Chapter 15 Setting Up Your Personal Trainer Business
Risk Management
and Liability Insurance
“An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure”R
isk management is described as: “minimizing the risks of
potential legal liability”. This includes the strategies put into
place to decrease and control the risk of injury from training par-
ticipation, and, therefore, the risk of liability exposure.One of the most important responsibilities you have as a person-
al trainer and a professional in the fitness industry is to ensure
your clients are physically capable of exercising without any risk
to their health and that they have a safe workout every time they
train.This in involves pre-screening your clients, carrying liability in-
surance and planning programs based on your knowledge of
the following: participant’s health status and fitness level; proper
exercise technique, training intensity and progression; exercise
modification and contraindications; prevention of injuries, equip-
ment and facility safety. Your clients entrust their bodies to you,
and it is incumbent upon you to respect and fulfill that trust by
putting their safety as your foremost concern.Every one of your clients should be pre-screened for health and
medical concerns prior to their first training session — usually
accomplished with a simple questionnaire such as the Canadian
Society of Exercise Physiology (CSEP) Physical Activity Readi-
ness Questionnaire, or PAR-Q form. Copies of the PAR-Q can be
obtained from CSEP.If a client answers yes to one or more of the questions on the
PAR-Q, they must be referred to their physician with a PAR-
med-X. The physician must indicate that the client is capable
of unrestricted physical activity. If there are any limitations or
restrictions outlined by the physician or health care professional,
it is not within the personal trainer’s scope of practice to solely
work with them.There are, however, situations that a personal trainer might act
as an ‘assistant’ to the therapist or health professional. In these
situations, there must be written documentation between the
therapist and personal trainer outlining the following:
• The therapist is solely responsible for all exercise prescription
and progressions
• The personal trainer is only a monitor of the exercise, the cli-
ent’s body mechanics, etc.