The National Rugby League’s (NRL’s) recent decision to limit contact training across NRL and NRLW clubs reflects a growing focus on risk management in contact sport, particularly as it relates to concussion and repetitive head trauma.
Under the new rules, clubs are now subject to strict caps on the amount of contact training permitted each week, with requirements in place for monitoring and recording contact exposure. These reforms are designed to reduce the risk of head injuries and long-term damage associated with repetitive contact to the head.
From a legal perspective, the changes are significant because they highlight the risk management now being implemented by sporting organisations and, in particular, by the governing bodies of such sports.
Athletes are often considered to be workers or employees from a legal perspective. With that characterisation comes a number of potential duties and obligations owed by sporting organisations to players of the sport. This may include obligations under common law negligence principles, workplace health and safety legislation and employment laws.
From a work health and safety perspective, sporting organisations and clubs have obligations to eliminate orminimise foreseeable health and safety risks so far as reasonably practicable.
While there is an accepted premise that contact sport involves an inherent risk to health and safety, this is not a blanket exclusion from those legal obligations. Sporting bodies must ensure that there are adequate safety measures in place to minimise the risk of avoidable injury.
In relation to the management of concussion and repetitive head trauma, the industry’s research and understanding of these injuries is something that is constantly developing and evolving. For this reason, what is considered reasonable risk management is also constantly developing and evolving.
There are already a number of steps that have been taken by Australian sporting bodies to manage the risk of concussion and long-term head injuries, such as implementing concussion protocols and medical oversight in game and adjusting rules to prohibit unnecessary contact to the head.
The new training restrictions imposed by the NRL may now set an important benchmark for what reasonable risk management looks like in Australian contact sport. These restrictions also reflect similar policies implemented in other sports around the world, including in the National Football League (NFL) and World Rugby.
From a work health and safety perspective, sporting organisations must be actively focusing on risk management and what steps can reasonably be taken to prevent or minimise injuries to players.
Much of this risk management will evolve as more medical evidence becomes available, but it is clear that sporting organisations that fail to adapt to such evidence and industry standards may face increasing legal exposure in the future.
Potential penalties for breaching work health and safety obligations can be significant. The maximum monetary penalty can be over $17 million for a body corporate found guilty of acting with gross negligence or recklessness and exposing someone to a risk of death or serious injury (a Category 1 offence).
These penalties can be even greater for industrial manslaughter, which is now a criminal offence under work health and safety legislation in most States and Territories.
Information provided in this blog is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Workplace Law does not accept liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on the content of this blog, or from links on this website to any external website. Where applicable, liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
