Warning Labels on Helmets Combat Injury and Liability

David Goldman/Associated Press

As concerns about the long-term effects of playing football grow, helmets are coming under renewed scrutiny.

Even by the alarmist standards of many product warnings, the labels on the backs of the football helmets are bracingly blunt: "No helmet system can protect you from serious brain and/or neck injuries including paralysis or death. To avoid these risks, do not engage in the sport of football."

Schutt Sports has plastered these words on its helmets for about a decade. To keep up with the times, the warning also pops up on the home page of the company's Web site, and a scannable label that links to information about head injuries provided by the Centers for Disease Control is affixed to the helmet.

"The simplest thing we can do is remind people that the game has inherent risks," said Robert Erb, Schutt's chief executive. "It's an ethical, moral and legal issue. People need to know these things."

As concerns about the long-term effects of playing football grow — and lawsuits against leagues, coaches and equipment makers mount — helmets are coming under renewed scrutiny, particularly during the summer, when teams begin preparing for the new season and leagues, coaches and parents buy new helmets or refurbish older ones.

The wording of these warnings — some of the more visible acknowledgments of the sport's risk — is governed largely by lawyers, product engineers and the organization that creates the standards that helmet manufacturers follow, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, or Nocsae. Helmet makers follow Nocsae's template for warning labels and then adjust them as they see fit. Rawlings, which began making football helmets three years ago, adopted Schutt's language in its warnings. Other companies, including Riddell, the largest manufacturer of helmets in the country and the official helmet manufacturer of the N.F.L., stop short of suggesting that risk-averse players give up the sport.

"We feel strongly that the information, education and warning materials that accompany Riddell helmets are clear, concise and comprehensive," Riddell said.

As with all warnings, companies try to balance how much to include in their disclaimers lest they overburden consumers, who are predisposed to ignore them, or leave themselves open to legal challenge. As a result, even the most basic warnings include declarations that no helmet can prevent all head or neck injuries, and using a helmet to butt, ram or spear an opposing player is not advised.

Schutt went further, even though the warning scared off customers — including an official with a large youth league in California who said the language was offensive and hurt the game of football. Erb, though, said his company had a responsibility to be as explicit as possible and not give players, parents and coaches a false sense of security.

"This is not to provoke fear or controversy," he said. "It was to tell you to look both ways when you cross the street, not 'don't cross the street.' "

When it comes to the safety of sporting gear, football helmets have received an overwhelming share of the attention in recent years because football is the country's most popular sport and because of high-profile lawsuits, including one filed by retired N.F.L. players who claim that the league and Riddell hid evidence about the dangers of repeated head trauma for decades.

The clarity of warning labels was also at the center of a recent case in Colorado. In April, a jury there found that Riddell was liable for not adequately warning players wearing its helmets about the dangers of potential head trauma. The company, which plans to appeal the decision, was ordered to pay $3.1 million in damages to a 22-year old man who sustained a head injury in 2008 while playing high school football.

Notably, the jury did not find that Riddell's helmets were defective. It also found that several coaches were negligent for failing to properly address the player's injury, highlighting the larger role that coaches, athletes and parents play in recognizing and treating concussions and other head trauma.

Coaching, enforcement and observation "are the factors that exert more influence on behavior," said Paul Frantz, a co-founder of the consulting company Applied Safety and Ergonomics, which helps companies develop warning labels. "The language on the helmet is the type of thing that might supplement what's already in place. When you combine all those things, it might have a chance of affecting behavior."

As perhaps the most critical pieces of protective sports equipment, helmets are bound to remain a focus in football and other contact sports, like hockey and lacrosse. Manufacturers of those helmets typically use similar language in their warnings. The label on the back of a lacrosse helmet made by Cascade reads: "Lacrosse is dangerous. You risk severe brain, head and neck injuries that cause paralysis or death." The warning ends, "Use this helmet at your own risk."

In many ways, the language on these helmets is similar to that on other consumer products. Warnings are designed to caution users about potential risks and advise them on what to do if they are hurt. To make consumers pay attention, companies try to make their warnings clear, visible and understandable, and they put them on the helmets, on boxes and increasingly, online.

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