Health & Safety discussions are shown to cause more eyerolls than any other workplace topic

November 19, 2019

By Felix Borenstein

“Health and Safety” might not sound as sexy as “luxury accommodation” or “stunning food and wine” but you can bet that keeping our guests safe and well is pretty darned important to them. Which makes it even more important to us.

That’s why we invited New Zealand accreditation agency Qualmark to audit our Health & Safety Plan and let us know what they thought. Their assessment: Gold Standard. And you don’t argue with Qualmark.

You probably know us well enough by now to know we’re all about Plans B, C, D and E. We try to prepare for every possible contingency—whether that’s an accident, medical emergency or something Mother Nature’s thrown at us. Here are some of the safeguards we have in place to ensure everyone returns home safely and well after their stay at Owen River Lodge:

In the field
• All guides hold First Aid qualifications
• Every guide carries a safety pack containing a First Aid kit, satellite phone and emergency space blankets
• We keep a supply of epiPens in case of allergic reactions

At the Lodge
• In the event of power loss, our 35kVA diesel backup generator will run our entire operation for over 10 days
• We have access to a secondary water supply, should our main supply be compromised
• There’s an automated defibrillator on site

No-one likes to consider the possibility of anything going wrong on their holiday. We don’t like it either but as responsible hosts, it’s our job to identify risks and plan for the worst, while hoping for the best. We’ve done our best to prepare and equip the Lodge to deal with everything short of a Zombie Apocalypse (and even then, we reckon we’d make a pretty good showing).

So relax in the knowledge that our Health & Safety procedures have the highest endorsement for quality, enjoy your stay at Owen River Lodge, and don’t worry. Your health

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