As an Instructor, there are many things you will need to consider and arrange on top of your teaching. You will need to have insurance and take practical steps to prevent accidents and incidents to keep you and your students safe. Keeping records of what you do is a key part of all of this.
We have set out below some areas you may wish to consider with links to reputable organisations that can give you free help and advice. For example, the UK government have helpful information if you are organising an event, NSPCC and Children 1st (Scotland) have free learning support for those working with children, etc. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety and they provide many resources and leaflets that you may find helpful.
Insurance
We do not currently work with any insurance providers.
As part of our program of improving the benefits for members, we are actively seeking a suitable partner, but this is proving difficult. In the meantime, we are conscious that some members may need to renew or buy insurance. Whilst we cannot make any recommendations you may find Insure4Sport may offer a suitable product for individual instructors. As always, members must check that any policy meets their specific needs.
https://www.insure4sport.co.uk/sport/martial-arts
Insure4Sport meet our criteria for an insurance provider that can offer the following:
- Reputable insurance partner with proven good service
- Insure4Sport have over 4,000 reviews on TrustPilot and have a very high rating
- The underwriter is Aviva, one of the UK’s largest general insurance companies
- Have specific understanding of Martial Arts Insurance
- See their page for more information on this https://www.insure4sport.co.uk/sport/martial-arts
- A policy that includes Participant to Participant (P2P) cover under Public Liability for individual instructors (as opposed to Clubs).
- This is an option with Insure4Sport so that those only those who need the cover pay for it
- A competitive premium rate
- There is often a considerable discount on the first year’s cover
- Online purchase with flexibility of cover e.g., different cover limits
- This means that our members can pick the cover that suits their needs, particularly if they rent premises that require a high limit of Public Liability Cover
- Pay in instalments
- Available for premiums over £50
Insurance Requirements
If you have taken out insurance then you will have agreed to certain actions such as carrying out PAR-Qs for all your students with regular follow ups, following their requirements about online teaching etc.
Regardless of who you choose to insure with, any reputable provider will expect you to take steps to protect yourself and your students to reduce the risk of accidents and claims. These can include class registers, risk assessments, accident books etc. Below are some of the actions an insurer may well expect depending on the type of class, venue etc. You should check with your own insurer to see what they consider reasonable.
The actual steps you need to take will depend on the location, people attending your class, requirements of any organisation you are working with etc. For example if you are working with children there are multiple issues you will need to consider and your insurer may require you to have background checks such as those from the Disclosure and Barring Service.
If you are organising an event, be sure to check that it is covered by your existing policy as you may need separate insurance.
Record keeping
It is important to keep all the details of your insurance over the years because claims can arise long after an incident. This includes your insurance documents such as schedules, policy wording, pre-sales documentation (in case you were mis-sold) etc.
Again, because claims can arise many years after an incident, you may find an insurer expects you to have the items listed below such as class registers etc. even if the class or event was some time ago. A reputable provider will be able to advise on a minimum period for keeping records of your classes with some recommending an absolute minimum of 3 years.
Keep a register for every class
This is a simple thing to do and will mean that should someone look to claim later then you can check whether they attended. You will also have a list of people who may have witnessed any incident.
We are putting together an example to assist our members.
Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)
Knowing whether people have conditions such as osteoporosis or perhaps fall over easily can help you tailor your class. You may wish to ask anyone who has a pre-existing condition to check with their doctor or specialist before attending.
Protectivity Insurance have more information about PAR-Qs on their website.
Here is the PAR-Q example on their page as a downloadable template. You must ensure that this example template is fit for your purposes before using it: PAR-Q template .
Risk assessments
The first time you hold a class in a new place, it is important to look at all the various potential hazards which could cause someone to hurt themselves. This could be poor lighting, risk of slips, trips and falls from uneven and slippery surfaces inside and out etc. You must keep a record of your assessment and ensure it remains up to date. If you notice any issues then you should make sure you either rectify them or immediately notify them to the venue provider.
Remember that different people in your classes may have different needs. If you start to run a new class but in a familiar venue, you may well need to prepare a separate risk assessment. For example, steps without a handrail may be a hazard for less mobile people and this may be a risk you have not had to consider in other classes.
Here is a link to the Health & Safety Executive Risk Assessments (templates and examples).
Once you have done your initial assessment you should check your venue each time to make sure nothing has changed and no new risks have arisen such as deteriorating floor surfaces, lights not working etc. You should then ask your venue organiser to rectify the problem and make a note on your class register to say that you have done this and note any issues that you have asked to be fixed.
Accident Book
If there any incidents in class, insurers may well expect you to provide a copy of an Accident Book where you record all incidents. Remember that even small incidents can have consequences some time later and should be recorded. You may wish to read this article on the “Eggshell Skull Rule“.
A well-kept Accident Book showing all class incidents may help insurers get comfort that you take a robust and consistent approach to reducing the risk of incidents and insurance claims. You can buy an accident book from the HSE.
Health & Safety Executive – Accident Book
Should you have an incident you may wish to ask anyone present to write down what they witnessed as soon as reasonably possible after the incident and make sure you keep the records. Contemporaneous records may well help if a claim is made against you, months or years later.
Online classes
Many of the actions above may not be reasonable for online classes. Your insurance provider may well be able to advise you on what might be suitable but do not be surprised if you are asked to keep recordings for a minimum of 3 years or even longer as claims can arise many years after an incident.
Working with children
There are many things to consider when working with children and it can seem very confusing. The NSPCC have free learning resources and a specialist unit (Child Protection in Sport Unit – CPSU) which is funded by Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Wales, UK Sport and The Football Association.
In Scotland, there’s a similar partnership between Children 1st and sportscotland.
Disclosure and Barring Service
In some situations your insurer or the organisation you are working with may require you to have a check from the UK Government Disclosure and Barring Service. You should speak to your insurance provider if you are in any doubt about whether such checks are needed even if the organisation you work with doesn’t have an explicit requirement.
Organising an event
When you are organising an event, perhaps for World Tai Chi Day, the list of things to do can see overwhelming. The UK government has practical guidelines on the steps to follow when organising voluntary and community events including how to spread the work involved across other people, getting licenses, insurance etc.
Remember that if you would like financial support then members may well be eligible for a grant of up to £500 from the Gerda Geddes Fund for working with disadvantaged people.
Check that your insurance covers the event as you may need a separate policy.
