Members of the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) can now enjoy up to a 30 per cent discount on insurance premiums through the Health Commitment Statement (HCS), an alternative to PAR-Q developed by the FIA.

Launched in November 2009, HCS has been designed to allow the industry to adopt a uniform approach to new members, which will result in greater clarity for consumers, as well as improved relations with the healthcare sector.

It was developed specifically for the UK gym environment by the FIA in association with medico-legal risk management specialist EIDO.

David Stalker, FIA's executive director, said: "Improving delivery capability and saving operators money are the cornerstones of the FIA: to achieve both with one initiative is particularly exciting for us.

"HCS is now recognised for the fact that it has removed a long standing and, many believe, unnecessary hurdle consumers had to overcome if they wanted to get fit and be more active.

"What it also does is bring operators in line with all other sports and active leisure in regard to all health matters."