The national seminar was held the 29th September 2015 in Sant Cugat del Vallès, at the multinational company ISS Facility Services’ premises.
Mr. Joaquim Borràs, the President of the Iberia Branch of ISS Facility Services, came to greet the participants to the national seminar. He explained that CSR is implemented deep inside all ISS processes, and if ISS has a global recognition is because of CSR. They are not better or cheaper than others; they take in account all the stakeholders (employees, competitors, environment, local communities, providers, customers…) and treat them trying to give back to the system a part of what they have received. This make them grow every day.
Ms. Irene Ruiz, member of the plenary body of the Chamber of Commerce of Terrassa and director of two of the existing hotels in Terrassa, welcome the attendees on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Terrassa, and explained that restoration sector is a hard place to work in, but it gives lots of satisfaction. She explained how she came to get the position of director of hotel, with great sacrifice, training, and trusting on her team.
Mrs. Marta Torrents, General Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Terrassa and Maite Oliveras, Assistant, explained what has been done in the RESPONS project during these two years of activity. They explained the EQF, the Virtual Map, and the learning space, composed by the on-line and the printable versions of the e-Handbook. Participants could see the project RESPONS webpage and a general overview of all RESPONS products. They really appreciate that the webpage was translated in different languages, so that give them the chance of knowing specific vocabulary in other languages.
Mr. Ramon Folch, CSR Director of ISS Facility Services Group extended the explanations that Mr. Borras had started at the beginning of the seminar. He explained different examples of best practices that they are carrying out, explained the origins of CSR and his importance and he put the accent on what they call SWATH (services with a human touch). According to SWATH, they make feel their workers that they are more than a workforce. For instance, a person in charge of cleaning up a hospital is not only a cleaning man or a cleaning lady but he/she makes people feeling better when they see everything clean and tidy around and it contributes to patient’s recovery. So, a cook is more than that, is the one who makes people feel comfortable when eating out of home. They contribute to make people eating well and feeling like home.
Ms. Rosalía López, Director of the Restoration Division of ISS Facility Services group, explained how works the restaurant Nordic, which was created in the basis of CSR from the beginning, from its conception until its cooking style. At restaurant Nordic, you can choose from different healthy options for starters. You can prepare your own salad by choosing among different ingredients or you can opt for a soup. Meanwhile, what you have chosen for main course is being prepared; this is grilled meat or fish (with no sauces) and you also can choose what you prefer as side orders among different healthy options. Once you have finished preparing your salad, and you have chosen a dessert, the main course is ready and you can go to the table. The drinking glasses are made on glass and dishes are made on porcelain. The cutlery is made of steel. You cannot find plastic items at the restaurant. You are offered gratis filtered tap water. If you want branded drinks, you must pay for them and they are all on glass bottled. They do not serve cans. You can see the calories of what you are eating, because there are many labels with that information. Once you have finished your meal is there a specific location to leave your tray, your dirty dishes, the cutlery, the organic leftovers, fluid leftovers, and so on. At the entry and at the exit you could find hand sanitizers without needing water to wash your hands.
After Rosalia’s explanations, the participants could enjoy a meal at the Restaurant Nordic and verifying on-site how it works.
After eating, Ms. Judit Jiménez, Public Health Technical of Castellbisbal’s City Council and responsible for all the inspections to restaurants and public establishments carried out in that city, explained which laws must the sector know for running a restaurant in a responsible way, specially the regulations about safety and quality and the specific case of allergic products. This particular part of the seminar was very participative and plenty of questions that Ms. Jiménez solved.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.