Employers are being urged to ensure their fitness staff have up-to-date registration on the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) before the organisation launches a new public awareness campaign in the spring 2005.

Currently, in accordance with the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) Code of Practice, it is an operator’s duty to make sure all its employees are registered. However, although REPs membership continues to grow at a rate of 1,000 per month closer analysis of the database shows that some employers are falling behind on their registration obligations.

“Most operators are very good at supporting us and registering their staff,” said Registrar Cliff Collins. “However, as renewal time comes round, or new employers join companies, it seems people are slipping through the net.

“We cannot emphasise enough how important it is to ensure that every fitness professional working in your club, either as a member of staff or as freelance, has a current registration.

“The REPs mission statement is to ensure that all exercise professionals are suitably knowledgeable and qualified to safeguard and to promote the health and interests of the people who use their services. We hope that by encouraging people to chase up any outstanding membership issues and launching a campaign to raise public awareness about REPs and the work it does, will help us meet this criteria.”

As part of the REPs planned public awareness campaign, members of the public will be encouraged to check the registration status of employers in their gym or health club.

The campaign also aims to promote confidence in exercise professionals and employers to deliver quality service, to position REPs in people’s minds as the bench-mark of quality in relation to those working within the fitness industry and to generate public awareness of what REPs stands for and the work it does and to widen its role as a public register.