Insurance

Your membership with Nordiq Canada includes a third party sports liability insurance policy, including Directors and Officers Errors and Omissions. The insurance policy includes a Communicable Disease Exclusion, including COVID-19. It is essential that you have strong protocols in place, are able to prove that you followed your protocols, and can show that you communicated your protocols to members. The insurance policy is explained in the Insurance Manual, provided in the Document Centre.

Certificates of Insurance

A number of activities and events have been pre-approved and/or issued Certificates of Insurance. Heath guidance may impact whether those pre-approvals and certificates remain valid. It is essential that you follow restrictions and recommendations published by your local public health authority, the Government of Canada  and other authorities that apply where you operate.

Remote Training

Many clubs are considering how to tailor training to at-home or other environments. Our insurer has temporarily modified the scope of the certified general liability (CGL) policy to allow specific remote training, provided certain rules are followed. Our Insurers remind you to:

  1. Remote training is only covered under the CGL policy under strict requirements.
  2. In a remote training session, the coach needs to control who is participating and supervise training. Multi-screen video-conferencing tools like Zoom or Skype work well; Facebook Live and YouTube do not meet the requirements.
  3. At the beginning of each remote training session, coaches must verify that only registered members are at the other end of the remote communication tools (for example, non-member siblings are not allowed to participate).
  4. Coaches must keep a log of who is in attendance, what instruction is provided, by whom, and the date for each session. Each athlete should also maintain a personal log containing their information.
  5. Use Common sense.
  6. Tailor coaching/expert guidance to age and ability.
  7. Do not do or recommend what you would not do under normal circumstances.
  8. Stay within the coach/trainer skill level as well as the ability level of the group you are advising.
  9. Obey and follow all local, provincial and federal rules, regulations and guidelines.
  10. Exercise extreme caution with use of weights or other equipment or apparatus – there is no shortcut.
  11. Ensure you are following the principles of safety in sport as you adapt training; For example, think about how you would apply the principles of the Rule of Two in a video-conferenced training environment.

3rd Party General Liability Insurance Coverage for Virtual Events

Due to the pandemic, many clubs are replacing in-person competitions with virtual events. When considering hosting virtual events, clubs and organizers must follow these safety considerations:

  1. Courses/trails must be recognized and approved trails that are open when used
  2. Courses/trails are expected to have the normal safety and monitoring protocols expected in an in-person competition, such as inspection and track setting
  3. Organizers should consider a check in and check out system
  4. For more remote trail systems, the ‘buddy’ system should be encouraged
  5. For remote areas users must carry a means of communication – mobile phone/radio and in certain areas pieps

Clubs and organizers have the same duty of care over virtual events, just as they would in an in-person event. Division can review virtual events proposals and ask the national office and the insurer for help when necessary.