Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa, at Yanuca, Fiji has commenced its Fire and Life Safety Awareness Training Programme beginning at Cuvu District School and Sigatoka Special School in March.
The training sessions was part of the resort’s Life Skills Outreach Programme incorporated into its Corporate Social Responsibility “Embrace” Project. The resort will also work with Nadroumai Primary School as part of the same Project. The team also carried out a full fire evacuation drill at Sigatoka Special School during which the fire alarm system donated and installed by the resort in 2011 was tested.
Under the leadership of the Resort’s Fire and Life Safety Manager Nemani Delaibatiki, the team spoke to students about the importance of fire and life safety and ways in which members of the community can take ownership of this not only in schools but also in their homes. During the three-hour sessions, a short lecture was delivered as well as a video on the risks and prevention of fires, before the Shangri-La Fire and Life Safety Team carried out practical demonstrations and “live” training sessions for students in the school grounds.
“We hope to encourage and spread the message regarding fire and life safety, not just in light of recent tragic fires here in our own community but also because we are all at risk in terms of access to fire services, particularly the more remote sections of our community here in Cuvu District,” said Michael Monks the resort’s general manager. “We have been fortunate enough that the Coral Coast family of hotels is now registered with the Ministry of Education, which now allows us to carry out training for such critical life skills.”
The Resort’s Fire and Life Safety Manager Nemani Delaibatiki, said, “ In our company, we place the highest priority on fire and life safety as well as security We are a 24-hour operation and we have a responsibility to be diligent around the clock. Through this training, we would like to share the knowledge we have so that people in our surrounding community are in a much better position to help themselves in the event that a fire occurs.
We hope that through this training as well as through collaboration with the National Fire Authority of Fiji, we will be able to build a team of fire wardens in our schools and raise awareness about prevention as well amongst the community.” Mr Delaibatiki went on to say that it was important to be proactive, rather than lament the fact that something could have been done after a fire has occurred. He further pointed out that the Resort’s Emergency Response Team had attended three major incidents in the immediate vicinity of the resort to assist the National Fire Authority.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts remains committed to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. In striving to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, a corporate-level CSR Committee drives the company’s initiatives in the strategic areas of stakeholder relations, the environment, health and safety, the supply chain and employees.
Under the umbrella of “sustainability,” Shangri-La’s social responsibility programme consists of the two elements of “embrace” and “sanctuary.” “Embrace” focuses on Shangri-La’s Caring People Project, which aims to promote the highest level of education and health support in underprivileged communities.
In “sanctuary,” the programme concentrates on Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Project, which promotes the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. For more information, please access the CSR section on www.shangri-la.com.
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