resulting medical bills or legal fees if you get sued.
You can easily and significantly reduce the likelihood of accidents like these — and the potential lawsuits that come with them — by conducting regular risk assessments.
Here are a few more reasons risk assessments are a must:
- It helps build trust with your clients.
- It shows you’re thorough and responsible.
- It protects you from possible legal issues.
- It ensures you meet any requirements from your gym or fitness center.
Quick Tip: Sometimes accidents can’t be helped. For many of those unpreventable moments, there’s fitness professional liability insurance to protect yourself financially so you can keep doing what you love.
“It’s essential for personal trainers to take proactive steps like doing risk assessments and getting liability insurance. These precautions not only protect the trainer’s business but also reinforce a commitment to safety and professionalism. Risk assessments can help identify potential hazards before they become issues, while insurance offers a layer of protection in case the unexpected occurs. Together, these measures ensure a safer environment for both trainers and clients.”
– JoAnne Hammer, Insurance Canopy Program Manager and Certified Insurance Counselor
How to Do a Risk Assessment
Between creating custom workout plans and keeping up with certs, you’ve got a lot on your plate. To make things easier for you, we’ve created a personal training risk assessment template you can modify for your business needs. Download it now to get started.
Enter Your Email Address for a FREE Personal Trainer Risk Assessment Template
Here’s a step-by-step guide to doing a risk assessment.
1. Identify the Hazards
Walk through your entire training environment and identify all potential hazards. The point is to thoroughly look out for anything that could cause an injury, accident, or negative reaction.
Consider the physical journey your client takes as they enter the reception area, put their personal items away, go through different exercises in dedicated spaces with equipment or on specific machines in the training area — all the different interactions they might have up until they leave.
Depending on the type of personal training you offer and where you train, this process may look different, but there are some common types of hazards to check for.
Facility
- Floor
- Is there any spilled water?
- Are there any loose mats, carpets, or rugs?
- Are there any cords that can be tripped over?
- Is there any weather-related water (rain, snow) especially around entrances?
- Is there any discarded equipment (bands, plates, barbell clips) that needs to be put away?
- Upper
- Is there any equipment (barbells, mounts) that someone could bump their head on?
- Is there anything (fans, TVs, mirrors) improperly mounted to the wall or ceiling that could fall?
- Equipment/Machines
- Is there sweat or liquid on the surfaces?
- Are all the machines working as they’re supposed to?
- Do broken machines have signs on them or are they removed/roped off?
- Is there wear and tear on things like bands or TRX straps?
- Are the weight racks secure and properly holding the plates and dumbbells?
- Are any medicine balls bursting at the seams?
- Are any exercise mats flaky, slippery, or falling apart?
- Atmosphere
- Is there proper air circulation and filtration (particularly in regard to COVID concerns)?
- Is the temperature safe? Can someone easily overheat?
- Is the music too loud? Can it damage hearing?
- Is the occupancy at a safe level? Does everyone have adequate space?
- Miscellaneous
- Are clients aware of the possibility of pinching their fingers when they return dumbbells to racks?
- Is there risk of dropped dumbbells, kettlebells, or bars, which can injure feet or personal property?
- Cleanliness
- Are clients and trainers properly sanitizing equipment before and after use?
- Are cleaning products available, stocked, and labeled correctly?
- Health & Safety
- Are first aid kits stocked and easily accessible?
- Are AEDs up to date and easily accessible?
- Areas to Check
- Entrance and exits
- Weight room
- Cardio area
- Locker rooms and bathrooms
- Saunas
- Group exercise rooms
- Basketball and other courts
- Offices
- Outdoor areas
Client or Trainer Home
- Is the floor free of hazards?
- Is there ample space for training?
- Are there any items that could easily be damaged?
- Are pets and children kept at a safe distance?
Outdoor
- Is the ground uneven?
- Are there any weather-related concerns?
- Are there outside elements (mud, grass, animals) that could interfere with training?
- Are there other people and activities that can disrupt training?
- Do clients have outdoor allergies that can inhibit performance?
- Are there loud noises that can limit clients from hearing your instruction?
- Are there bathrooms within the vicinity?
Client Health & Injury Status
You can include client health in your risk assessment or keep your risk assessment focused solely on the physical environment (say you’re doing a general risk assessment without a client present).
