Customer health and safety

Our customers' health and safety is of the utmost importance to us. We want everyone who takes their holidays with us to be able to relax in the knowledge that they will be well looked after.

Our Board of Directors has a Health, Safety and Environment Committee and we have a Group-wide Health and Safety Policy, as well as Group-wide safety standards, the Thomas Cook Group Preferred Practice (TCGPP). These are minimum standards relating to resort accommodation, transport to and from destination airports and excursions. Our strategy reflects best practice from within the organisation while recognising that operations in different locations are subject to varying local legislation.

In 2010, we began developing a Group-wide health and safety database. This system will hold details of all our holiday accommodation, completed assessments and audits, recommended activities, incident records and management information, enabling a robust continual improvement programme across our Group portfolio.

Customers are reminded of the precautions they can take to reduce health and safety risks through information provided in our brochures, with their tickets, on our flights and in our resorts. In addition, we monitor public health issues, working with international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and advise customers on appropriate actions. We also ask customers to let us know about any safety concerns or incidents, which are always investigated thoroughly to prevent reoccurrence.

Reflecting our commitment to the highest standards, the Thomas Cook UK Health and Safety and Quality Assurance departments have been accredited to the international standard, ISO 9001.

Flights

All Thomas Cook Group airlines are tightly regulated and represent minimal safety risk. Those in the UK, Germany and Belgium are also accredited to the International Air Transport Association's Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). This is the benchmark for aviation safety worldwide, and it requires airlines to meet 912 standards. Our UK airline is also working towards the European Aviation Safety Management System requirements, which all UK airlines must achieve by April 2012. The safety departments of the Group's various airlines are working together to adopt best practice in safety procedures and reporting. Similarly, any charter airlines used in our packages are assessed to ensure the safety of our customers while in their care.

Transfers

When our customers arrive at their destinations, coach and minibus operators may transfer them to their accommodation. Increasingly, our various companies use the same transport providers, enabling us to encourage them to take up our preferred safety practices. Additionally, Thomas Cook UK's 'CoachSafe' procedures ensure coaches meet specific safety standards. These include guidance from the Federation of Tour Operators' (FTO) Preferred Codes of Practice, and incorporate requirements on aspects including ongoing maintenance and roadworthiness.

Accommodation

At holiday accommodation, our health and safety efforts focus on hygiene, fire, fuel, Legionella and pool safety, as well as general safety in and around the property, including balconies and lifts. Our accommodation suppliers must meet local safety legislation as well as the Thomas Cook Group preferred practices, which are included in their contracts, and are required to work towards best practice standards such as the EU Fire Safety Recommendations.

In light of illness experienced by customers travelling with various operators to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, we have collaborated with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and the FTO recently to investigate the sources. The Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Health are reviewing the results and we expect further action to follow.

If properties are affected by incidents such as hurricanes or earthquakes, their safety status is rechecked and we wait until government restrictions have been lifted before offering these destinations to our customers again.

Our Group Auditing Protocol, a key deliverable of the Group Health and Safety Strategy, was introduced across our charter programme in summer 2010. Where hazards have been identified, we either impose measures to mitigate the risks or withdraw the property from our brochures. While we endeavour to inspect properties personally wherever feasible, we do sometimes rely on assessments by the accommodation's management.

At our own hotels, independent consultants are used to monitor health and safety performance, in addition to reviews and audits performed by our health and safety teams. SENTIDO and Hi! Hotels follow the FTO Preferred Codes of Practice. Sunwing resorts and hotels, part of Thomas Cook Northern Europe, work with Check Safety First, whose consultants use the Cristal HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points). This system was developed specifically for monthly inspections of hotels. At their awards for 2009, Cristal gave accolades to 11 Sunwing hotels.

Excursions

We require our excursion and activity operators to have the necessary licences and insurance. Our strategy introduced preferred practices for all Group excursion providers. Thomas Cook UK and other FTO members have developed audit protocols for assessing the safety of various excursion types.

Training

All our employees who are required to complete health and safety assessments in resorts are given detailed training to ensure our records are completed accurately. To complete the audit forms used by Thomas Cook UK, employees must first achieve qualifications covering issues including environmental health, food safety, risk management, fire safety, Legionella's disease prevention, pool plant operation and gas safety.

Our employees who work with children must have childcare qualifications appropriate to the age of the children they are working with, or professional work experience of up to six months, and have passed the relevant assessments such as the Criminal Records Bureau check in the UK. Our UK Child Protection Policy guides staff in the event of an incident involving a child overseas, while our KidsWORLD hotels are working to implement Ofsted childcare guidelines, which surpass those required by law in many of our destinations. In 2009, we introduced our National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 3 in play work, and our team is currently striving towards the certification required to meet changes in UK legislation that come into force in 2011.

Reporting and performance

We are currently working to achieve greater consistency in our customer incident and illness reporting across our different businesses. At present, we are unable to provide full-year data, but can compare January to September for the past two years. During this period, the total number of reported incidents and illnesses increased. However, this is due to improved reporting practices, and the number of fatalities fell by over 50%. The category of 'Other product-related fatalities' covers any fatality related to the holiday product excluding the previous three categories. A fatal slip on an excursion or in a hotel would be included here, for example. While every death is of course deeply regrettable, it is important to remember that the figures here represent a tiny proportion of the millions of customers who holiday with us.

Product-related fatalities

Reporting period: 1 January – 30 September

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