Waivers

Departments organizing non-routine activities including events and field trips for students, employees and members of the public should complete an assessment of the associated risk.

Waivers, acknowledgement of risk forms and risk notices are all ways to communicate about risk so that participants are aware of what can go wrong before they commit to the event or trip.

1. Risk notices should be shared with potential participants as initial publicity material such as event posters, webpage notices and for academic activities course descriptions. Risk notices can be used to show due diligence and should be written with care.
2. Acknowledgement of risk forms are a formal way to share risk information with participants and have them acknowledge that they understand the associated risk of their participation. Acknowledgement of risk forms are not legally binding but they are formal documents and need to be carefully prepared.
3. Waivers are legal contracts and need to be carefully constructed and properly administered. Waivers provide protection to the university if harm is caused to participants. They can only be signed by adults.
   

Note: Departments should not use waivers prepared for other activities or trips or draw up their own waivers.  Please request activity-specific documents from Risk Management risk_srs@sfu.ca.

Note: Student travelers, check with your department or program for a specific waiver for your trip. If your department or program does not have a specific waiver, contact Risk Management at risk_srs@sfu.ca for a general travel waiver.