WHITE FLAG NATIONAL STANDARD Hotel Leisure Facilities

Ireland Active is… A members representative body A not for profit organisation, limited by guarantee To provide support and services to professionalise our industry through standards and best practice To develop synergies to engage More People I More Active I More Often

The White Flag National Standard is a leisure industry management framework for best practice and industry standards. 3 Sections: Safety Hygiene, Maintenance & Environment Customer Service 2 Awarding levels: - Diamond - Emerald Open to any Ireland Active facility member

Benefits of participating Protect the Industry's reputation Provide best practice guidelines to your business Protect your brand & reputation Ensuring water quality standards and good pool management Manage energy and water costs effectively Benchmark against your peers

PROCESS Register online - All applications are made on line www.irelandactive.ie Login details for application will be provided to every current member Complete and submit application Provisional status of award– pending verification audit Verification Audit Surveillance Audit – unannounced - a random selection throughout 2014/15

COMPLETING THE APPLICATION FORM Criteria are broken down into questions and are laid out with Yes/No options A selection of criteria are mandatory and must be attained in order to be eligible for entry (e.g. Garda Vetting) When questions have been answered at each level, the higher level questions become active ‘Save answer’ function is available throughout the process up to your final submission Once you have submitted your application, you cannot amend the data and no further evidence will be considered- no non conformances going forward

REPORTING Results are generated automatically and can be downloaded and printed for your records League table – post awards ceremony a comprehensive breakdown of results will be available on the Ireland Active website If the auditor’s findings do not comply in full with the submitted application, you can only be awarded points for the evidence that is presented on the day of the audit

POINTS TO NOTE All criteria at emerald level must be attained in order to achieve the standard – 100% At diamond level 70% must be attained across the criteria – NO non conformances On submission of application, your provisional status will be determined. This is pending, subject to verification audit Cost 750 Euro payable on application - payment methods: credit card and PayPal only

Facility Responsibility White Flag Coordinator Facility Manager Each facility should appoint a coordinator to be the point of contact for all issues relating to White Flag National Standard The facility manager should be aware and be responsible for submission of the completed application Facility for continuous improvement action plan following your application submission

Ireland Active’s Role White Flag Point of Contact - Suzanne Murphy Auditors – ISO 9001 Trained Jury – Independent panel of industry experts Appeals Process – see FAQs

Annual Awards Ceremony Location: Galway (Oct/Nov) All facilities will be awarded their 2014 White Flag National Standard awards Industry recognition awards in the following sectors: Leisure* Hotel* Accessibility Supplier of the year award (*Award via automatically generated league table)

Thank you… For taking the time to attend this briefing For listening Q &A