practicing in a yoga studioBy Kimaya Singh

Any owner of a business understands the need for liability insurance. Accidents happen and it is not possible to control clients although you may caution them against the dangers. Asking clients to sign a liability waiver is certainly a must, but what can you do to prevent accidents in your yoga studio in order to protect against an act of negligence?

Negligence that causes an accident will affect your legal case, where your liability insurance would have to cover you for the payout. It could also cost you your business. Rather than have an issue with negligence or common accidents in your study, you can be prepared by considering the following suggestions.

Managing Limitations

While potential students might feel a health questionnaire is too much information for a yoga studio to have, you can still try to assess your students. Ask questions about their health that will not go against any privacy laws. An individual who wants to work out should be able to tell you of any injury, back trouble, or other physical limitation they have in order to help you to help them workout.

If you do have students with limitations make certain that you pay attention to these during class. You may suggest an easier pose for any student who has a physical limitation. This takes the liability from you ensuring you cannot be considered negligent should an accident occur.

Maintaining a Clear Area

Before and after a class, make certain you leave enough time to clean up the yoga studio you have just used. Store mats and any other equipment you may offer your students for their use. If a spill occurs immediately clean it up and mark it with a wet floor sign.

Working out can be a thirsty situation as you are aware; however, you may wish to ban any liquid from the workout area. A designated area for getting a bit of water or other drink helps keep accidents due to spills limited. Also require your students to change their outside shoes before entering the workout area to prevent any weather related liquid issues.

Maintaining Equipment

Like maintaining your workout area for yoga sessions, you want to remove any equipment that is no longer in good condition. Again this limits your negligence, but most importantly protects against accidents due to equipment failure.

Appropriate Class Size

Taking on a lot of students can work against you when your class size becomes too large you are unable to watch all students. Limit class sizes based on the amount of instructors you have teaching. If there is one person for a class go with smaller class sizes and offer these classes more frequently. In this way you can ensure your participants are properly performing yoga positions without straining their muscles or creating instances where injuries might occur.

If you cannot open more classes, consider having at least two instructors in the class. One instructor can provide the poses, while another walks around to make certain proper positions are held.

It is understandable you may not be able to have more than one instructor and still have large class sizes. In this instance, show a pose to the class, and then ask your students to perform the action while you walk around checking positions.

Appropriate Class Level

Lastly, being absolute in placing students at the appropriate class level can prevent accidents. If you notice someone is not up to a level they told you they were at there are ways to explain why you need them to change to a more appropriate level.

As long as you voice your concerns and try your hardest for your students you can prevent accidents. You can also prevent issues with negligence lawsuits.

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