Safety First

I had the unfortunate experience of being at a meet this past season, where one of the workers retrieving hammers was hit and seriously injured by a men's hammer. The incident caused me to reflect on how most meet organizers (myself included) end up putting the least experienced individuals in the most dangerous situation of implement retrieval. In order to better train our meet workers in the future, I've created a training document for our meet workers to review beforehand and then the meet official or myself can go through the document again with the workers to educate them about what their duties are.

I have added the document below. Feel free to modify and use to best suit your needs.

Throws Worker Instructions

Thank you for agreeing to work at our throws venues at the upcoming track and field meet. The sport of track and field is unique in the number of volunteers and officials needed to run a competition. On behalf of all of the other coaches, athletes, and spectators, we greatly appreciate your willingness to help us run a high-quality, efficient, and safe competition.

Since you may not be very familiar with the throwing events, we’ve created this document to help you become a bit more familiar with the events and what your responsibilities and expectations will be at the upcoming competition. Please read thoroughly and ask any questions you may have along the way.

We will be contesting the shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, and javelin throw at our outdoor meets. At our indoor meets, we will contest the indoor shot put and the weight throw. It is important to note that all of these implements can cause life-altering, or potentially life-ending injury, so it is imperative to always be mindful and understand potential danger zones.

All of the implements except the javelin are thrown from a circle and land in a marked sector/landing area. The javelin is thrown from a runway into a smaller sector than the other events. A majority of throws and warm-ups will land in the throwing sector, but there is potential for errant throws, in both warm-up and competition, to land significantly outside of the marked sector. It is also possible for errant discus and hammer throws to go over the protective cage, or to have their path redirected after contact with the cage. Wind can also significantly alter the flight path of the discus or javelin. Therefore, you should always be paying attention to the circle/runway.

When you are beyond the front plane of the throwing surface, there should be no use of phones, headphones, food, etc.

Once competition begins, we will have a head official in charge of overseeing the event. That official will call athletes up, make the determination of fair/foul throws, and record distances. Any questions or safety considerations throughout the competition should be brought to the attention of the head official.

In addition to the head official each event will usually have 3 or 4 workers. 1 worker will be operating the laser measuring system, or pulling the tape measure to the center of the circle or triangle in javelin. This individual can have a great impact on the rhythm and efficiency of the competition. This individual should be stationed in a safe area while the athlete is throwing, then quickly begin positioning the tape measure/laser once the implement has left the athlete’s hand.

Two workers will be out in the field to mark where the implement lands, and another will help to retrieve implements and return them to a safe area. It is the responsibility of the markers in the field to judge whether or not an implement has landed legally. For shot put, discus, hammer and weight throw, this simply means that the implement landed (made initial contact with the ground) inside the marked sector lines. For the hammer and weight throw only the ball is considered when determining a legal throw, not the handle/wire. If an implement lands on the marked sector line or outside of it, the workers in the field serving as markers are responsible to call out “sector foul” loud enough for the head official to hear. In the javelin, the workers in the field are also responsible for making the determination that the javelin land tip first. If the javelin does not land tip first, then one of the workers in the field should raise a red flag indicating a foul throw. It is important to note that if an implement hits the cage and lands legally in the throwing sector, it could be a legal throw and should be marked as such.

In the process of the determining whether a throw has landed legally or not, the marking officials should move quickly, but in a safe manner, to the landing point of the implement, marking point of impact closest to the throwing circle. Once the head official has recorded the distance, the retrieving official can remove the implement from the throwing sector and place in a safer area for the athlete to retrieve. The officials in the field then quickly reset into safe positions for the next throw.

It is important to note that all legal marks from collegiate competitions are collected in a national database and have a large impact on conference and national standings, so please work together as a group in the field to make marks as accurate as possible.

While track meets can be a fun, social environment, it is important to not get distracted while in the field. The two markers should split the sector in half and each cover one side. The retriever can be positioned a bit further back and help to zero in on marks where there may not be a visible landing point on the field. Be aware that all implements can bounce/skip after initial impact, so you don’t want to be positioned directly behind the implement when it lands. Discus and javelin can shift directions based on the wind, watch closely and adjust accordingly. It is advised that markers begin moving toward where the implement will land while it is in flight, but remain 20 away from the landing point until it has hit.

The events will be broken up into flights of competitors, with 9-15 athletes competing per flight. At the conclusion of a flight, the next flight of athlete will begin warming up. During this warmup period we would like one worker to remain in the field to assist with implement retrieval and maintaining a safe environment. The other workers can go to a safe area and rest for about 10 minutes. Please remain around the event area until the head official says that all competition is complete and you are not needed for any further events.

Thank you, we appreciate your time and willingness to work at our event.

Throws Worker Checksheet

o Throwing implements can cause serious bodily harm, pay attention at all times while in the field and around the throwing circle/runway

o Be aware that errant throws will land outside of the throwing sector

o No phones, headphones, food, etc while in the landing area

o Legal throw must land inside throwing sector (on the line is out)

o Javelin must land tip first

o Throw is marked from the point of impact closest to the circle/runway

o Do not turn your back to the throwing circle/runway

o Assist other workers, athletes, coaches, spectators in maintaining a safe competition area.

o Understand flight patterns of the different implements

o Allow implement to land about 20 feet from you and move to the mark

o Assist each other with marking accuracy

o Never congregate or group up within 20 feet of other workers while in the field