Mercury Travel · Guideline
Leadership and Management
Top leadership commitment to the safety management system (SMS).
Understanding Activities and Risks
- Leadership (Mark and Ravit Abraham) demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of operations. Ravit, as primary tour manager, collaborates with overseas agencies to create and fine-tune itineraries for guided tours and DOC walks.
- Ravit coordinates daily with third-party providers, ensuring familiarity with all tour components — transport, accommodation and activities such as the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Lake Matheson walks. Mark supports this through business development, ensuring provider partnerships align with tour objectives.
- Risks such as weather disruption to DOC walks (e.g. heavy rain at Punakaiki) or transport delays are identified and mitigated with providers. Mark ensures third-party providers adhere to safety standards where possible.
- Participant safety risks on guided tours are assessed with highly experienced guides who know all tracks and activities, dealing with potential hazards proactively. A daily morning check is completed against the Tour Guide Safety and Operational Checklist.
Resource Allocation and Verification
- Appropriate resources are made available to establish, implement, maintain and continually improve the SMS — including software for itinerary management and provider coordination, overseen daily by Ravit.
- Providers are required to have safety equipment (first-aid kits, communication devices), stored on the buses and carried by the guide on all walks.
- Ravit verifies the situation of each group daily with guides and ensures safety protocols are followed — by phone before the group leaves the hotel each day.
- Mark regularly reviews resource effectiveness, such as software performance for real-time coordination, and ensures all guides have access to the necessary documents so the SMS operates efficiently.
Leadership and Policy Actions
- Mark and Ravit have approved a formal safety management policy outlining commitments to safe guided tours and DOC walks.
- The policy specifies third-party provider standards, participant safety guidelines and procedures for real-time incident management.
- The importance of effective safety management and conforming to the SMS is communicated to staff, participants, contractors and other relevant parties.
- Ravit communicates through daily briefings with guides and drivers, and provides guides with safety guides before tours covering DOC walk conditions and emergency procedures.
- Ravit requires daily safety updates from providers, reviewing issues such as weather-related delays or participant injuries. Mark reviews summaries every three months to assess trends.
- Mark ensures third-party providers meet legal requirements (guide certifications, vehicle safety standards), primarily by working with Qualmark companies; Ravit's daily oversight ensures tours align with SMS objectives such as incident-free operations and participant safety.
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