Stay on the ball with ball safety
Over the past few years, the use of Exercise Ball Chairs has sky rocketed. They are a great functional product, but they introduce serious but manageable risk issues to facilities and offices.
Many facilities will use a ball until it looks old and dirty or until it begins to leak or worst pops. I compare this approach to changing your car tires only after they fail. When you really think about it, we want people who are using balls for exercise, rehab or as a chair to improve their health and not risk there health. I speak first hand that if a ball pops when in use, it can hurt. I have had two pop on me back in the mid 1990’s when balls were just coming into vogue and Burst Resistant balls did not exist. Once, flat on my butt at a trade show and again in an interview with the local paper while sitting at a glass table. One of our staff had decided to try to patch a ball with a leak in it and I unfortunately decided to sit on it. It lasted about 5 minutes before the patch failed and the ball blew into 2 pieces. This made for an interesting story on active sitting in the office.
Since then, Burst Resistant balls are the norm and some facilities have put in place programs to rotate out the balls every year or so. For the cost of a ball it is way better to be safe than sorry and you are better to control the risk you take than to blindly hope that the ball does not fail on someone. Here are some key point to keep in mind:
- Always put the date on a ball when it is inflated (use a Sharpie felt pen and apply it on the ball label).
- If a ball is over a year old or shows signs of wear, tear, cable burns or other scares, do not keep using it.
- Use only high quality Burst Resistant ball with a high Burst rating ( 1000 Lbs or greater ie. DuraBall Pro).
- Exercise on a padded floor or mat to reduce the risk of injury.
- Use a spotter when using any form of resistance equipment when on a ball.
- Fill balls as per the instructions, over inflated balls have a much higher risk of failing.
Click here if you would like to see or download our Fitterfirst ball safety poster. I suggest if you do not have a sound policy in place for your facility then print and post this document in a place where your team can see it so that you can come to a smart agreement on how to manage ball safety.
If you are a consumer or ball user at the gym or rehab center, you should ask management what there policy is on ball turn over. If you see a ball that looks old or unsafe do not use it and do them a favor by bringing it to the managements attention. This is best for you and your fellow ball users. Please Be smart – Be on the Ball!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a old multi colored one, baught it back in 01 its seen better days should i keep it?
Thanks for the heads up. We all need to be careful when we work out.
Jason, If you keep the old ball it should be for gentle stretching or as a chair on a mat. Balls do fail as they get older and it might just happen you you least expect it. Most certainly do not risk any exercises with weights in your hands or bouncing as this added stress will increase the chance of the ball bursting. I suspect you have got your moneys worth from this old ball and maybe it is time for a burst resistance upgrade. How old are the tires on your car