GB/T 35555-2024Basic specification for hot spring service (English PDF)

1 Scope

The document lays down the general principles, the organization and personnel, the service safeguards, the service content and requirements, the safety and emergency provisions, and the evaluation and improvement of hot spring services.

It applies to the experience services whose main content is bathing, soaking and recreation in water, provided to customers with a hot spring as the medium.

The normative references are GB 15630 on the placing of fire safety signs, GB/T 19012 on the handling of complaints, GB 22337 on environmental noise emission for social activity, GB/T 33533 on the basic terminology of hot spring services, GB 37487 on the hygiene management of public places, and GB/T 41837-2022 on hot spring water quality requirements. The terms and definitions of GB/T 33533 apply.

4 General principles

The safety of the customer's person and property is to be assured, and privacy and personal information protected.

Honest trading is to be upheld and the customer's wish for pleasure and for physical and mental health met.

Hot spring culture and local culture are to be upheld and the theme of the service brought out.

Modern technology should be used to round out the service and raise the level of management.

5 Organization and personnel

5.1 The organization providing the service has to obtain, according to law, the qualifications or licences required in safety, fire, health and environmental protection; establish sound safety management rules, carry out and check the safety duties of every post and take on the responsibility of the operator for production safety; draw up its service flow and rules and establish and run management systems for quality and for the environment; arrange premises, equipment, facilities, articles and the water source itself so as to meet the needs of the service; and staff each post with people of the qualification, ability and number that post requires, trained before taking up the work, those in special professional posts holding the relevant occupational certificate.

5.2 The people providing the service have to know the service rules and command the skills of their post, keep themselves in good physical and mental health, and behave properly, wear the uniform and display the staff badge.

6 Service safeguards

6.1 Premises. Hygiene has to conform to GB 37487. Disinfectants are to be chosen on a green and environmental principle, and agents banned by the state are not to be used. Noise has to conform to GB 22337. The premises have to hold a reception area, a shower area, a bathing guidance area, a hot spring area and a rest area, sized to the scale of custom expected. The bathing environment has to be a decent one. Bins and lavatories are to be laid out sensibly and a car park provided to the scale of custom. The natural setting of the spring is to be protected and maintained, and barrier-free facilities and equipment should be provided.

6.2 Facilities, equipment and articles. Conspicuous signs for the service flow, for guidance and for the facilities and equipment have to be set up on the premises. A display of temperature and of time has to be provided beside the pool. Bath towels or robes and slippers, washed, disinfected and dried, have to be provided, along with bathing, skin care and grooming articles. A compulsory foot-disinfection channel has to be set where the customer necessarily passes on entering the hot spring area, as wide as the walkway, not less than 2 m long and not less than 0.2 m deep, and provided with water supply and drainage. Safe facilities for getting into and out of the pool have to be provided, and the inner wall of the pool has to be smooth and free of sharp edges. Places for setting down towels or robes, dry and wet apart, have to be provided in the shower and hot spring areas. Drinking water has to be provided in the hot spring area, and a rest area with facilities for a short rest. Fire safety signs have to be placed according to GB 15630.

6.3 Water quality and water temperature. The water has to conform to GB/T 41837. Water from the source has to be sent periodically to a state-recognized third-party laboratory for testing. Pools have to be cleaned and the water changed at intervals, and flowing spring water should be used. A named person has to monitor and record the water quality at the pool outlet and in the pool, the records being kept for checking. Monitoring should be split into testing before opening and routine testing, the frequency being set according to the local climate, the sanitary conditions and the number of customers served; where a result fails the requirements of the table in Clause 5 of GB/T 41837-2022, the frequency has to be raised and the pool cleaned, disinfected and refilled. Each pool has to match the water temperature it has posted, and pool water temperature should be kept between 34 °C and 42 °C.

7 Service content and requirements

7.1 Public notice area. What the organization has to post includes, but is not limited to: the service content, the service flow, the trading items, the price list and a plan of the areas of the premises; the way the spring water is drawn, in a conspicuous place; the temperature at the outlet and the main mineral contents, in a conspicuous place; the water quality test report issued by a state-recognized third-party laboratory, displayed at intervals; the order in which the facilities are to be used, the points to watch, the bathing notice, the groups for whom the spring is unsuitable and the contraindications; the name and water temperature of each pool; and, where a hot spring preparation is added to the pool water, the name and description of what has been put in. What is posted has to be true, and false information is not to be posted.

