Cape Grace believes that ensuring the health, safety, security and environmental impact of each of its employees, guests, visitors, contractors, and suppliers is critical to the success of the business. Health, safety, security and responsible tourism and environmental practices are adhered to according to local legislation and statutory requirements.
To achieve these standards and look beyond the obvious, we founded the Cape Grace Planet Committee. The committee’s main goal is to drive environmental awareness through the support of responsible tourism practices, while simultaneously maintaining exceptional service levels and guest satisfaction.
Not only do we want you to have every indulgent experience imaginable at Cape Grace, but we want to make sure this is achieved responsibly.
ECONOMIC & SOCIAL
We acknowledge that as a result of the legislative, social and economic inequalities of the past, we have an obligation to address the differences that exist in South Africa. We strive to effect broad based economic transformation through training and skills development, enterprise development, job creation and procurement.
We are committed to promoting a better quality of life for all with particular attention to social integration, especially with issues such as health, child protection and women empowerment.
The personal well-being of all our staff is very important, which is why the Peer Educators program is in place. Certain employees have been selected to become Peer Educators in terms of Cape Grace’s Employee Wellbeing Program. Their duties include but are not limited to initiating discussions regarding staff welfare; identifying any well-being issues related to HIV/AIDS and initiating and arranging staff training with regards to HIV/AIDS.
Salt is a registered non-profit and public benefit community outreach organisation, affiliated to the Assembly of God Church in the Cape Town suburb of Table View. They work with other faith based organisations in order to bring change and uplift the local community. Cape Grace has chosen to financially support this organisation in their various feeding projects.
We’ve also aligned ourselves with the Desmond Tutu HIV /Aids Foundation which is run in association with the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine. By using a combination of academic expertise and social activism, the foundation is involved in a number of initiatives. Cape Grace is proud to be associated with an organisation that tackles HIV/AIDS head-on.
ENVIRONMENTAL
We recognise that we have an impact on the environment due to the consumption of energy, water and other resources used throughout our daily operations, as well as indirectly through our supplier chain. Therefore we are committed to reducing the harmful environmental and social impact of our operations.
Cape Grace recently became a proud member of the Heritage Environmental Management Company and attained a silver classification for our environmental management systems in place. Heritage has been established to provide business operators with an effective environmental management and certification solution designed to reduce and limit the impact that their operations have on their environment. Heritage incorporates the standards of seven international programmes in a three-tiered approach to sustainable and responsible operations.
Our vision is to be responsible towards the environment and local community by adopting initiatives that encourage sustainability.
Our mission
• Comply fully with environmental legislation
• Minimise our use of energy and materials
• Provide our employees with training and resources required to
increase their environmental awareness
• Monitor our environmental impact
• Contribute towards community development
Current Initiatives
Energy
• Lights and air conditioning units are only switched on
for arrival and occupied rooms
• Energy-efficient globes
• Weight sensitive elevators
• Insulation on pipes and boilers
• The use of natural light is encouraged
Water
• Indigenous water-wise plants
• Jacuzzi filtration
• Low-flow shower heads
• During swimming pool drainage, the water is stored in several
pods until the pool need to be re-filled, instead of disposing of
all the water (100 000 liters)
Waste
• Shredded paper is used in packaging instead of plastic
• Paperless marketing
• Outdated and broken computers are donated to Footprints
E-waste
• Flower refuse is used off-site for compost
• Kitchen oil is collected and recycled into biodiesel
• On site sorter separates recyclables to minimize dumping waste
• Recycling of:
Printer / photocopier cartridges
Cardboard and paper
Plastic
Glass
Cans
Used batteries
• Spa products are environmentally friendly and not tested on
animals with the product manufacturers involved in carbon
offset programs
• Staff are encouraged to bring batteries and globes from home
to be disposed of in a responsible manner
EDUCATION & AWARENESS
Planet Committee
The Planet committee is committed to increasing environmental awareness among staff members. They achieve this by making use of various initiatives, such as competitions, articles in the staff newsletter, meetings and posters.
Employee Assistance Program
Cape Grace has an extensive Employee Assistance Program in place. From helping staff members to find a psychologist to providing them with debt counseling advice, help is always at hand.
Training
The hotel employs a full-time trainer whose sole purpose it is to provide training across all operational areas. This includes general training on Cape Grace to specific food and beverage training. Widespread training is also provided in areas such as Computer Literacy, First Aid, Health and Safety and Emergency Response.
Internship Program
Students who study hotel management are employed on 6 month internship programs that cover a multitude of areas within the hotel in order to gain practical, first-hand knowledge of the hospitality industry. They are integrated into the operation of the hotel in much the same way as permanent employees so that they experience the real work environment.
Trainees are managed by a senior operational manager and tailor-made programs are set for each student according to school requirements as well as individual preferences. Evaluation from both school and hotel ensures students’ optimal growth and development.
