Qualmark New Zealand has been named an approved audit provider
for the Adventure Activities regulations by the Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Qualmark's General Manager Tim Keeling says this means any
Qualmark Endorsed Visitor Activity is automatically approved as
satisfying the Ministry's Adventure Activities' regulatory
requirements without the need for further costly auditing.
"Qualmark businesses have clearly demonstrated their commitment
to quality and safety, and we feel this is a positive step which
will be welcomed by tourism operators already facing increased
compliance obligations," he says.
"Our focus is on working with the industry to seek ways we can
maximise the value of quality assurance, and this recognition of
the Qualmark endorsement provides just that."
A Qualmark Visitor Activity assessment considers all aspects of
business practice and customer experience, including a safety
provision. As such, the Ministry has decided that no additional
auditing is required for Qualmark licence holders to meet the
safety requirements.
The Qualmark status as an approved audit provider is valid at
this stage until 31 December 2012.
An interim list of approved audit providers was released
yesterday (30 July) by MBIE.
The Ministry is taking a staged approach to registration and
will be undertaking further work to determine which safety auditing
providers will be recognised to provide safety audit certificates
for the purposes of the regulations beyond 31 December 2012.
The Adventure Activities regulations require all adventure
activity operators providing activities designed to deliberately
expose participants to a risk of serious harm, to undergo a safety
audit by a recognised auditor and be registered by the end of
2014.
For more information please visit the Health and Safety section
of the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation website http://www.osh.govt.nz/law/adventure-activities/index.asp