OPERATIONS

Is your hotel Safe & Secure?

When you ask yourself “is your hotel safe and secure” you must ask yourself 3 things:

1. Do we have a plan?
2. Who and what are in the plan?
3. Does anyone know the plan?

So, do you have a plan?  If not, there is no time like the present to make one.  With each season brings on knew things to prepare for.  Winters bring blizzards, bad roads, frozen pipes and Spring, Summer and Fall can bring on storms, flooding, construction, power outages!  There is a lot to consider when trying to plan for everything!

As you determine what your safety and security procedures will be, you should consider these three areas of concern:

1. The guests
2. The staff
3. The building

Now that you are ready to make a plan and you know that you must consider guest, staff and building safety, what should go in your plans?

You should make plans for encounters with both Mother Nature as well as Man Made situations.  Below are some things to consider:

Mother Nature

1. Floods
2. Blizzards
3. Thunderstorms/Lightning
4. Tornados/Hurricanes/High Winds
5. Earthquakes

Man Made Issues

1. Power Outage
2. Chemical accidents
3. Drowning’s
4. Fighting
5. Suicides
6. Robbery
7. Broken pipes/Sprinkler heads
8. Fires
9. Health safety (blood borne pathogens, communicable diseases, Hep. B vaccination)
10. Water damage

It is vital to have safety and security procedures in place at your hotel, but it can’t stop there.  Once your procedures are put in place, you must now share those procedures.  Below are two steps that should be followed to get your staff involved to create a safe and secure atmosphere:

1. Train safety and security to all new employees as part of their orientation within the first few days of starting work.
2. Hold yearly training meetings for the entire staff to refresh the hotels policies.  Be sure to document all training and file appropriately.
3. Hotel walk-throughs with the entire staff.  Do not just assume that everyone knows where all the shut off valves are or how to silence the fire alarm.

Additional information and training on safety and security can be found on www.osha.gov and training documents can be found on the Portal at (Resources/Forms, Guides and Manuals/Crisis Management Guide & Crisis Management forms).

The American Lodging Association Educational Institute has teamed up with WebFire Training to develop an online training for a nominal fee.  For more information on the Webfire Training program please visit www.webfiretraining.com.

Archived Content

• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• Jul - Dec 2011
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
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• Jan - Jun 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
• Jul - Dec 2010
  • December 2010
  • November 2010

BRIGHT IDEAS!

We're always happy to hear from you. Your comments and ideas help create a richer guest experience.

Q: What are you looking forward to learning at the upcoming 2012 AmericInn Annual Convention?