Access to quality equipment is half the reason why people go to the gym. But for an industry that’s accustomed to investing in specialized, high-performance equipment, most gyms, fitness centers, and fitness classes are still using paper waivers instead of upgrading to a digital waiver solution. A manual signing process severely limits the capabilities and convenience of your liability waiver and release form. There’s a lot to consider here so let’s jump into it.
Try it FreeA liability waiver can be very effective to dissuade people from suing your gym. If an injured person files a lawsuit against you, a proper liability waiver can result in the case being swiftly dismissed. Liability waivers protect against the most common lawsuits against gyms: negligence. The allegation might be negligent hiring, negligent instruction or training, or other allegations of negligence but a properly worded liability waiver will, in most cases protect against those claims. In this way, waivers can operate as a “get out of this lawsuit free” card. Together with proper liability insurance and maintaining quality equipment, having a well-crafted liability waiver specific to your gym location and fitness services can be a critical step in protecting your business.
Your attorney will evaluate how the injured member claims they were injured; for example, the person may allege they received negligent instruction from your employee and this caused them injury. Your attorney will look at the member’s signed waiver to see if it specifically covers injuries stemming from alleged “negligent training or instruction.” If the waiver contains that language, the attorney will file a quick motion with the court attaching that waiver and ask the judge to dismiss the case. This is how waivers operate to have potentially costly lawsuits dismissed at their onset.
No gym should be operating without a waiver. If you don’t have a waiver, you should speak with an attorney with experience representing gyms, health clubs, and/or boutique fitness studios to prepare one for you. If you are using a waiver that was not prepared by your attorney or if you otherwise think your waiver might not be effective, have an experienced attorney review it. A proper waiver should be tailored to your business and it should specifically list the main ways in which a person could be injured while working out in your space.
In short, it is a bad idea. A waiver only works if it expressly warns of the exact cause of injury. Your waiver should be tailored to your gym’s offerings – not the gym down the block. Does your gym specialize in weight lifting, pilates, or do you use a specific machine or equipment on which someone could be injured? If so, your waiver should mention the risks specific to that equipment or modality. General waivers for “any and all” injuries that occur at your gym will not work.An attorney can also advise you concerning waiver storage, production to the member, and to make sure that you are having absolutely everyone working out in your space (including drop-ins) sign a waiver before working out.
Your waiver should be drafted so you are covered if that gym member works out at any location operated by your gym. The same waiver can be used in different states but you should speak with an attorney regarding how your specific state treats waivers. Most states honor waivers if they are properly worded, signed by the member, and if they apply to the particular incident/injury prompting the lawsuit however, a very small number of states do not allow liability waivers. Some language in your waiver may need to be different depending on the laws of your state and should specify your desired jurisdiction.
Your liability waiver should absolutely be specific to your gym’s offerings and worded in a way so that it applies whether you are training your members in your gym, outside somewhere, if they are training alone on your premises, or if you expand to virtual fitness.
A gym membership agreement and liability waiver must be presented as separate agreements. Courts need to see that your members considered the member contract and then separately, reviewed the waiver. The waiver should be clearly labeled LIABILITY WAIVER and no fine print.
WaiverSign note: WaiverSign can facilitate multiple agreements with a single signing link. You can build out separate documents for your gym membership agreement, your waiver, and any other agreements you need to have signed. Each agreement is presented and signed individually, with individually signed copies of each sent to the gym member and stored for easy access in WaiverSign.
Yes. Any attorney should want to speak with you and should not charge for getting to know you, your business, and giving basic legal advice. You can speak with other gym owners in your area or in your network for a referral to an attorney who can be a great partner for you. Most attorneys charge by the hour so it is important to reach an understanding with your attorney concerning a budget for a particular project (i.e. how long the project will take will determine its cost). Attorneys should provide an approximate budget for you for each project so there are no surprises.
A waiver for your business should take an experienced attorney about 1-2 hours (probably closer to one hour). Attorneys charge by the hour and hourly rates can be hundreds of dollars per hour so make sure that you are hiring an attorney with a reasonable hourly rate. When you hire an attorney, have them give you an estimate of how long a project will take them so you can make sure you are ok with the cost before proceeding.
Use WaiverSign’s online activity waiver to quickly and administer your legal document. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
Our WaiverSign team will convert your current waiver to a digital version.
Add your new activity waiver link to your website, emails, or kiosk.
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Includes 50 free Activity Waiver and Release signings per calendar month. Additional signings are only 10 cents each.
Free Trial Account ›No one wants to sign hard copies of forms. Paper signing is tedious for the signer and a hassle for you—illegible information, paper waivers that have to be stored, and a painful retrieval process. Going digital removes all of those problems. Your customers have come to expect liability waivers to be online (like the majority of other business interactions). Presenting your gym liability waiver or fitness class release form electronically will dramatically improve your process of collecting signatures and help you provide better service.
Rather than taking time as clients check-in to the gym for the first time, send them your waivers to sign in advance. With a simple link, your customers will be able to sign your gym waiver or fitness class waiver, and provide all required information in advance. Or, if necessary, have them sign the waiver upon arrival by scanning a QR code on their own device. Either way, the process is easy for everyone involved.
Try it FreeEvery gym or fitness class is different in terms of the information they want to collect from their members. With WaiverSign’s standard and custom fields, you can set up your gym waivers to collect any information you need, update it whenever necessary, and ensure readability every time.
Try it FreeEvery interaction that people have with your business matters. Emails, phone conversations, website visits, and social media interactions all have an impact on brand reputation. Make your fitness liability waiver and release form stand out from start to finish with custom branding, like logos and background colors.
Try it FreeFirst impressions are critical. Rather than having to trudge through stacks of paperwork when they first sign up, give your clients a quick and easy online waiver form to fill out before they arrive, so they can hit the ground running. You’ll make the sign-up process faster by reducing the paperwork required in person and make it easier to account for all the signed waivers and membership agreements you need to collect.
Try it FreeWaiverSign has a built-in process for collecting liability waivers for minors. With a simple click, adult participants can sign for themselves and their children all at once. No more duplicate or missing forms to worry about.
Try it FreeNot only can you customize the language of your gym waiver or fitness center waiver to include appropriate inherent risks and other essential information critical to your business, you can also customize the sections within your document.
The most problematic parts of the paper waiver process are storage and retrieval. With digital waivers, you can rest easy knowing that client information is secure, all while ditching storage fees and making retrieval as easy as using a search bar.
Try it FreeWaiverSign can help you gather digital signatures on any type of waiver or release form that you need to have signed repeatedly. Your clients will love how easy it is, and you’ll love getting organized and saving time.
Whether you provide an experience, manage events, promote healthy lifestyles, or help with personal care, you’ll find WaiverSign’s online waivers and digital release forms will save you time and money. WaiverSign’s online waiver software makes managing waivers simple.
Contractor Liability Waiver
"We use WaiverSign for our new Code of Conduct and Member Acknowledgement. It is so user friendly for our varied demographics and streamlines the process for our health club. We love how simple it is to use."
"WaiverSign has helped our check-in process, lightened my workload, and provided an easier format for our guests and for us. We love being able to associate guests to an event name and easily look up guests."
"Working with WaiverSign has been a great experience. Having WaiverSign on our website allows large groups to complete the waiver prior to arriving, thus speeding their entry into our locations."
"WaiverSign was able to help us get our system up and running quickly and seamlessly. I highly recommend them for anyone looking to collect and organize waivers from a large group of participants."