At Sonae Sierra, we are committed to implementing a zero accident culture and we seek to ensure that our stakeholders’ health is never at risk. The continuous work we carry out through our Personæ project, has led us to implement and promote our safe conduct and risk reduction practices within the shopping centre, which have had exceptional results. These practices include Safety Preventive Observation (SPO), that audits the company and identifies unsafe working conditions.

As well as SPOs we hold regular Health and Safety training sessions for all our employees, shop owners and service providers in all the countries where we are present, as well as regular Health and Safety Meetings with our local stakeholders.

We are also aware that all visitors to our shopping centres must, on no account, be at risk of any health and safety issues. Considering the number of visitors we have on a daily basis, we are committed to enforcing rigorous control of our emergency evacuation plans, as well as carrying out regular emergency drills.

In order to guarantee solid compliance with our Health and Safety measures, Sonae Sierra has chosen to implement a Health and Safety Management System and the company abides by all regulations in the OHSAS 18001 international guidelines. This system was certified in 2008 in corporate terms, and during the same year, Sonae Sierra’s first shopping centres in Portugal and Brazil were certified in Health and Safety in the Workplace. AlbufeiraShopping was awarded the OHSAS 18001 certificate in 2015.

According to Sonae Sierra’s Corporate Management System, AlbufeiraShopping is committed to developing and implementing Health and Safety policies, objectives and plans based on the current legislation and regulations and risk assessment, involving all people visiting or working at the shopping centre. Francisco Cid (Director of the shopping centre and also responsible for Health and Safety), together with the entire management team, is committed to implementing constant improvements to procedures, in order to provide a solid base for the future Certificate for Health and Safety in the Workplace.

Some of the most recent and/or important projects that have been developed in accordance with this plan are as follows:

• Implementing Safety Prevention Observation measures (within the public and technical areas as well as in each individual shop);
• Carrying out 2 drills per year, testing all predicted situations in the Internal Emergency Plan, such as fires, earthquakes, and flooding among others. Visitors and other external entities are invited to participate in one of these drills;
• Defining and monitoring “high-risk jobs” by issuing Work Permits;
• Implementing the Automatic External Defibrillation (AED) Programme;
• Positioning First Aid Kits in strategic locations throughout the technical areas as well as the public mall areas;
• Revising the shopping centre’s Safety Plan, as well as preparing all documentation necessary for Self-Protection Measures included in the legislation for “Fire Safety in Buildings”;
• Carrying out regular inspections of extraction systems (hoods) for all restaurants;
• Maintaining a Hygiene and Sanitation Auditing Programme;
• Celebrating the World Health and Safety in the Workplace Day, on 28th April, and raising awareness among employees and visitors alike, concerning accident prevention and work-related illnesses.

Francisco Cid, Director of AlbufeiraShopping, invites all visitors to enjoy the shopping centre in a safe and responsible way. For additional information regarding this subject call +351 289 598 430 or email info@adm.ccalbufeira.net.

Some of AlbufeiraShopping’s Health and Safety messages and activities:

For more information regarding our Health, Safety and Environment Policy, click here.