Health Screening

What Is a PAR-Q?

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) is a standard health screening form. Your members answer it online, and your team uses it to:

• Spot members who should seek medical advice before starting exercise
• Check it is safe for a member to exercise and adapt sessions for them
• Keep a record of what each member told you, and when

Turning the Forms On

A new gym starts with the PAR-Q and the waiver switched off. Owners and managers turn them on under Settings, then Member Forms (the page is called Member Forms Settings), on the Config tab:

• Enable PAR-Q Questionnaire: new members must complete the questionnaire
• Enable Liability Waiver: new members must sign a waiver
• Require Before Subscription: members must complete the forms before they subscribe. Without it, they complete them after subscribing

Select Save Configuration to apply them.

Your PAR-Q Questions

Open the Questions tab on Member Forms Settings.

Standard PAR-Q Questions

Every gym starts with the standard seven. They cannot be edited or deleted, and each is marked Flags Risk:

1. Has your doctor ever said that you have a heart condition and that you should only do physical activity recommended by a doctor?
2. Do you feel pain in your chest when you do physical activity?
3. In the past month, have you had chest pain when you were not doing physical activity?
4. Do you lose your balance because of dizziness or do you ever lose consciousness?
5. Do you have a bone or joint problem that could be made worse by a change in your physical activity?
6. Is your doctor currently prescribing drugs for your blood pressure or heart condition?
7. Do you know of any other reason why you should not do physical activity?

Custom Questions

1. Select Add Custom Question
2. Type the Question Text. Members answer Yes or No
3. Tick A "Yes" answer to this question indicates potential health risk if a Yes should flag the member for review
4. Select Add Question. Use Edit or Delete on a custom question later

Liability Waivers

Open the Waiver tab on Member Forms Settings.

Setting Up Your Waiver

1. Edit the Waiver Text, or use Reset to Default Template to start from ClearGym's template
2. Select Save Waiver and confirm

Saving changed text creates a new version, and ClearGym emails the members who signed before. The template is a starting point only: your gym is responsible for its waiver wording. The page warns you if the waiver is switched on but has no text, because members are then not asked to sign anything.

When Members Complete the Forms

A member with a login completes the forms in their onboarding steps, after their contact details:

1. The PAR-Q: Yes or No to every question
2. The waiver: read it and accept it

ClearGym records the date and the IP address of each. Staff cannot fill the forms in for a member who has a login: the member completes them online. If you change the waiver, members must sign the new version before they can book.

Members With No Login

A member with no login cannot use the online forms. Open their page and use PAR-Q and waiver on paper to record the date they completed the forms on paper. The paper stays at the gym: ClearGym keeps only the date, who recorded it and whether any answer was Yes. Until it is recorded, they cannot be booked in.

Reviewing Health Responses

Open Members, select a member, and open the Health & Safety section. Its heading shows a Health flag badge if one applies, and whether the waiver is signed.

Who Sees What

• Owner and manager: the full PAR-Q answers, the waiver, and the clearance notes
• Trainer: a flag, and which questions were answered Yes, only for a member booked into one of their own sessions and until 24 hours after it ends
• Front Desk: the flag only

Each time answers or a summary are opened, ClearGym records who looked in an audit log.

The PAR-Q Section

Owners and managers see each question with the answer, the date it was completed and the IP address. The Liability Waiver part shows the date and version signed, the IP address and View Waiver Text.

Flags and Medical Clearance

• A Yes to a question marked Flags Risk gives the member the status Pending review, and ClearGym emails the owners and managers. The member sees a plain note that a Yes does not by itself stop them booking, and they can still book
• An owner or manager reviews the answers and sets Medical clearance to Approved to train, Not cleared or Pending review, with optional notes, then selects Save clearance. The notes are encrypted
• Not cleared stops the member being booked into classes, by them or by staff. The member is shown your contact details. The decision is kept even after their health answers are deleted

Annual Re-screening

Health changes, so members answer again every year. This happens automatically and there is nothing to switch on.

1. From 35 days before the annual review is due, the member is emailed a reminder. It repeats about every 30 days, and monthly once it is overdue
2. A banner on the member's home page, Annual Medical Information Update, links to the form
3. The member answers every PAR-Q question again, and updates their health details
4. The earlier answers are archived

Keeping and Deleting Health Data

ClearGym deletes a member's health answers (PAR-Q, medical conditions, injuries, medications and allergies) automatically after their membership ends and they stop booking and training. Signed waivers and a "not cleared" decision are kept.

• On Member Forms Settings, the Config tab has Health data retention. The owner chooses Keep health data for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 years after leaving. The default is 1 year. Choose longer only if your insurer requires it
• Managers can see the setting but only the owner can change it
• Members are told this period on their health form
• To delete one member's health information sooner, for example if they withdraw consent, ask ClearGym support at [email protected]

One Person, Several Gyms

Health data belongs to one gym. A person who joins a second gym on ClearGym completes the forms again there, and nothing medical is shared between gyms.