Indoor sports facilities

It is important to take into account the sport-specific space requirements and suitability of the equipment for the planned use when planning indoor sports facilities. Safe conditions for users are ensured by maintaining the space and equipment. 

The consumer safety of indoor sports facilities must be ensured throughout their life cycle. If the intended use of the facilities changes, their suitability for future use must be ensured.

Safety document

A safety document must be prepared for indoor sports facilities.  It is important that the document takes the special features of each facility into account. The personnel must be familiar with the content of the safety document and know how to act in accordance with the safety practices recorded in it.

External service providers operating in the indoor sports facility, such as event organisers, must prepare a safety document for their own activities where necessary. For example, the safety document of an event should refer to the general safety document of the indoor sports facility when the question is of facilities and general safety instructions among other things. 

It is unnecessary to draw up a safety document for activities offered by associations only to their own members, because the Consumer Safety Act does not apply to such activities. An example of this is club activities offered by a floorball club to its members. However, the responsible persons of  associations should be familiarised with the sports facility’s safety document and practices.

See the Drawing up and using a safety document site for further instructions

Monitoring safety and reporting to Tukes

Record information on accidents and near-miss incidents You can use the recorded information to develop safety activities. By monitoring accidents, safety deficiencies can also be detected and accidents prevented in other similar services.

Serious accidents and near-miss incidents must be reported to Tukes Reporting is a statutory obligation for the service provider. The safety document must indicate when the report should be made, and who is responsible for making it.

Based on the reports, Tukes can share information about detected safety deficiencies to other service providers nationwide, for example.

See instructions about the obligations of Tukes’ service providers.

Pay attention to the following

• Provide visible instructions on the location of first-aid equipment and a possible defibrillator.
  • Train the responsible persons of sports clubs and event organisers in the use of first-aid equipment.
• Ensure that the users of the facilities have sufficient instructions for safe operation and take foreign language speakers into consideration.
• Prepare a responsibility table if maintenance activities are divided between several parties.
• Make sure that near-miss incident and accident information is communicated smoothly from the users to the service provider.
• Identify hazards and improve safety by arranging personnel safety walks regularly.
  • Pay attention to the structures near ball game areas and cushion them if necessary.
  • Remember the maintenance of exercise equipment, lifts and dividing curtains attached to the walls and ceiling.

Sports facility publications of the Ministry of Education and Culture and Rakennustieto Oy
Finnish Standards Association SFS: Indoor sports facilities
Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes): Indoor swimming pools and spas
Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes): Gyms
Act on the assessment of the structural safety of wide-span buildings (300/2015)
Sport-specific condition requirements in sport federations’ guidelines