Safety Policy

Safety policy Business Taxis Limited t/a businesstaxis.com

Company safety policy

Our objectives

We are committed to ensuring the safety of our employees, customers and anyone else affected by our business activities. Our directors have the ultimate responsibility for safety in the business, and thereafter the responsibility is delegated though the business. We also recognise our legal and moral responsibility to ensure that the highest possible safety standards are applied to all contracted services in all the countries within which we operate. Safety is a management responsibility which ranks equally with responsibilities for sales, costs, and similar matters.

All our suppliers who are responsible for the operation of our services overseas and in the UK carry out their duties in accordance with our guidance and operation manuals. We constantly strive to improve our safety standards wherever appropriate.

Liability

The level of liability is laid out in clause 15 of our terms and conditions which are detailed below;

15.1 If the Service delivered by the Supplier is not what you ordered or is not performed with reasonable skill and care due to the fault of our employees, agents or suppliers, we will refund to you the price paid on behalf of the Supplier and, if the Service is not performed at all by the supplier, we will refund to you the price paid together with your reasonable costs incurred due to the failure. This is subject to clauses 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6 and 15.7 below.

15.2 We accept responsibility for death, injury or illness caused by the negligent acts and/or omissions of our employees or agents, the Supplier and sub contractors whilst acting within the scope of or in the course of their employment in the provision of the service. Please note however that we will not be liable for any injury, illness or death or consequent losses suffered by you or any member of your party where such injury, illness or death was not caused by lack of reasonable care/skill on our part or that of our suppliers in performing our obligations under the contract. We will accordingly pay to you such damages as are applicable in such circumstances under English Law.

15.3 We will not be responsible for any claim arising as a result of any or all of the following:-

the fault of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or
the fault of a third party not connected with the provision of the service which we could not have predicted or prevented or
the fault of anyone who is not carrying out work for us (generally or in particular) at the time or
an event or circumstance that we or the supplier(s) of the service in question could not have predicted or prevented. This may include (but is not limited to) an occurrence of force majeure as described in these booking conditions.

15.4 The Services are provided to you on behalf of the Supplier for private domestic use only. The contract between you and the Supplier is a consumer contract. Accordingly, neither us nor the Supplier accept no liability for any business loss (which includes without limitation any loss of contracts, loss of profits, loss of revenue or loss of anticipated savings in expenditure or any loss or corruption of data) however caused, even if foreseeable. These exclusions do not apply to any liability we may have for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence and for which our liability is unlimited.

15.5 If we are liable to you for any reason, our liability will be limited to the direct costs you incur which are a foreseeable consequence of our failure. This limit does not apply to any liability we may have for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence and for which our liability is unlimited.

15.6 We promise that all Services you purchase from our web site will be performed with reasonable skill and care and, as far as reasonably possible, in accordance with our agreement. We will do our best to ensure that all materials and information published on our web site are accurate, but regrettably errors do occur, and we reserve the right to rectify such errors before your booking is confirmed.

15.7 Nothing in these terms and conditions affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

Insurance cover

Although all the suppliers of our services have their own Public Liability Insurance which will always be the first point of recourse, we have taken the extra precaution of having an additional policy to these, to ensure that our passengers will be adequately compensated in the event of a serious accident whilst travelling with Business Taxis.

This policy is reviewed and renewed on an annual basis to ensure that it is appropriate for the requirements of our business.

Procedure for contracting suppliers

Acting as a disclosed agent for the suppliers we undertake a strict procedure for contracting with our suppliers, and audits are carried out prior to contracts being signed, in order to assess the suitability of each supplier. Contracts are then signed, with each supplier undertaking to adhere strictly to our policies. All contracts are subject to compliance with the requirements set out in this document, and provision of the appropriate operating licenses and suitable levels of public liability insurance. The specific duties of the supplier are clearly laid out in our contracts, to ensure that the services are conducted in a uniform and professional manner across all the countries in which we operate.

