Volunteer waiver
Every volunteer signs this before their first shift. Read it here, then fill in the form and send it back. We'll have paper copies at the barn too.
Volunteer waiver and release
Sweet BombDiggity Farms Rescue & Sanctuary · a 501(c)(3) farm animal rescue · Sharps Chapel, Tennessee
Please read this whole form before you sign it. It is a legal agreement. By signing, you accept the risks of being around rescued farm animals and you give up the right to sue Sweet BombDiggity Farms Rescue & Sanctuary for injuries caused by ordinary carelessness. If anything here is unclear, ask us before you sign.
WARNING: Under Tennessee Law, an equine professional is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant in equine activities resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, title 44, chapter 20.
WARNING: Under Tennessee law, there is no liability for an injury to or death of a participant, or damage to the property of a participant, in an agritourism activity conducted at this agritourism location or by this agritourism professional if such injury, death, or property damage results from the inherent risks of the agritourism activity. Inherent risks of agritourism activities include, among others, risks of injury and damage inherent to land, equipment, and animals, as well as the potential for you to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your injury or death or to the damaging of your own property. You are assuming the risk of participating in this agritourism activity.
Part 1 · Who you are
The form asks for your name, date of birth, phone, email and address; how you plan to help; an emergency contact; and health notes that would matter in an emergency, such as allergies, conditions, rescue medications and your last tetanus shot. Health notes are optional. We keep this form private and use it only for volunteer safety and our records.
Part 2 · The agreement
1. What I'll be doing
I am volunteering with Sweet BombDiggity Farms Rescue & Sanctuary, a Tennessee nonprofit corporation, at its farm on Norris Lake in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, and at events it holds somewhere else. Volunteer work can include feeding and watering, mucking stalls and sheds, hauling manure and bedding, grooming, carrying hay and feed, cleaning coops and pens, garden and greenhouse work, clearing brush, fence and building projects, moving animals between paddocks with staff, enrichment, office help, photos and video, and helping at fundraising events.
I am a volunteer. I will not be paid, I am not an employee, and I understand I am not covered by workers' compensation.
2. The risks I'm accepting
I understand that a working farm animal rescue is not a petting zoo, that the animals here are rescued animals whose histories and habits are not always known, and that even calm, familiar animals are unpredictable. Serious injury and death are possible. The risks include, and are not limited to:
- Animals — being kicked, bitten, stepped on, head-butted, knocked down, pushed or pinned against a fence, gate, wall or post, chased, pecked, scratched or charged, by animals that weigh anywhere from a few pounds to well over a thousand, including horses, mini donkeys, pigs, goats, geese, chickens, ducks, dogs and cats; animals spooking at a sound, a smell or a stranger.
- Germs — farm animals can carry illnesses that pass to people, such as salmonella, E. coli, ringworm, giardia, parasites, tetanus and rabies. Manure, bedding dust, mold and hay can trigger allergies and breathing trouble.
- Ground and weather — mud, ice, uneven and rocky ground, holes, slopes, steep paths, the lake and its shoreline, heat, cold, sun, rain, wind, lightning, ticks, spiders, stinging insects, snakes and poison ivy.
- Work and equipment — lifting and carrying hay bales, feed bags, water buckets and wheelbarrows; hand tools like pitchforks, rakes, shovels and loppers; gates, latches, electric and barbed wire fencing; power tools, mowers, tractors, trailers and farm vehicles; dust, noise and hot or sharp surfaces.
- Where we are — the farm is rural. Cell service can be spotty, and an ambulance or rescue squad will take longer to reach us than it would in town.
- Other people — the mistakes or carelessness of other volunteers, visitors, staff, or me.
I accept all of these risks, the ones listed here and the ones no one thought to list, whether they come from the nature of the work, the animals, the property, the weather, the equipment, or from ordinary carelessness by anyone at the Sanctuary.
3. Barn rules I agree to follow
I understand these rules exist to keep me, the other volunteers and the animals safe, and that the Sanctuary can end my volunteering at any time, for any reason.
- I will complete orientation before my first shift, and I will only do jobs I've been trained for and assigned.
- I will follow the directions of staff and shift leads, and posted signs and warnings. When I'm not sure, I'll stop and ask.
- I will close and latch every gate behind me, and check it.
- I will wear closed-toe boots or sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirty.
- I will not give treats or feed any animal unless staff tells me to, and I will not ride any animal.
- I will not give any animal medical care. Medications, hoof care, wounds, splints and vet follow-up belong to staff and the veterinarian. My job is to notice and tell someone.
- I will stay out of quarantine areas and any area marked off-limits.
- I will use the boot wash and wash my hands after handling animals and before eating or drinking.
- I will leave my own pets at home.
- I will not volunteer under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and I will not smoke or vape on the property.
- I will not use power tools, mowers, tractors, trailers or farm vehicles unless I am 18 or older and staff has trained and approved me for that equipment.
- I will stop work and get to shelter for lightning, ice, high wind or when staff calls it.
- I will sign in and out every shift.
