Obtaining the certificates shows the correct way of work that pursues excellence and continuous improvement in the management of municipal beaches in which the West Coast Rescue company in charge of maintaining them plays a fundamental role
Santiago del Teide is in luck. Since yesterday, flags have been flying on the beaches of La Arena and Los Guíos de Los Gigantes in recognition of the certification of their quality and environmental management systems. These are the ISO flags, Q of Tourism Quality, and EMAS, the latter being the highest certification at the environmental level.
The flag raising ceremony was attended by the mayor, Emilio Navarro, Tourism Councillor Luz Goretti Gorrín, the head of the certification area of the multinational company SGS, Héctor González, different members of the government group, as well as the managers of the West Coast Rescue company in charge of the maintenance of both beaches.
The mayor, Emilio Navarro, pointed out that "it is not easy to reach this commitment of quality and that commitment to respect the environment, but we have achieved it, we have achieved it, and I think that at the national level there are few who can say that they have these 4 awards."
The ISO Standard, both 9001 and 14001, combine requirements in the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement, in this case applicable to the management of our beaches. ISO 9001 consists of the certification of quality management, in this case applicable on beaches, which implies compliance, among other requirements, the correct management of authorisations and legal permits for operating activities and services, monitoring of water quality, provision of prevention services, rescue, lifeguard, health care and assisted bathing.
On the other hand, the 14001 is the certification of environmental management, in this case applicable on beaches, related, among other aspects, to the control of the generation of waste and its storage, monitoring of hygienic-sanitary conditions, conservation of the natural environment and heritage and control of atmospheric and noise emissions.
The Q of Tourist Quality is a certification granted by the Spanish Institute of Tourism Quality (ICTE), which positions these beaches and the municipality as an example of quality in management. The establishments endorsed by the "Quality Q" have passed strict audits that ensure that their service provision is a guarantee of quality, safety and professionalism. It is a badge that gives prestige, gives reliability to both residents and visitors and helps in tourism promotion.
In addition, these beaches have obtained EMAS certification from the SGS certification company, which verifies that efficient environmental management has been carried out, following the European EMAS Regulation. EMAS is a system made available to organisations that wish to evaluate and improve their environmental performance and disseminate information related to their environmental management to the public and other interested parties. The certificate is managed by the Member States of the European Union and is conceived as a market system.
The specific objective of EMAS is to promote the implementation of Environmental Management Systems; the systematic, objective and periodic evaluation of the functioning of management systems; the dissemination of information on the environmental behaviour of the organisation; open dialogue with stakeholders and the training of the organization's personnel in a professional and permanent way, which leads to active involvement in the improvement of environmental behaviour.
