Look after your 3g turf – and it will look after you
THERE’S a misconception shared by many schools and sports clubs that artificial 3g turf is maintenance and risk free.
It’s dangerous because, at best, a lack of care and attention will result in poor performance, reduced life expectancy and even costly personal injury claims.
That’s the view shared by industry insiders who see operators leaving themselves open to litigation through inadequate maintenance programs and degraded infill.
“An increasing number of organisations are investing in all weather 3g pitches and unless professional maintenance and compliance testing is carried out, we will see a huge rise in personal injury claims,” warns David Mellor, a senior law partner at Mellor Hargreaves.
He adds: “As a lawyer, I know that if I can identify a causal link between an injury and a poorly maintained surface, a claim is likely to succeed.”
Tim Gallagher, director of Sports Maintenance Services, a nationwide service provider, echoes his views saying: “Synthetic 3g surfaces sustain high levels of use and have set sports governing body standards to ensure they are fit for purpose.
“Operators can’t bury their heads and hope they’ll get away with no maintenance, or even minimum maintenance, when such 3g surfaces are being degraded through intensive utilisation linked to contact sports such a rugby.”
Official guidance states: “Even when no competition regulations apply, compliance with relevant standards is often required in order to ensure the facility is ‘fit for purpose’ and to show that the site operator is complying with their legal obligations and the requirements of their insurer”.
The performance of 3g playing surfaces does change dramatically over short periods of time as rubber infill can displace, degrade, migrate and compact. The result is that 3g surfaces do require intensive maintenance programmes that run in parallel with periodic re-testing to ensure the facility is still performing to the required standards.
Tailored maintenance programmes with integrated objective compliance testing are fundamental in looking after your 3g turf and looking after you.
For more information call us on 0114 2737409.
