Gracie Barra Leeds

Hygiene, Infection and Illness Policy

This policy applies to every Gracie Barra Leeds academy and everyone who uses our spaces, including members, trial members, coaches, staff, parents, carers and visitors.

Purpose

Everyone should be able to walk into any Gracie Barra Leeds academy feeling welcomed, confident in the care we take and be able to trust the people they train alongside. Providing a safe, clean and healthy environment is part of the world-class service we promise to every member of our community.

Jiu-Jitsu by its nature brings us into close contact. That is what makes what we all share so special. The decisions each of us makes about hygiene, illness and when to train affect everyone around us and can far reaching consequences for family members of our community who may be affected more greatly by contact with an infectious disease.

This policy sets out what you can expect from us, what we ask of you and how we protect our shared standards fairly and consistently.

Our promise to you

  • We will comprehensively clean and disinfect the mats a minimum of 3 times daily. Our current cleaning protocol includes disinfecting the mat area after every morning and lunch session and at the end of every evening. This is our minimum standard, we will always clean more should we notice the need. We will use suitable cleaning products at the correct dilution and contact time, and allow mats to dry before their next use. Cleaning time has been built into the academy schedule and our members share the responsibility to ensure the training area is safe and clean to be used by the next class. The supervision of cleaning the mats is carried out by the Lead Coach.

  • Changing areas, showers and toilets will be professionally cleaned daily. Bins will be emptied at the end of each day and any recyclable material separated. Busy areas and frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned and disinfected daily and regularly throughout the day when required.

  • Shared training and gym equipment within the REORG room at Gracie Barra Roundhay will be cleaned and disinfected professionally each morning and should be maintained by members who use the facility after use. Damaged surfaces that cannot be cleaned effectively will be repaired or taken out of use and should be notified to our Academy Managers.

  • Trial uniforms will be freshly laundered after every use, dried and ready for the next member. Soap and handwashing facilities will be available at all times, alongside female hygiene products.

  • Free filtered drinking water will be available at all times. Please bring your own refillable bottle. Bottled water will be available for purchase.

  • Our academies will have suitable lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling fitted. Coffee machines will be cleaned through their automatic cycles and weekly manual internal cleaning, in line with manufacturer instructions.

  • The whole academy will receive a professional deep clean at least every six months, and sooner when needed. This supplements our daily cleaning.

  • Where an ice bath is provided, we will follow a documented cleaning, water-treatment and monitoring plan appropriate to the equipment and its shared use. Checks, water changes and maintenance will follow the risk assessment and manufacturer instructions. The ice bath will be taken out of use and appropriate signage made visible whenever safe water quality cannot be confirmed.

  • Academy Management will check cleaning records, act on concerns promptly and make this policy available to members and the team via our website. Please tell us if any part of our promise falls short.

Your promise to each other

Looking after your training partners starts before you step onto the mat. These standards apply to every session and every programme, regardless of experience, position or belt rank.

  • Arrive clean, with clean hands and feet. Wear freshly washed, fully dried training uniform, including your gi, belt, rashguard and/or shorts. Wash all training uniform after every use and shower promptly after training.

  • Bring a second clean uniform or no-gi training kit if you are attending back-to-back classes. Change before your second class.

  • Keep fingernails and toenails short and smooth. Keep personal items clean and do not share towels, razors, drinks bottles or mouthguards.

  • Wear shoes or sliders whenever you leave the mats, especially in toilet and changing areas. Remove them before returning to the training area and place them within the benches to keep mat side areas clear of any obstructions.

  • Wash your hands before and after training and after using the toilet.

  • Leave changing rooms and shared spaces clean and tidy, dispose of all rubbish and tell our team promptly about any spills, soiling or anything that needs attention.

  • Check your skin regularly. Report any suspected infection privately to our Academy Managers and do not attend training until you have sought medical attention. Parents and carers must apply these standards to their children also and inform us about relevant symptoms.

When to stay away

Please stay away from the academy if you have a fever, any cold or flu-like illness or symptoms likely to expose others to infection. Return only when you are well enough for normal activities, no longer have a fever and any relevant clinical or public-health exclusion period has passed. Do not use medication to mask a fever so you can attend.

After vomiting or diarrhoea that may be infectious, wait at least 48 hours after the last episode before returning to the academy, or longer if advised by a healthcare professional. If symptoms have a known non-infectious cause, speak privately to Academy Management so we can consider the circumstances fairly and support you're return to training at the right time.

Do not take part in classes, drilling, rolling, private lessons or any contact training with a known or suspected contagious skin infection. This includes staph, MRSA, impetigo, ringworm, active herpes outbreaks such as cold sores, infected boils or abscesses, and an unexplained rash that may be infectious. Covering an infection with tape, clothing or a dressing does not make contact training acceptable.

Do not use the ice bath with an active infection or any open wound. Follow the same restrictions at every GBL academy; moving to another site is not a way around an exclusion.

