The Claridge Hotel, Argentina — Photo by Check Safety First

Check Safety First has made its first foray into the South American market, deploying its health and safety risk management audit system to five Eurostars hotels in Argentina.

The Catalinas Suites, The Hotel Colón, The Corncorde, The Claridge and The Cataratas will all use the company's web-based auditing system, E-Cristal to standardise, manage and improve hygiene standards. The system will be supported by monthly unannounced audits and ongoing advice from Check Safety First's trained auditors.

South America is growing as a tourist destination and Check Safety First's work with these hotels will give the company an important foothold in the market.

"We have experienced a growth in visitors to our hotel in recent years. Working with Check Safety First will help us to maintain this momentum and increase repeat visits by ensuring that we can provide the highest quality of service," explains Eurostars Hotels.

"Working with these five hotels is a significant step for us as South America is a massive continent with exciting tourism prospect, and we are recruiting staff locally. Moving forward, we will look to recruit more partner hotels and increase our staff headcount," explains Mark Harrington, CEO at Check Safety First.

Once each hotel has successfully demonstrated and maintained a high standard of hygiene using the E-Cristal system, it will be listed on www.checksafetyfirst.com, the only site to provide the travelling public with access to a database of venues that have obtained high standards.

About Check Safety First

Check Safety First supplies health and safety risk management audit systems to hotels, holiday properties and restaurants around the world.

The company enables these organisations to meet and exceed local and international legislative and best practice requirements for health and safety, through the implementation of HACCP and compliance management systems. Check Safety First also offers training, ongoing assessment and appraisals in accordance with the Cristal Mark, a standard developed in line with World Health Organisation's guidelines and the benchmark for food safety since its launch in 1997.

In November 2007 the company launched Via Cristal, a health and safety system developed specifically for overseas holiday properties. Based on the best practice principles of the Cristal Mark, Via Cristal enables property owners to mitigate the risk of guests becoming unwell or injured during their time in the accommodation by providing comprehensive health and safety guidelines backed by annual audits.

All hotels and holiday homes that meet the company's stringent criteria are listed on www.checksafetyfirst.com, the only resource which provides the travelling public with access to a database of venues that have obtained health and safety excellence.

Check Safety First is a member of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's 'Know Before You Go' campaign and an ABTA Travel partner. The company's global network is headquartered at The Wine Warehouse, The Back, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, NP16 5HH, UK.

Hannah Humphreys
0118 988 2992