Injury suffered on Astro Pitch

cherrytaz

Hi all,

Just a quick question regarding an injury sustained whilst playing 5-a-side.I was involved in an incident where I and an opposition player were both attempting to gain possession when I was involved in a collision with the timber boarding that runs around the perimeter of the pitch. My chin collided with the upper edge of the boarding and resulted in a deep laceration to my chin.

I subsequently got 5 stitches and am left with a noticable scar. Are the company owning the astro pitches liable for this? There was no cushion on the top of the boarding and was later informed that the pitch has only recently been opened.

I reported the incident to the management company and it has been logged and have also retained pictures of the injury.

Thanks

Bepolite

Legal advice cant be given here as per charter. Consult a solicitor.

Check what insurance your club/team has.

coylemj

You were playing a sport which involves physical contact, the odd fall and body to body impacts i.e. collisions, do you really feel that you have a case against the management company for failing to protect you with a 'cushion' all around the pitch?

If you do then talk to a solicitor.

McCrack

coylemj wrote: »

You were playing a sport which involves physical contact, the odd fall and body to body impacts i.e. collisions, do you really feel that you have a case against the management company for failing to protect you with a 'cushion' all around the pitch?

If you do then talk to a solicitor.

Yes.

There's at least a stateable case in my view or certainly a query worth investigating further depending on the condition and design of the boarding. OP should speak with a personal injury solicitor.

bumper234

Nice to see the compensation culture is still alive and well in Ireland :rolleyes:

Moderator: user was warned for this post.

callaway92

There was no negligence by the owners of the all weather pitch in this case.

If you tried to chase this down you wouldn't succeed as it is an inevitable event i.e, someone can get hurt playing football, accidents do happen.

Bepolite

callaway92 wrote: »

There was no negligence by the owners of the all weather pitch in this case.

If you tried to chase this down you wouldn't succeed as it is an inevitable event i.e, someone can get hurt playing football, accidents do happen.

What about nails sticking out?

The reason things keep getting safer is because when you are negligent you pay, or at least your insurance does. It continually beggars belief that people think just because someone is making a claim they are somehow bad people only in it for the money.

Yes the OP was playing sport, so what - each case is decided on it's own merits. If it's inevitable that someone was going to come a cropper on the boarding this makes it clear cut negligence if it wasn't properly finished.

Frankly I'm not convinced myself but there really should be a bit more thought put into posts on threads like this.

callaway92

Bepolite wrote: »

What about nails sticking out?

The reason things keep getting safer is because when you are negligent you pay, or at least your insurance does. It continually beggars belief that people think just because someone is making a claim they are somehow bad people only in it for the money.

Yes the OP was playing sport, so what - each case is decided on it's own merits. If it's inevitable that someone was going to come a cropper on the boarding this makes it clear cut negligence if it wasn't properly finished.

Frankly I'm not convinced myself but there really should be a bit more thought put into posts on threads like this.

What's your opinion on what the OP should do so?

Sue the all weather pitch owners????

drkpower

callaway92 wrote: »

What's your opinion on what the OP should do so?

Sue the all weather pitch owners????

In fairness, all depends on the individual circumstances. If the border had a hard sharp edge that could easily have been rectified, why should they not be held responsible.

Everyone knows that you can suffer injury playing football, but that is very different to an injury caused by dangerous equipment that is easily capable of being rectified.

Bepolite

callaway92 wrote: »

What's your opinion on what the OP should do so?

Sue the all weather pitch owners????

I think he should check to see what type of insurance his team/club has and engage the services of a solicitor as I said in my first post. I'm not sure how that is in anyway confusing.

Ashashi

Well depending on where it was, a company I play regularly have in their terms and conditions that they are not liable for any injury or death. While these cannot be contract terms under the Unfair Terms Regulations 1995, it depends on an act or omission of the supplier of the service, so it would be tough to argue that since you were the person who caused your injury.

Cannot see this being in any way viable because of the common terms and conditions of these companies.

Bepolite

Ashashi wrote: »

Well depending on where it was, a company I play regularly have in their terms and conditions that they are not liable for any injury or death. While these cannot be contract terms under the Unfair Terms Regulations 1995, it depends on an act or omission of the supplier of the service, so it would be tough to argue that since you were the person who caused your injury.

Cannot see this being in any way viable because of the common terms and conditions of these companies.

Please feel free to refresh me on the law on waiver as I've genuinely forgotten it. However I don't think its as simple as you're stating above.

Ashashi

Oh it isn't that simple at all and it is no fresher in my brain either! But I do remember the Unfair Terms Regulations quite clearly which prevents contracts ensuring no liability for injury or death through the act or omission of the service provider, in this case the company who maintain the astro turf. If there was a nail, or shard of glass or whatever you would have a much stronger claim because there was an omission to maintain a safe pitch.

If he simply fell onto the timber frame around and cut himself because wood can cause damage then I cannot see it being viable. You assume risks when you play on those pitches and this is just one of them, IMO.

Bepolite

Ashashi wrote: »

Oh it isn't that simple at all and it is no fresher in my brain either! But I do remember the Unfair Terms Regulations quite clearly which prevents contracts ensuring no liability for injury or death through the act or omission of the service provider, in this case the company who maintain the astro turf. If there was a nail, or shard of glass or whatever you would have a much stronger claim because there was an omission to maintain a safe pitch.

If he simply fell onto the timber frame around and cut himself because wood can cause damage then I cannot see it being viable. You assume risks when you play on those pitches and this is just one of them, IMO.

Well there are a few issues here, firstly there probably isn't any contract in effect between the parties. There probably is between the team and the pitch but the individual members? I think privity would come into play here but I welcome any corrections.

