CHAPTER 6

Safety and security are the two major

responsibilities of any hotel. Guests expect
to sleep, meet, dine, and entertain in a
facility that is safe and secure.
Safety refers to actual conditions of work
environment.
Security refers to the prevention of theft,
fire, and emergencies.

Working in Hk and other areas may

sometimes create different hazards and
risks, to reduce all this housekeeper must be
aware of safety precautions and develop
procedures to prevent accidents.
Ongoing safety training program helps to
ensure that safe conditions are maintained in
all work areas.
Insurance and liability concern:
An unsafe work place may cost many
medical, legal, and other things.

Employee morale and management concerns:

Unsafe working condition have a negative
impact on employee morale. It is difficult to
motivate employees until the unsafe
conditions are corrected.
Top concerns are employee health and welfare
of employees.
It is employees right to have a safe
environment while working.

Potentially Hazardous Conditions:

It is the responsibility of managers and
employees to work together for avoiding any
hazardous situation. The key is to identify
such type of condition before it threatens
employees, guests, and the property.
By following 3 simple rules employees may
keep them safe1. Take adequate time
2. Correct unsafe conditions immediately
3. Do it safely the first time

The following sections provide safety tips for

completing routine activities safely--Lifting must be safe
--Careful use of ladder while working
--Careful use of machinery and other electrical
equipments
--Properly handling of chemicals

A job safety analysis is a detailed report that

lists every job function performed by all
employees in a HK dept. The job list provides
the basis for analyzing the potential hazards
of a particular HK position.
For example: a task list for a room
attendant may include the tasks of
vacuuming, cleaning washrooms, and many
more. The vacuuming of a guestroom may
be:

Check the vacuum cleaner for safety

Remove dirt from room corners and carpet
edges.
Plug the vacuum into the outlet nearest to
the guestroom so that no accident occurs for
extra wires!
Vacuum all areas.
Unplug the vacuum, wind the cord correctly
and return the vacuum to the cart where is
stays

For each part there should be detailed

instruction for using vacuum cleaner. This may
be Check the vacuum cleaner for safety.
Safety Training:
A good safety policy is written with the
employee in mind, it states how safety
benefits the employee and the organization.
Good orientation, inspecting once/twice a
month and demonstrating different situations
at the first/second day of the job is a must
for training!

Water
Bathroom Cleaners
All purpose Cleaners

Safety Equipment
Housekeeping employees may use chemicals that
require wearing protective materials. It m ay
be used for covering eyes, face, head, hands
and in some cases the entire body. Gloves,
goggles or face sheilds may be required when
performing any hazardous works.

Danger signs: red/black/white colors used

when immediate hazard is there.
Caution signs: yellow and black color used
when to warn for a hazard
Safety Instruction sign: These are of green and
white, or black and white color used for not to
eat, drink, or smoke in storage area.
Accident Prevention Tags: Temporary means of
alerting employees to a hazarding employees
or defective machines/equipment. Do not
start Defective machine etc could be written

Providing security in hospitality operation is

the broad task of protecting both people and
assets
Security efforts include guestroom security,
key control, etc
Total Management team and supervisory
team should be involved
There should be security committees, and
guided by dept head consisting key mgt
personnel

Security committee should meet once a

month to monitor the properties security
plan and programs
Maintaining record of such situation like
theft, or on-site violence
Investigating security incidents
Suspicious activities:
Although open to all, but a hotel is a private
property
Individuals visit guestrooms, lobby, other
public areas

Unauthorized and undesirable persons are

sometimes threat to the employees as well
as guests
Many situation may arrive:
1- Any person claims that he is guest and want
the room keys
2- Any person claims that he is guest and lost
the room keys
3- Any theft or bomb threats or fire

It is impossible to eliminate all employee and

guest theft in a hospitality operations
However mgt can reduce the volume of
furniture, fixtures, equipment, and soft
goods stolen form a property
Theft may arise form open and unlocked
doors, lack of inventory control and plain
carelessness
Guest Theft: Guests may take small things
like: matches, pen, pad, shampoo, ashtrays
etc

Some helpful ideas to prevent theft:

-- Use as few monogrammed items as possible
--keep storage rooms closed and locked
-- Affix guestroom items and fixtures to
appropriate surfaces
---secure windows
Employee Theft
--It is up to mgt to set the standards for reducing
employee theft
--Employee handbook should spell out the
consequences of stealing

Screening applicants before joining

Conducting an inventory control monthly for
effective mgt
Record should be kept for stolen and missing
items
Keeping all doors locked and secured
Mgt should designate employees entrances
and exits to maintain security

Housekeeping procedures for handling bomb

threats should be part of the propertys
security manual
Where and how the search is conducted will
depend on the way the property received the
bomb threat
Searches often include stairways, closets,
ashtrays, trash containers, elevators, exit
areas and window sills
Search-team look for objects that are not
normally found in an area

An all-clear sign should be given after all

search procedures
Quite often guests are not notified when
bomb threats are received
The safety and security manual should
include evacuation plans in case a bomb
should actually be found or explode on the
premises
Overall, its important to notice even a small
matter for maintaining the safety measures

FIRES

Fires are grouped into four classes based on

the different materials.
Class A: Wood and paper products
Class B: Flammable liquid, grease, and
gasoline
Class C: Electrical in nature
Class D: Ignite by combustible metals and do
not naturally occurs in hospitality operations.

Fire detection system

Smoke detectors: Sense smoke
Fire suppression system: triggered by heat
not smoke
Pull Stations: Red color and require someone
to break the glass and se it for help
Fire safety Training
Training must include searching and evacuation
procedures

KEY CONTROL
Types of keys
--Emergency keys: Opens all doors only in
emergency situation
--Master keys: Opens more than one guestroom
and specific areas when needed
--Guestroom keys: Provided to the guests
Key control procedure:
--Log should be maintained by recording date,
time, name of the person who signed for a
particular key.

LOST OR STOLEN KEYS

Lost or stolen keys are the ways through which
security and safety problems are created.
When keys are lost another set of key should be
issued, which is very expensive and time consuming
LOST AND FOUND
--Many times, HK handles lost-&-found function.
--All the items must be stored in secured room so that
correct person could take it back.
--Items should be tagged, bagged, and locked
individually.