- I will report every injury, bite, scratch and near miss to staff right away, even when it seems small, and any animal that seems off.
- I will bring a guest only if it's arranged ahead of time, and that guest signs their own form.
- I will keep private what is private: the farm's address and gate codes, animal medical information, and donor and volunteer information. I will not tag or post the farm's location.
- I may share my own photos of the animals on my personal accounts, and I will not use them to raise money or for any commercial purpose, and will not speak for the Sanctuary to the press or the public, without written permission.
4. My health and fitness
I believe I am healthy and fit enough for the work I'm signing up for, and I will tell staff about any limit that matters for my safety. If that changes, I'll say so.
I understand the Sanctuary recommends that my tetanus shot be current, and that if I am pregnant, have a weakened immune system, or have a condition that makes infection riskier, I should talk with my doctor before volunteering around farm animals.
To protect the animals here, I will tell staff if any animals of my own have been sick, and if I have been around sick livestock or poultry anywhere else in the last week.
5. Emergency medical care
If I am hurt or become ill here, I give permission for the Sanctuary to give basic first aid and to call for emergency medical care, including an ambulance, and to share this form's emergency information with the people treating me. I know staff may not be able to reach me or my emergency contact first.
I am responsible for the cost of any medical care I receive, and my own health insurance comes first. Unless the Sanctuary tells me in writing that it carries accident coverage for volunteers, I understand it does not provide health or accident insurance for me.
6. Release, and my promise not to sue
In exchange for being allowed to volunteer, and to the fullest extent Tennessee law allows, I release, waive and give up all claims I have or might have against the Released Parties for any injury, illness, death, or loss or damage to my property connected to my volunteering, including claims caused by the ordinary carelessness (negligence) of the Released Parties. I agree not to sue them over those claims. This also binds my family, my heirs and anyone acting for me.
The Released Parties are: Sweet BombDiggity Farms Rescue & Sanctuary; its directors, officers, employees, volunteers and agents; Sweet BombDiggity Farms, the related farm and content brand; and the owners and residents of the property where the Sanctuary operates.
This release does not cover gross negligence, reckless conduct or intentional harm, and nothing in this form gives up any right that Tennessee law does not allow me to give up.
If my own careless or deliberate actions injure someone or damage property, I agree to be responsible for that, and to reimburse the Released Parties for claims, losses, costs and reasonable attorney's fees that result.
7. Photos and video
The Sanctuary takes photos and video at the farm and at events, and shares them on its website, social media, YouTube, newsletters, fundraising and grant materials, press coverage, and print, including on channels of Sweet BombDiggity Farms that earn revenue.
Unless I check the box below, I give the Sanctuary and Sweet BombDiggity Farms permission to photograph and record me while I'm volunteering and to use those images, recordings, my first name and my voice for those purposes, at no charge to them and with no payment to me. I understand I can change my mind by telling the Sanctuary in writing, and that they can't always pull images already published.
Checking the box does not keep me from volunteering. We'll note it on the roster and keep you out of the frame.
8. The legal fine print
Tennessee law governs this agreement, and any case about it belongs in the state or federal courts for Campbell County, Tennessee, where the Sanctuary operates.
If a court finds any part of this agreement unenforceable, the rest still stands. This form is the whole agreement between me and the Sanctuary about these subjects, and it replaces anything said earlier.
This agreement covers every shift, visit, project and event from the day I sign it, and stays in effect until I end it in writing. Signing in at a shift confirms it still applies. The Sanctuary may ask me to sign a new form each year.
A scan, photo, or typed name counts as an original signature, and typing my name in the signature line is my signature.
Part 3 · Your signature
I have read this entire form, or had it read to me. I understand that I am giving up substantial legal rights, including my right to sue for injuries caused by ordinary carelessness. No one pressured me. I am signing freely, and I am 18 or older (if I am not, my parent or guardian is completing Part 4).
Part 4 · Volunteers under 18
Volunteers are 16 and up. A 16- or 17-year-old volunteers with a parent or guardian's signature. A volunteer under 16 is welcome only when a parent or guardian is working right alongside them for the whole shift. Volunteers under 18 do not use power tools, mowers, tractors or farm vehicles, and do not handle the horses.
The young volunteer
I have read the risks and the barn rules above, or had them read to me, and I agree to follow the rules.
Parent or legal guardian
- I am the parent or legal guardian of the volunteer named in Part 1. I have read this entire form and talked through the risks and the barn rules with my child.
- I give permission for my child to volunteer at the Sanctuary. If my child is under 16, I will be working right alongside them the whole time.
- I agree to everything in Part 2 on my own behalf, including the release and the promise not to sue, which covers my own claims, such as a claim for my child's medical expenses.
- On my child's behalf, I agree to Part 2 to the fullest extent Tennessee law allows. I understand Tennessee law limits what a parent can give up for a child, and that this does not change the Sanctuary's duty to act with reasonable care toward my child.
- I give permission for first aid and emergency medical care for my child if I can't be reached, and I accept responsibility for the cost.