So I think we're dealing with tort law and waiver here. I don't think it's possible to limit liability for negligence by waiver, therefore if it's found that padding should have been present the OP may succeed.

I sail now and again, if I get a boom across the head because I don't have my wits about me thats one thing. If the radar reflector falls off the mast and injures me that's negligence and I sue. It's not as simple as saying you assume the risk when you play sport, there are various other factors involved.

Ashashi

I think he would be privy because he is paying to play on the pitch. He offers his payment in exchange for the use of the pitch. I think this does come within contract law because whenever a person plays on these pitches for the first time, they are given a pamphlet with terms and conditions (at least that appears to be the industry standard having played in a few different places).

I agree it would be negligent though if they had glass on the pitches or there were nails but that wouldn't be covered by the contract because you cannot have those terms due to the 1995 regulations.

I guess what I am saying is that if it is just a run of the mill wooden board that all of these companies have surrounding their pitches, it is not negligence. If there were nails, glass, shards etc. then it would be negligent and falls outside of the contract remit and is a tort issue.

chops018

Lads, this was a sporting injury, and to me, at least, there doesn't seem to be anything defective with the pitch, or negligent. It seems that the injury was the result of a tackle.

No Solicitor would take this case.

Bepolite

chops018 wrote: »

Lads, this was a sporting injury, and to me, at least, there doesn't seem to be anything defective with the pitch, or negligent. It seems that the injury was the result of a tackle.

No Solicitor would take this case.

While you're certainly entitled to your opinion, it's as valid as any other expressed here, I think the last line is pretty ill-informed.

chops018

Bepolite wrote: »

While you're certainly entitled to your opinion, it's as valid as any other expressed here, I think the last line is pretty ill-informed.

Think whatever you want to think.

I suppose Lionel Hutz might take it. Jokes aside, most Solicitors would tell you that it would unlikely to succeed in sports related injuries but if you want they can proceed (if you want to be fully correct about things).

Plus, tell me, who is there to sue exactly?

Bepolite

chops018 wrote: »

Think whatever you want to think.

I suppose Lionel Hutz might take it. Jokes aside, most Solicitors would tell you that it would unlikely to succeed in sports related injuries but if you want they can proceed (if you want to be fully correct about things).

Plus, tell me, who is there to sue exactly?

Last point first I'd personally name;

the team/club
the owners
the builders
and the guy that tackled.

As I've indicated I don't think this is a sports related injury - if it was I'd be telling the OP to go fly a kite - advice I'll remind everyone got me flamed to a crisp in another thread where I suggested that claiming against a teams insurance for an injury was poor form.

I've tried giving my sailing analogy but I think the best one is that I don't think anyone disagrees that if there were nails sticking out the OP would have a claim. My thoughts are a sharp edge on a wooden panel is simply an extension of this. I see why others disagree but as I say I think it's stateable.

Ashashi

Thing is he hasn't said it was a sharp edge, a blunt wooden edge can still cause damage. I have gotten numerous scratches, bruises and burns from the astro turf. While I feel for this guy and it is a bad injury, I cannot see a claim if the wooden boards were in good condition.

jadun

I was was walking to the shops tripped and fell over a curb and mangled my face on the edge of kerb. I am going to sue the council for not having bubble rap on the kerb or the kerb made out of gotten wool. I was also playing indoor soccer and got a shoulder and my head collided with the wall, another law case.
A carpenter put a new press in my kitchen and I hit my head off it and it start pumping, another law case. I was playing on astro turf before and it was slippy from rain and I broke my leg, another law case

Bepolite

jadun wrote: »

I was was walking to the shops tripped and fell over a curb and mangled my face on the edge of kerb. I am going to sue the council for not having bubble rap on the kerb or the kerb made out of gotten wool.

No you fell over. If the kerb was uneven perhaps you might have a stateable case.

jadun wrote: »

I was also playing indoor soccer and got a shoulder and my head collided with the wall, another law case.

Was there an illegal tackle or are you just clumsy?

jadun wrote: »

A carpenter put a new press in my kitchen and I hit my head off it and it start pumping, another law case.

Funky beats?

jadun wrote: »

I was playing on astro turf before and it was slippy from rain and I broke my leg, another law case

No you knew it was slippery and played any way. However you may be covered under insurance.

Bepolite

Ashashi wrote: »

Thing is he hasn't said it was a sharp edge, a blunt wooden edge can still cause damage. I have gotten numerous scratches, bruises and burns from the astro turf. While I feel for this guy and it is a bad injury, I cannot see a claim if the wooden boards were in good condition.

Point taken that you're going strictly on what was said, however given the cuts and the use of the term 'upper edge' I think its a fair assumption that he got caught on a corner. Both these points of view are illustrative of why a solicitor should be given all the facts and allowed to make a judgment call.

Turning to your point re astroturf. There is almost nothing that can be done to avoid the type of injury you describe. In that case that's an accepted risk when playing on that type of surface. There is something that can be done to make the edge of a boundary board safer, either putting in a rail around the top or ideally some sort of padding.

Pat Mustard

I was at an inspection where a Plaintiff had tripped against cracks in the public foothpath/pavement. Plaintiff was injured. Not actionable, you think? So did I, until the engineer measured the depth of concrete in the pavement and found it to have been constructed negligently. The local authority's negligence was the cause of the cracks which had caused the Plaintiff to trip. The local authority paid out in that case.

The bottom line is that it can be hard to get an accurate picture of liability without actually inspecting the scene of the accident. Also, having a good engineer can be vital.

cherrytaz

Thanks all for the replies, just to mention that I'm not out to screw the owners for bills or compensation. I merely asked what the situation was as I genuinely didn't no what my position is. I have since paid all medical bills