Report early and seek advice

Tell an Academy Manager or Lead Coach privately about any suspected illness or infection including but not limited to; new skin redness or warmth, swelling, pain, pus, blisters, open wounds or a spreading rash before training. If symptoms develop during a session, stop immediately and inform the Lead Coach. Seek prompt medical assessment for any suspected infection. Rapidly spreading redness, severe pain or feeling very unwell needs urgent medical advice.

If an infection is diagnosed after you have attended the academy, please inform our Academy Management team promptly and share your recent attendance dates so we can assess and monitor any exposure to others. We will handle all reports sensitively and privately and share health information only where necessary to protect people or meet our legal and ethical responsibilities.

Returning to contact training

Speak to our Academy Management team before returning to training after a suspected or confirmed contagious skin infection. We encourage you to explain to the treating healthcare professional that Jiu-Jitsu involves prolonged skin contact with others, friction and shared mats. Advice about returning to school or office work may not establish that a return to close-contact training is safe.

  • For bacterial skin infections, including staph, MRSA and impetigo; GBL requires the prescribed antibiotic course for that infection to be completed, affected wounds to be fully closed and healed and any fever to have passed. There must be no drainage, weeping or new lesions for at least 48 hours prior to the return to training or coaching. These are conservative academy conditions; completing treatment alone does not establish that you are safe to return.

  • For fungal or viral infections, including ringworm and herpes; the exclusion period and treatment requirements depend on the diagnosis. Follow medical advice specific to contact sport and agree your return to training with our Academy Management team. Starting treatment or covering the affected area alone is not enough to mitigate the risk to others. Continue treatment exactly as prescribed, including after returning if instructed.

  • A small, clean, non-infected cut; training may be permitted if a secure dressing will remain intact throughout the entire training session and the Lead Coach is satisfied the activity will not reopen it. Dressings should be medical grade and appropriate to inhibit the transmission of any fluid. Tape is not to be used solely and should not be used on feet as the glue from the tape can damage the mat surface leading to cleaning being more challenging in the future. Open or healing wounds from an infection remain excluded from contact training until healed.

GBL Management may request clinical advice or written confirmation where the risk is uncertain. A formal clearance letter is not required in every case. If a clinician will not issue one, management will record the diagnosis and treatment advice reported, check the return conditions and seek further clinical guidance where necessary. If the risk remains unclear, contact training remains paused. Coaches do not diagnose infections or overrule clinical restrictions. We will always operate with caution as default rather than accept risk to others.

Taking antibiotics or medication for an unrelated condition does not prevent training. Fitness to train and the risk of transmission must always be considered. Never stop or shorten prescribed treatment to return to training sooner.

Coaches and staff

Coaches and staff must report suspected infectious conditions to Academy Management or their immediate line manager immediately. No one may physically coach, demonstrate or train while excluded due to any of the conditions aforementioned. Role, position within the business, competition preparation and the need to cover a class do not change this standard. GBL Management may agree remote or suitable non-contact duties after assessing the risk; this is not automatic permission to attend any academy while infectious.

Protecting everyone during training

If blood, vomit or wound fluid contaminates an area, stop activity immediately and alert the Lead Coach. GBL staff will isolate the area, use appropriate protective equipment and clean and disinfect it before training in that area can recommence. An incident report should be logged by the Lead Coach and Academy Management informed. GBL management will assess possible exposure to others, increase cleaning or pause affected activities where needed, and inform affected members without unnecessarily identifying anyone. Suspected linked cases may prompt further clinical or public-health advice.

Upholding our standards together

We may refuse entry, stop participation or temporarily restrict access to any academy or training area where there is a reasonable infection or hygiene risk which has not been disclosed. We will explain the reason and what needs to happen before any return. Hygiene, illness or infection concerns will be handled privately and sensitively, with practical guidance and support. Our Safeguarding Lead remains the point of contact for any health related issue or concern and has the final determination whether a person, situation or training area is deemed safe. You may ask an GBL Management to review a decision formally by writing to us; all restrictions remains in place during that review.

Developing an infection is not misconduct. Knowingly putting others at risk, concealing relevant symptoms or repeatedly ignoring these standards is unacceptable. Depending on seriousness, action may include a warning, suspension from training or not renewing membership in accordance with our membership terms and conditions. Staff matters will follow the relevant employment procedures.

Our commitment and promise to keeping us all safe is the foundation we begin work with every single day at GBL. Thank you for helping us to keep us all healthy and on the mats together.

When in doubt, pause training, tell management and seek medical advice.

Guidance informing this policy: NHS, Diarrhoea and vomiting; CDC, Athletes and Athletic Facilities MRSA Prevention and Control; NATA, Position Statement on Skin Diseases (2010). Reviewed 16 October 2026. GBL return conditions for bacterial infections are deliberately stricter than minimum sports participation timelines.

Updated: October 2026

Review date: October 2027