INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION - ISO

HOW DID ALPACA EXPEDITIONS BECOME ISO-CERTIFIED?

The process of becoming ISO-certified began with the implementation of the QUALITY MANAGEMENT, ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT, ADVENTURE TOURISM SAFETY MANAGEMENT, and OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, jointly known as the INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IMS). Senior management communicated to all staff and personnel the decision to implement said management system. In doing so, specific staff members were delegated as supervisors of each system, while the rest of the staff voted on their representative for occupational health and safety.

To provide and establish parameters for quality of service provision, protection of the environment, health, and safety of workers and clients, senior management drafted and established an IMS policy that considers its commitment to all parties involved. Thus reconfirming its commitment to creating safe working environments, and providing safe services to all travelers.

ALPACA EXPEDITIONS set objectives and goals to comply with the commitments set forth in its IMS policy. It also analyzed the risks and opportunities of its processes, and identified the current controls and controls to be implemented to reduce the risk of impact on its operations. Likewise, it carried out the identification of hazards, risk assessment, and controls through the established system stipulated by law IPERC (Identificacion de Peligros, Evaluacion de Riesgos y Controles) for each job position, as well as for the different routes in which it operates. It is important to mention that all staff was the main source of participation for the mapping of activities so that improvements in the management system could be identified.

Senior management, in commitment to the implemented IMS, performed a review to identify the level of compliance with the objectives, monitor the review of non-conformities and IMS guidelines. In verifying the implementation of its IMS, ALPACA EXPEDITIONS carried out several internal audits of its processes. Once determined that the company was in full compliance with the established IMS, an external audit to become ISO-certified.

What is it for and how are processes applied at work?

The quality management system will allow us to gain loyalty to our customers and increase their level of satisfaction by providing a service that exceeds the expectations of each client, with the follow-up and fulfillment of IMS processes.
The environmental management system will allow us to achieve the minimum environmental impact in our natural environment, through the commitments assumed by ALPACA EXPEDITIONS with the protection of the environment through the management of the environmental risks associated with the activity we develop.
The occupational health and safety management system makes it possible to analyze the dangers inherent in the activities of Alpaca Expeditions workers and thus be able to apply controls to reduce the level of risks; in the same way, it carries out an identification of dangers in the activities that it offers as a service in the trekking modality, for which ALPACA EXPEDITIONS offers a safe adventure tourism service for its clients.

ALPACA EXPEDITIONS IS NOW ISO-CERTIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS

• ISO 9001:2015 – QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS certified by Bureau Veritas
• ISO 14001:2015 – ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS certified by Bureau Veritas
• ISO 21101: 2014 – ADVENTURE TOURISM – SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS certified by NQA
• ISO 45001:2018 – OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (OHS) MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS certified by Bureau Veritas
• CARBON FOOTPRINT certified by the Ministry of Environment of Peru

ALPACA EXPEDITIONS: INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IMS) has been implemented by Alpaca Expeditions to establish processes and methodologies to follow in the day-to-day of our productive – operational activity. Having established this IMS has allowed Alpaca Expeditions to optimize the available resources, improve the organization, obtain a reduction in costs and improve the performance of the company.
The implementation of the IMS is of benefit to our clients who trust ALPACA EXPEDITIONS in the planning and execution of UNIQUE, NOVELTY and MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES during their travels in Peru.

The main benefits of the implemented IMS are:

• Recognize the progress made by the company in terms of quality, Environment, Safety, Health at work, and Safety in Adventure Tourism.
• Strengthen the participation of our collaborators – which allows us to have a work environment that favors the job satisfaction of our workers and therefore contributes to productivity in our organization.
• Increase the participation of customers and suppliers which involves an improvement in the routines and technical processes of the organization, and affects the work environment and customers.
• Decrease in costs. Audit costs are less since they can be carried out jointly. You can take advantage of documentation, structures, common resources, etc.
• Improve company control, as well as activities or processes.
• Active participation in the improvement of quality of service, environmental factors, occupational health & safety and safety in adventure tourism.

9001:2015 QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ISO

The implementation of a quality management system in ALPACA EXPEDITIONS has allowed us to provide a service that exceeds the expectations of the client, as well as the satisfaction of the service provided. It is important to mention that in order to achieve our objectives we map our processes in which we identify our strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SWOT) and proceed to analyze our risks and opportunities.
The processes of ALPACA EXPEDITIONS are as follows:

STRATEGIC PROCESSES

• Management of the direction: The high management of ALPACA EXPEDITIONS led the implementation of the quality management system, preventing the fulfillment of the stated objectives, as well as providing the necessary resources.
• Integrated Management System: Tracked the activities scheduled for all processes.

KEY PROCESSES

• Sales and Booking Management: From the first contact we provide quality information so that you can choose the service that meets your requirements and you can have an unforgettable experience.
• Customer service: There is an area specialized in customer service and follow up on your requirements, thus providing a timely response to what is requested.
• Operations: The operations area carries out a planning of activities so that the service we provide to our client complies with the agreed dates.
• Service closure: We are responsible for providing a quality service so it is important for us that our client has a good appreciation of our service from the first contact.

