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Kate

It seems to me that I, and probably you and lots of people, did home
investigations that were inherently risky, with chemistry sets and tools,
eg, without increasing anyones liability. Are you really liable if you
suggest activities on line and someone deviates (or not), and gets hurt at
home? If so cannot they sign a waiver or have an adult sign for them? Seems
so involved in order to explore.

Martin

On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 1:40 PM, Kate Storm <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I have questions for the group regarding an organization's liability
> related to doing "risky" activities. My big question is "How do we
> encourage a risk-taking environment while protecting our visitors?" We want
> to create positive environments for experimentation, risk, and failure, but
> are concerned about visitor safety and legal liability.
>
> 1. Maker Programs - We are developing Maker programs in which participants
> could use tools that could burn, cut, or otherwise injure them. If you have
> done something similar, what have you learned about legal liability for
> your organization if a participant is injured during the activity? How do
> you communicate and minimize possible risk to participants?
>
> 2. User-Generated Content Online - We are creating a workshop related to
> critical thinking about science "myths." One element of this is to have
> visitors test science myths at home and share their experiences with us
> online through videos or other media. We can discuss safety in the
> workshop, but obviously can't control what visitors do once they leave.
> We're concerned that they may test things in unsafe ways, get injured, blow
> things up, etc. Have you asked for/received online user-generated content
> around a risky subject, and if yes, (how) did you minimize risk?
>
> Thanks in advance for any information you can share.
>
> Kate Storm
> COSI
> [log in to unmask]
>
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-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Senior Scientist
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
cell   347-460-1858
desk 718 595 9156

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Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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