All suppliers agree to the following duties, amongst many others, under our contracts in relation to safety and procedure:

The Supplier agrees that it is under a duty at all times to act in good faith whilst acting as such an appointed Supplier.
The Supplier guarantees to provide fully roadworthy vehicles equipped with seat belts for every seat and to maintain a high level of service, also by third party suppliers. The Supplier will promptly advise us of any complaints received from clients
The Supplier will provide sufficient staff to ensure that the service is able to operate effectively and efficiently and will open the offices at all agreed hours.
It is the responsibility of the Supplier when negotiating with taxi suppliers, to ensure that the taxi company has the facility to confirm flight arrival times in order that the taxi is at the airport at the correct time. If a flight is delayed, it is the responsibility of the taxi company to be aware of the delay and make any alternate arrangements to collect the clients.
The Supplier agrees and certifies that all suppliers used comply fully with any national and local trade regulations or legislation and possesses all the necessary licenses and insurance policies as required by local law.
The Supplier agrees to ensure that we are made aware of any new local, regional or national legislation, which may have any effect on the operation of our business, as soon as it becomes known to them.
The Supplier agrees to guarantee that in the event of a local coach strike, all existing bookings made by us will be honoured. It is responsibility of the local supplier to inform us of any threat of local disruption in order to agree an appropriate course of action.

Such guarantees given by our suppliers ensure that the highest level of service is provided to our customers.

Quality control and safety audits.

Regular self assessment audits are carried out using forms that we provide to each supplier. Representatives from our company also often carry out site visits and undertake meetings with our suppliers to ensure that they are still operating in accordance with the high standards that we set.

Full safety audits are undertaken using our forms which are developed by our legal representatives and independent consultants. Safety audits will be carried out in all the destinations in which we operate.

Failure to maintain the required standards will result in removal from our list of approved suppliers. Our suppliers are also subject to additional site inspections at any time.

In depth supplier inspections will also be carried out in order to provide support and guidance in relation to meeting the standards which we set. During these visits, each supplier's self audit forms will be validated against our findings to ensure accuracy and consistency.

We will also, where appropriate, utilise the services of third party consultants to undertake inspections/assessments and provide advice.

Systems and monitoring procedures

Regular reviews of systems and procedures employed in the management of our safety policy are undertaken by appointed people including company directors.

All transportation provided for our customers must comply with the appropriate local safety regulations, as set down by that particular country's regulatory bodies. The suppliers continually monitor developments in the law to ensure our compliance with current legislation. For example, when changes occurred in relation to the use of child seats. Our suppliers were all notified immediately and procedures were put in place to accommodate the changes in the law quickly and efficiently.

All equipment provided by our suppliers which are available for hire by our customers, such as car seats, conforms to the appropriate standards and is regularly checked and maintained.

Procedure for emergencies

Each supplier has a designated telephone line that our customers can ring in the event of a problem or incident in relation to the service provided. In the event that the local supplier is not contactable then we supply an additional contact number to handle this emergency. We ensure that there is someone on hand to deal with any serious problems that may arise, and our staff are well trained in this respect.

To further promote safety whilst travelling, our suppliers, and the drivers of all our vehicles are given the authority through our terms and conditions to refuse carriage to any person who poses a threat to the safety of themselves or others due to their behaviour. The following clause is contained in the customer terms and conditions which all customers agree to at the time of booking. It gives our drivers the right to make an 'on the spot' decision in relation to the safety of their passengers.

Behaviour

12.1 The Supplier reserves the right within our reasonable discretion to terminate the transfer, if you or your party's conduct or behaviour is disruptive in any way and/or affects your safety or that of the driver of the vehicle. Neither us nor the Supplier accept liability for any extra costs incurred by you/or your party as a result of our doing so.

12.2 Passengers are not permitted to take alcoholic drinks onto the vehicles for the purpose of consuming them during the transfer journey. The Supplier further reserves the right to refuse carriage to any person who is thought to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

12.3 Any costs incurred by the supplier due to damage caused by the passenger must be repaid by the passengers. If this is not repaid in your destination prior to completing your inbound journey Airport to Hotel will collect this on behalf of the supplier.

For further information on safety issues, please contact us at our offices, Suite B, 2^nd Floor Moore House, 13 Black Lion Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1ND and we will be pleased to answer any further queries you may have.

Further information for our employees in relation to health and safety at work can be found in the staff manual.