SUPPORT PROCESSES

• Human Resource Management: We have a qualified staff with experience in their responsibilities; ALPACA EXPEDITIONS also trains its staff to meet the client’s expectations.
• General service management: We carry out maintenance to our facilities in such a way that our service from the first visit is comfortable.
• Maintenance management: Part of the service we provide we are responsible for the care of the environment that transports them so we have a preventive and corrective maintenance program.
• Logistics Management: We have suppliers that comply with the quality management guidelines to provide a good service.
• Financial Management: Our management allows us to make correct use of our resources.
• Legal Management: In accordance with what our management system requires, we comply with the legal regulations applicable to ALPACA EXPEDITIONS.
• Systems Management: For us it is important that our information and our customers’ information is safe.

ISO 14001:2015 - ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

The goal of implementing this ISO is to achieve the most minimal environmental impact in our natural environment.
Our organization is committed to protecting the environment through the management of environmental risks associated with the activities we carry out by having the following

Activities:

• Annual reforestation campaigns.
• Cleaning campaigns on different tourist routes.
• Solid waste management plan.
• Saving water and energy.
• Minimization of the use of plastics in our operations.
• Recycling and reusing of paper.
• Constant training for our collaborators in environmental aspects and impacts are stipulated by law.

ISO 21101: 2014 - ADVENTURE TOURISM - SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

ALPACA EXPEDITIONS is always seeking to establish models that allow for the guarantee of the safety of each of our clients through our services. For this reason, Alpaca Expeditions is responsible for the SAFETY OF ADVENTURE TOURISM in the trekking modality and has identified the dangers, and risks and has applied controls according to the geography, modality, and activities that correspond to each Inca Trail route and alternative routes. In doing so, Alpaca Expeditions has implemented the following:

• Contingency plans that contribute to immediate action and mitigation of possible unwanted consequences.
• Hazard identification, risk assessment, and controls – IPERc: we have identified the dangers and risks in all the trekking routes in which we operate. Thus, we have controls implemented according to the geography, modality and activities that correspond to each Inca Trail route and alternative routes in order to eliminate, reduce and prevent risks.
• Safety regulations are established for each employee with the necessary guidelines to carry out their activities.
• Highly trained staff

Likewise, we follow up with our different providers in order to provide a safe service.
Finally, it is relevant for ALPACA EXPEDITIONS to provide corporate value to our clients through security. To do so, Alpaca Expeditions is committed to

• Improving security performance
• Providing security to our clients in our operations
• Meeting the safety expectations of Clients and support staff
• Demonstrating safe practices
• Complying with applicable legal requirements

The benefits of implementing ISO 21101: 2014 at Alpaca Expeditions include:

• Provides protection for adventure tourism activities.
• It allows introducing improvements in the processes, in order to identify and control the risks of each one of the adventure activities.
• Increase efficiency and customer satisfaction.
• Improve and standardize products and services.
• Boost organizational image.

ISO 45001:2018 - OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (OHS) MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS: aims to help businesses provide a safe work environment for workers and anyone in the workplace. It focuses on mitigating any factor that is harmful or poses a risk to the physical and mental well-being of workers.

ALPACA EXPEDITIONS is an organization committed to the well-being of its workers. Thus, it has implemented an occupational health and safety management system and has committed its workers to adopt these policies in order to avoid accidents. Likewise, each ALPACA EXPEDITIONS worker recognizes the dangers to which they are exposed, analyzes the risk, and applies the controls as appropriate. Workers contribute ideas to improve the management system as well.
It is also important to mention that all the workers are represented by an OSH supervisor to whom they inform and report their observations on issues of safety and health at work.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

CARBON FOOTPRINT is a tool of the Ministry of the Environment of Peru that aims to promote and recognize the effort of public and private organizations that evaluate and recognize their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through calculations, evaluation, and reduction in its various processes, for the growth of the country in a sustainable, profitable and low-carbon way.

Studying the carbon footprint reveals possibilities for improvement not only at a communicative or social level within the company but also at an economical level in our operations. Considering the environment improves the internal processes of the company and, consequently, optimizes its resources, reducing total expenses.

Alpaca Expeditions is part of the CARBON FOOTPRINT registry in the Ministry of Environment in Peru. As a company, we have verified and calculated the emission of greenhouse gases in our different activities.

The Carbon Footprint calculation has been carried out through:

• Identification of GHG emission sources in our activities.
• Review of the information collected for quality control.
• Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Drafting of a carbon footprint report.

Why is the Carbon Footprint certificate important for Alpaca Expeditions?

• It allows us to identify the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in our operations, and in turn, allows us to define objectives for reducing identified GHG emissions.
• Boosts our environmental responsibility by which we can explain the measure taken by Alpaca Expeditions to promote the reduction of GHG emissions. Thus, directly and positively affecting the perception that our clients have about our organization.