Thank you to Yasmine Mustafa, CEO & Co-Founder of Roar for Good, for guest blogging this week.
NATIONAL REPORT—The hospitality industry provides a lot of opportunities, which is why so many people opt for a career in it. However, just like any other industry out there, it doesn’t come without risks. In fact, there are more than a few potential safety risks if you happen to work in a hotel, a hostel, a motel, or any other similar facility.
It goes without saying, then, that as a hotel manager, you need to invest in different safety measures to keep your employees out of harm’s way. So, how do modern hotel managers do that? In this article, you will find the answer. We’re going to cover some essential steps that hotel owners need to take to prevent workplace accidents and maintain their workers’ well-being.
How Is Employee Safety Culture Benefiting the Hotel Staff?
No matter the industry, employee safety is vital for a wide variety of reasons. Let’s focus on a few of the key ones.
First and foremost, a safe worker is an engaged worker. If your employee doesn’t have to worry about their safety every other minute, they can focus on the job at hand and do it properly. And safe workers tend to share their workplace experiences with others. That can result in a few positive outcomes for you as the manager. For instance, you may get lots of new customers who have heard, by word of mouth, about your hotel managing practices.
Next, there’s the matter of saving money. What would be easier for you—investing money in safety protocols and proper equipment or spending even more of it on lawsuits, hospital bills, and replacing damaged equipment? A proper safety culture will prevent any of those unnecessary expenditures. In fact, it might even save you money in other ways. A safety-conscious employee can come directly to you if there’s something broken or damaged in the hotel, allowing you to react quickly and efficiently. Otherwise, you would spend thousands of dollars on repairs, replacements, and in extreme cases, hospital, or even funeral bills.
Finally, there’s interconnectivity. Workers who feel safe will respect you as a manager, but they will also feel a bit closer to you. Once they know that you care about their safety, they will be loyal and will try to repay you with hard work and determination. A loyal, dedicated employee is something you will want in your business arsenal.
List of Steps Management Can Take to Improve Safety
Employee Safety Training—As a manager, you will need to keep your employees informed on all the potential dangers they might face at work. They should be aware of what or who can injure them, what they can expect from tenants, where they might hurt themselves if they’re not careful, etc. A decent safety training session might do the trick.
The best way to approach training your employees is to do it yourself or to hire an expert. However, due to recent COVID-19 regulations, you can also help them by sending instructional videos and presentations with infographics.
Modern No-Touch Technology
No-touch or touchless technology refers to any modern invention that doesn’t involve physical contact. Nowadays, we have plenty of examples of this tech that we use regularly. Some of the most prominent ones include:
- Facial recognition;
- Voice recognition;
- Gesture recognition;
- Touchless sensing;
- Eye-tracking;
- Barcodes and QR codes; and
- Bluetooth.
Each of these technologies can be used in the hospitality industry. As a manager, you can implement some of them in your hotel’s safety devices and educate your employees on using them. For example, you can install voice or facial recognition software in employee-only areas. That way, if there’s any danger from an attacker or a harasser, the employee can locate a safety zone that outsiders can’t enter due to sophisticated recognition software.
Wireless Panic Buttons
Wireless hotel panic buttons have been finding their way to more and more businesses lately. Because of workplace violence that might take place in a hotel, employees need this type of tech to signal to their colleagues or management that they’re in trouble. A modern panic button will provide you with an accurate location of the worker during a potential accident. Furthermore, the likelihood of false alarms is almost zero. That makes it one of the most reliable safety gadgets on the market.
Surveillance Tech
Hotels today can be glamorous, pricey, and prestigious. In fact, an average 5-star hotel in the U.S. will cost close to $900 per night. So, it goes without saying that there’s a lot of money invested in these hotels and their inventory. And if you have valuable inventory, you have people willing to steal it.
For that reason, and many more, you will require high-quality surveillance technology. Modern cameras record everything in high resolution, so if a crime does occur on your hotel’s premises, you will track the perpetrator down easily. In addition, complete video coverage of your hotel lets you see how your workers are doing and whether they’re safe or not. It can also pinpoint the exact spot where an accident or an injury took place so that the proper staff can reach the worker and provide first aid.
Implementing Safety Protocols
Every single hotel has a set of safety protocols that the management and the staff know inside and out. Said protocols list off all the measures you need to take when there’s an emergency within the hotel itself.
As a manager, it is your job to draft these protocols and approve them. They need to be written in simple, direct, and understandable terms. In addition, make sure to have a set of protocols ready for your hotel tenants as well. Just like the hotel staff, they need to be aware of potential dangers and different ways to avoid or mitigate them.
Hotel Employee Safety Summarized
As stated earlier, employee safety is a must in every modern hotel. When you have all the necessary safety measures in place, you can focus on improving the hotel in other ways. In addition, your employees will work less stressed and happier than before, a net positive for everyone.
About the Author:
Yasmine Mustafa is a social entrepreneur and the CEO & Co-Founder of ROAR for Good. Based in Philadelphia, ROAR is a woman-led and mission-driven technology company dedicated to cultivating safer workplaces. Their staff safety platform, The AlwaysOn™, is specifically designed for the hotel industry to summon help with one touch of a button. Fueled by a passion to leverage technology for good, she leads the ROAR team in their mission to create safer workplaces and empowered communities.
