Adaptive ski equipment in instruction: risk information for prostheses and hearing aids

By accepting a booking, a ski school undertakes a specific teaching service. The booking, course description, individual agreements and the circumstances of the lesson define its content. Protective and care duties accompany that service. They require the provider to consider apparent risks in its own organisation and to select exercises suitable for the agreed group.

Use of a prosthesis or hearing aid does not automatically require one particular lesson format. It does make a precise discussion useful once it is apparent to the instructor. The discussion may cover the equipment’s stability, communication in wind or at a distance, physical limits and exercises that can safely be offered in those conditions.

A short, specific discussion can prevent later misunderstandings. The participant should explain which circumstance is relevant to the lesson and what support is needed. The school should explain which adaptation it can provide, which exercises are planned and when a break or end to the lesson is required. The subject is the contracted teaching service and its safe delivery.

Vague statements such as “it will be fine” do not answer the decisive question. A documented agreement about meeting points, visual contact, hand signals, the listening environment, physical limits and technical problems is more useful. The participant’s cooperation matters. It does not remove the school’s own care duties as a general rule.

A prosthesis may require special settings, a different load or a particular movement technique. A hearing aid may make visual contact, acoustic signals and group position important. The school must connect these points with the equipment actually offered and the participant’s ability. An adaptation is meaningful only when the instructor implements it during the lesson.

The provider does not replace a medical diagnosis. The participant and, where appropriate, medical professionals decide whether the physical condition permits a particular activity. For the legal assessment, the relevant points are the information available, the safe organisation that was possible and whether the accident arose from a circumstance that was not considered.

A claim under sections 1295 et seq. ABGB requires a breach of duty, fault, damage and causation. In a lesson, a missing discussion, an unsuitable exercise or a disregarded agreement may be relevant. Under section 1313a ABGB, the ski school may be responsible for an instructor used to perform its contractual duties.

Evidence should present the sequence as precisely as possible. Important material includes the booking, messages before the lesson, information about the prosthesis or hearing aid, the instructor’s name, group placement, instructions, witnesses, the accident report and medical records. The condition of the equipment and the time of a later adjustment can also help to narrow down the cause.

After an accident, record the lesson from memory before individual details fade. Note when the assistive equipment was discussed, what the school said, which exercise was taking place and who saw the accident. Keep the correspondence and course documents in their original form.

The assessment separates several issues. Information duties during instruction concern the contractual organisation. A fall at a ramp or platform edge concerns the mountain lift operator. A release or adjustment defect concerns the ski rental. The correct classification helps direct evidence to the right factual question.