A liability waiver is a legal agreement through which a person agrees to not hold a business or individual responsible for injuries or damages that occur during an activity or service. These waivers often prevent people from seeking legal action for damages caused by the negligence of those enabling the activity or service. A waiver can serve a valid business purpose, but it can also disincentives action that would protect our constituents. 

Over the last year, we have been working with a family member of a victim who suffered a cardiac event and drowned while swimming in their  commercial gym’s pool. Unfortunately, the gym did not have important safety measures in place, such as an on-duty lifeguard or cameras in the pool room, and employees were not trained on how to provide CPR or where to locate the AED that was on the premises. As the victim had signed a liability waiver, their family’s options were severely limited and the business never had to make a cost benefits analysis of providing additional protections. While liability waivers can serve as an important tool they should not enable commercial businesses to ignore basic safety and maintenance standards.

As such, we are introducing legislation that would prohibit recreational facilities from using waivers of liability to shield themselves from legal responsibility for their own negligence. Similar laws have been enacted in states such as Hawaii, Maryland, and New York. By passing this legislation, we will make safety a priority in Pennsylvania and allow victims to pursue justice for injuries caused by a business’s negligence.  
 
Please consider supporting this important legislation that will help keep recreational facilities safe for all Pennsylvanians.