Safely competing at full strength

Executive summary

The governing body for the sport of athletics in a European country updated its hammers cages to new standard specifications. A new cage inspection and inspection record keeping system is introduced to further ensure the safety of spectators, athletes and officials.

Challenge: Monitor inspections

One near miss incident involving a hammer during a league fixture led to a thorough review of throwing cages in athletics facilities. The review resulted in new cage specifications to provide increased safety for all facility users. To organise the regular inspection of hammer cages in line with the new specifications, the athletics governing body needed a practical and low cost inspection and inspection record-keeping tool.

Solution: Custom tag to track inspections

Scafftag proposed a custom holder and tag system: the Cage Inspection Tag. The solution includes a sturdy holder system, easy to attach to a cage, and replaceable inserts to contain identification data and inspection criteria with pass & fail tick boxes, including amongst others:

Facility name and reference number
Cage safety sign in place
Hammer & Discus gate fixing points
Cage netting
Cage structure
Cage/Netting load test
Date, assessor’s name and signature
One central email inbox mentioned on insert
Timing for the next inspection

When a cage fails inspection, the inspector removes the insert, leaving a clear ‘do not use’ message on the holder attached to the cage.

Future plans/Results: Automate with SafeTrak

To facilitate and automate all hammer cage inspections across the country, Scafftag proposes the Safetrak inspection software. With the software, inspectors can auto generate reports that offer immediate insight into the latest inspection status of every hammer & discus cage in the country’s athletics facilities.