Environment
The Hairy Coo recognises that in pursuit of our business goals we have a responsibility to ensure that our practices minimise any adverse environmental impact. We aim to promote the use of environmentally sound resources and discourage wasteful or damaging practices. We ask all Hairy Coo employees adhere to these guidelines and to promote an environmentally sustainable workplace which we implement through induction and training and communicate guidelines through our online HR system, People HR. We aim to encourage initiative and adopt best practice for the benefit of our employees and the environment as a whole.
We also recognise our responsibilities and obligations to be mindful of the environment and to and to seek always to minimize any avoidable unacceptable adverse impacts of our operations through positive environmental controls. On a whole, as an organisation, The Hairy Coo does not generate any by-products that might be considered harmful to the environment.
Any promotional material for The Hairy Coo is made on recycled paper.
PAT Testing
We have our annual PAT Testing of all electrical equipment within the office and the yard in January carried out by Hawksworth Appliance Testing Ltd.
Our Fleet
One of our current operational goals is to obtain accreditation from EcoStars’ sustainable transport scheme. Ecostars is a European-wide voluntary scheme to provide recognition and guidance on environmental best practice to operators of goods vehicles, buses and coaches. The scheme recognises operational and environmental performance and aims to reduce the energy used by all types of transport fleets by encouraging more efficient operations in reducing fuel costs and emissions.
We use Adblue on our vehicles to help reduce nitrous oxide emissions produced by diesel engines. AdBlue is vital to make sure diesel engines pass tests and produce less harmful pollution into the environment. Our daily bus cleaning products do not contain bleach.
Our vehicles are current and modern, and the oldest vehicle is registered in mid-2016 and we ideally look to change our vehicles approximately every 4 years.
Systems and Procedures
We replaced our previous manual bus defects records with a system called VEHO which is an electronic vehicle defect recording and management system to eliminate the need for extensive paperwork production. It still ensures our compliance and is approved by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). The software gives us the tools to note defects, record PMI Checks and schedule preventative maintenance. This is a huge positive both environmentally but also in the overall efficiency of our organisation.
The Veho system is installed on each driver-guide iPad which are stored in the bus yard. The bus checks are carried out as part of our pre-tour procedure and the responsibility of each of our driver-guides. The Transport Manager has overall system access and can monitor the fleet of vehicles efficiently, track defects and maintenance work required online.
Each driver-guide takes an iPad with them on tour. They use this as a check-in system for guests on each day tour. Guests are not required to print anything off in order to board their scheduled tour, and we actively discourage them from printing their tickets.
Tour rotas are accessed via our online system TeamUp which enables the driver-guides to access their shifts and request time off. Each driver-guide has access to this via their smartphone device and also the tour iPads.
Our Office
We operate within a serviced Pure Offices building and therefore have limited control over energy usage and tariffs. We hold a copy of the Pure Offices Environmental Policy and the Licensee Handbook.
We aim to continuously improve our behaviour in the hierarchy of reducing, reusing, and recycling materials to “green our office”.
Office cleaning is carried out by Asset Cleaning Ltd. We hold a copy of their Environmental Policy Statement on file.
The tea we provide our employees is Rainforest Alliance Certified and the coffee and hot chocolate provided is free trade.
Recycling points are available to employees both in The Hairy Coo office and surrounding communal areas.