Either way, you should already be aware of their medical history, but you must check in with them before training to get updates on any new aches, pains, or other issues. Adjust their workout as necessary.
Another thing to consider is if they have any allergies in the setting, such as to latex, rubber, or an ingredient in the cleaning solutions.
2. Assess the Severity & Likelihood of the Risk
Next, for any hazards you’ve noted, you will determine how serious the risk is. You can use any scale you prefer, but a simple way to do this is to assign them as “low,” “moderate,” or “high.”
For example, you may notice a water bottle or other personal items on the floor. They’re small and easy to step around, but could cause someone to trip and fall. This could be considered a low-risk hazard.
However, if you’re conducting training in a basement with no air conditioning during a heatwave, that’s another story! Someone could easily become dehydrated or get a heatstroke. This would be a high-risk hazard.
3. Determine Who or What Is at Risk
It may not always be clients who are at risk. It could be passersby, other trainers, family members, non-client members at the gym, or staff. Or, it could be personal property at risk of being damaged.
Take note of who or what is at risk so you can plan accordingly.
4. Take Action to Reduce Risk
So you’ve identified potential hazards, now’s the time to do something about them! Write down what immediate or preventative measures need to be taken to reduce the risk of things going wrong.
If this has been an ongoing issue, there may already be measures in place. You can take note of these here.
Say a client accidentally spilled water on the floor, you will need to wipe it up with a towel and put a “wet floor” sign in the area until it dries completely.
But if there’s water on the floor as a result of a leak in the ceiling, that requires a professional repair, which may take longer to complete. You may need to section off the area so that no one slips and falls while you wait for it to get fixed.
You might have also noticed a behavioral trend, like everyone throwing used towels in a locker room walkway, creating a tripping hazard. A solution would be to station another hamper in that specific walkway or put up a reminder sign to let members know where to discard their towels.
5. Review & Sign the Assessment
Make sure you’ve checked all the required areas and equipment for your risk assessment. Do a quick review that everything’s in order, then sign and date your form.
Store these in a clean, safe place so that you or any other relevant parties can refer back to them as needed. If you’re using digital copies, be sure to have an organization system so you can find the files easily.
Now that you’ve finished your risk assessment, don’t forget to complete any follow-up tasks to ensure your training space is as safe as can be!
Additional Safety Tips for Personal Trainers
- Get health history and liability waiver forms signed by clients before beginning any program (even if you’re a group instructor).
- Make sure clients have medical clearance to be involved in physical activities (part of the health history form).
- Know your clients: their fitness levels, chronic conditions, past or present injuries, and so on.
- Document client progress to track their improvements and avoid potential issues.
- Keep your CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) certification up to date.
- Carry personal trainer liability insurance to protect yourself against claims of client injury, improper guidance, third-party property damage, and more.
- Make sure your physical training space is as clean and safe as possible.
- Check equipment before having clients use it.
- Know facilities’ emergency action plans and the location of all first aid and AED (automated external defibrillator) devices.
- Limit distractions in the training area to keep the focus on safe training.
- Create a safe and welcoming space for your clients.
- Check in with clients before, during, and after each session to gauge any discomfort or concerns.
- Coach clients through proper form, and offer modifications if necessary.
- Ensure clients perform proper warm-ups and cool-downs to reduce injury risks.
- Use visual cues to demonstrate complex movements or techniques.
- Learn to spot correctly.
- Ask for permission before touching a client.
- Do not coach or advise clients on areas outside your scope of practice; defer to proper medical professionals if needed.
FAQs About Risk Management for Personal Trainers
Do I Need Liability Insurance if I Conduct Regular Risk Assessments?
Yes, you still need liability insurance even if you conduct regular risk assessments. Risk assessments help reduce potential hazards, but insurance provides financial protection if those hazards end up leading to client injury or property damage.
What Are Common Risks Associated With Personal Training?
- Client injuries from improper technique
- Overexertion
- Slips or falls
- Environmental hazards such as faulty equipment or unsafe workout spaces
Despite your expertise and care, accidents can still happen, so it’s crucial to have precautions (like risk assessments and insurance) in place to protect yourself.
Am I Legally Obligated to Perform Risk Assessments as a Trainer?
No, you are not legally required to do risk assessments, but you are expected to provide a safe environment for your clients. Assessing and mitigating risk enables you to provide this, so it’s in your best interest to perform them regularly!
