Accidents are more likely to happen in the sports hall of a leisure centre than anywhere else, according to a new report which also suggests 84 per cent of on-site accidents are beyond an operator’s control.

The figures are taken from industry accident benchmarking platform STITCH, which captures, collates and aggregates accident and 'near miss' data. Based on reporting from more than 170 leisure facilities, the findings offer useful insights into the most common circumstances of accidents.

Frequent sports hall injuries, such as being hit by a racket or colliding with a wall during five-a-side football, are among the 84 per cent of incidents that could not have been prevented by the operator, as are slips on wet poolside surfaces.

The figures also highlight that 8 to 15-year-olds are the group most likely to have an accident within a health club or leisure centre, while the top five injuries are bruises, minor cuts, strains and sprains, nose bleeds and minor head injuries.

“The findings make interesting reading and will enable centre managers to review site trends and avoidable accident and incidents against national trends,” said Gill Twell, head of group operations for Right Directions, which created and manages STITCH.

“It may also help them put preventative measures and service improvement plans in place to reduce the risks, and track the impact of any action taken.”

Right Directions launched STITCH in 2014 with the support of CIMSPA. The benchmarking platform enables operators to report and monitor the type and level of accidents occurring at health clubs and all types of leisure facilities across the UK.

Right Directions will be releasing more findings from the STITCH of the Nation report at Leisure Industry Week in September and data will then be released every quarter, enabling facilities signed up to the platform to regularly benchmark their data against national statistics.