3 Things to Consider When Drafting Camp Waivers [Guest Post]
There’s something magical about summer camp—especially now when many camps are opening again after a year without campers and a lot of virtual fundraising efforts. Maybe the magic comes from the sweet taste of a s’more. Or maybe it’s the camaraderie that comes from campers making new friends and singing songs together around a campfire.
Regardless of what exactly makes summer camp so special, it’s the perfect place for kids to try a plethora of fun new activities.
But those activities often come with some risks. Whether your camp offers an epic ropes course experience, canoeing on a scenic lake, zip-lining through the forest treetops, or adventure at the archery range, your campers run the risk of getting injured in a lot of ways.
That’s where waivers can help! A waiver is a legally-binding document that ensures your camp isn’t liable for any injuries that happen because of unintentional incidents or participant negligence. Essentially, that means that you require campers and their parents to recognize that if they get hurt or sick at camp, they can’t take legal action against you and have to rely on their own health insurance to treat the issue.
By having campers and parents sign waivers, you’ll protect your camp and maintain your reputation with your campers’ families, which ensures you’ll be able to retain campers and recruit new campers.
Whether your camp has been running for a long time or your summer camp journey has just begun, it’s a good idea to pay attention to how your waiver is written. The language included in your waiver can affect how much liability coverage you have and how well parents understand the risks their children are assuming at your camp.
It might be time to write up your camp’s first waiver or update your old one. For example, if you’re still relying on paper waivers, it’s probably time to ditch the pen and clipboard and make the process more efficient by investing in digital waiver software.
But whether you’re new to camp waivers or not, we’re here to help. In this post, we’ll cover three things that should be considered when your attorney or insurance company writes your waiver:
Safety Protocols
Wording
Presentation
Again, note that these are important waiver elements for you to consider as a camp professional, but that we ultimately recommend that you rely on an attorney or insurance company to actually write out the waiver.
Waivers certainly aren’t the most exciting part of summer camp for camp professionals, parents, or campers. But waivers help put the right protections in place so you can keep having fun, from the morning of drop-off day to the last night under the stars.
Safety Protocols
Before your attorney or insurance company can iron out what your waiver will say and you can determine how it will be presented, ensure you have the right safety protocols in place for all your camp activities. These are the protocols you’ll train your team on so they know how to take care of campers and have a plan to make sure that campers are participating in activities with safety in mind.
Here’s a list of the different elements to address in your planning:
First aid and mental health resources
Staff training
Fire safety
Camper orientation
General supervision plan
Swim supervision plan
Resources for disabled campers
Food safety
Once you have your protocols in place, you can communicate them to your campers’ parents through your waiver. That way parents will know the process for when their camper is injured, eliminating questions about what your staff members are trained to do and how they will be contacted. You can also request health insurance and healthcare provider information, as well as information about food and medication allergies.
Plus, according to SmartWaiver, having a digital waiver system is a great way to make sure you have all of this important information like this in the right place, organized so you can find it quickly when you need it. You can even make the waiver signing process part of camp sign-up to ensure that it’s done before campers arrive.
2. Wording
We’ve all been in a situation where we have a stack of documents to sign that aren’t really reader-friendly. No one likes to try to translate legalese or squint to read the fine print at the bottom of a page. Usually, that means we end up signing something that we haven’t really read or understood.
But waivers, especially waivers where parents sign to acknowledge their child is assuming risk by participating in a camp activity, should be understandable. In your waiver, you’ll want clear, simple language that can be read quickly and is easy to comprehend. After all, parents like to know what to expect in terms of what you’re doing to protect their child and what’s expected of them should their child get hurt while under your supervision.
There are also a few common categories of text in a waiver, including:
Releasor: Campers/camper parents provide some general contact information, like name, address, phone number, and email address.
Releasee: Your camp also provides contact information.
Effective Date: This is the date the waiver was signed, which is also when it went into effect.
Acknowledgement of Potential Risk: The specifics of this section will depend on what kinds of activities your camp offers.
Insurance: Let campers and their parents know your insurance won’t cover their injuries unless otherwise noted.
Confirmation of Review: The camper and parent acknowledge they have read and understood the waiver, and that they’re signing voluntarily.
Signatures: Make sure to provide space for both minors and their parents/guardians to sign.
In addition, you should consult with the attorney or your insurance company drafting your waiver to make sure you’ve covered all your bases, and you’ll want to see if your state requires anything specific for waivers.
3. Presentation
How your campers’ parents access any pertinent waivers and sign them can affect how accurate the information is on each waiver and how many parents actually follow through with signing them.
The best option for getting the most out of your waiver is to ditch paper waivers and go digital. According to Recharity, “intuitive digital forms create a more straightforward signing process for participants and a simpler collection process for the host organization.” In short, opting for digital waivers is just another great way for you to automate time-consuming processes required for running your camp.
Not only do digital waivers save you time and paper, but they also make the process of ensuring you have liability coverage easier. Waivers can be stored in a searchable database (eliminating the need for pesky filing cabinets), edited quickly to include new information, and completed without an internet connection.
Plus, as mentioned before, digital waivers can be completed at home. That means less stress for your campers and their parents on the first day of camp. Instead of flipping through pages on a clipboard, parents can focus on getting their camper settled and ready for their summer adventure.
Note that when you switch to digital waivers, you’ll need to select the best digital waiver software for your camp. Take the time to communicate with your team and identify what features you’ll need in your software. Also, go into the digital waiver experience expecting that campers’ parents will need time to adjust to digital waivers. Communicate the change to them clearly, and be sure to gather feedback from them about the online signing process.
Digital waivers benefit you as a camp professional in a number of ways, but most of all, they help you to quickly return to the things you love most about camp. Whether that’s enjoying a meal in the lodge with your campers, watching a camp talent show, or brainstorming kid-friendly fundraising ideas, digital waivers get technicalities out of the way so you can focus on making your camp the best it can be.
As a camp professional, you’re invested in making sure your campers have a fun and safe summer. The right waiver can set you up to have strong liability protection and headspace to focus on your campers and all the fun activities you’ll be providing. Creating your waiver with this in mind can set you up for a summer of success.
Guest Author:
Daryl McCarl is the Director of Business Development at Smartwaiver, the leading digital waiver service trusted by thousands of organizations around the world. www.smartwaiver.com