7.2 Reception area. The staff have to provide enquiry, booking and information services in person, by telephone and over the network, protecting the customer's privacy and personal information; provide deposit of valuables, luggage and pets and a lost property service; and, on receiving a customer, explain the service items and the charges, check the particulars of a customer who has booked, hand over the key tag and state the points to watch.

7.3 Shower area. The staff have to explain the service content, the service flow, the order of use, the points to watch, the bathing notice and the contraindications, and answer questions; remind or dissuade a customer where they learn of a contraindication; and direct men and women separately to the matching changing area.

7.4 Bathing guidance area. The staff have to guide the customer to wash first and to enter the hot spring area in swimwear as required, reminding the customer to remove jewellery and make-up before bathing; dissuade customers to whom a contraindication applies; and guide the washed customer through the foot-disinfection channel into the hot spring area.

7.5 Hot spring area. The staff have to introduce the character of each pool; answer questions and guide the customer; watch the customer's condition, remind them of the correct way to bathe and help any customer who is unwell; provide a suitable service for replacing water and salts, and, for customers with particular needs, for replacing energy and nutrients; and remind the customer to take a short rest at the right moment and guide them to the rest area.

7.6 Rest area. The organization has to provide a service for replacing water and energy, and provide a short rest service and a leisure service.

8 Safety and emergency

8.1 Safety management. A dedicated safety management body has to be set up, the rules made sound and responsibility assigned at every level. An evacuation plan has to be drawn up, the escape routes marked and the escape routes kept clear. Safety notices and any other warning needed have to be posted in each separate area; a warning sign has to be set at the water inlet of the pool; and warning signs conforming to national standards have to be placed, with effective protective devices, wherever the ground is hot, icy, slippery or deep. Safety inspections of the whole site have to be made at intervals and recorded, and any hazard removed promptly. Electronic monitoring equipment sufficient for the needs of safety management has to be provided and kept working, and fixed-point electronic monitoring should be combined with patrolling by staff so that the inspection covers the whole site. The capacity of the facilities has to be set sensibly and customers stopped from entering once the maximum is reached. Where inflammable, explosive, poisonous or otherwise prohibited articles are found among luggage left in deposit, the matter has to be reported promptly and the disposal assisted. According to the character of the region, measures have to be taken in the hot spring area against frost, slipping, lightning, wind and rain.

8.2 Emergency response. Emergency plans have to be drawn up for the several kinds of accident that may occur during the service, equipment and materials provided, and drills held. A rapid rescue channel has to be established with a nearby hospital so that customers who slip and are injured, faint in the bath, are close to drowning or fall suddenly ill are treated in time; where a drowning death occurs, the case has to be dealt with under the rules on the reporting, investigation and handling of production safety accidents. In the event of lightning, hail, flooding or other natural disaster, customers have to be led at once into a safe area and the affected areas closed. In the event of a public health emergency, the control measures required by the government authorities have to be followed, sufficient supplies provided and the measures adjusted on the evidence as the situation moves. A rapid channel has to be established with the local public security authority so that brawls, thefts and other sudden breaches of order are dealt with in time.

9 Evaluation and improvement

9.1.1 Service quality evaluation. A service quality supervision post has to be established, and a named person has to inspect at a set interval how Clause 5 to Clause 8 are being carried out, gather the relevant data, aggregate and analyse them, and give an evaluation.

9.1.2 Handling of complaints. The organization has to establish a mechanism for supervising service quality and handling complaints, together with a follow-up call system, and set up a dedicated body with staff; publish the complaint telephone number, the e-mail address and the procedure and time limits for accepting complaints; operate a first-enquiry responsibility rule, deal with complaints promptly and keep a complete record of the handling and of the outcome; and handle complaints according to GB/T 19012.

9.1.3 Satisfaction measurement and canvassing of opinion. The organization has to establish a system for measuring customer satisfaction and canvassing opinion, and has to put a named person in charge of gathering what customers publish on network media such as microblogs, instant messaging and short-video platforms, replying promptly where that is called for.

9.2 Continual improvement. The organization has to record, classify, aggregate, analyse and assess the service quality evaluations and the opinions and suggestions customers put forward, and take effective measures against the problems found.