Category Archives: Injuries

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Minnesota Hotel Security Employees "Fight" With "Partiers" As Mini Riot Erupts Outside Hotel

 “…hotel security employees were fighting with event-goers… partiers soon began moving north on Nicollet Mall, throwing restaurant patio furniture into the streets and getting into fights, but damage was minimal…

Police made three arrests after what they’re calling a “mini riot” broke out on the streets of downtown Minneapolis. Dozens of officers responded to a dance party involving several hundred teens called Big Bash 2 around 10 p.m. Saturday. The event was held in a hall next to the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Three people were arrested, including someone who punched an officer in the face.

For more: http://www.chron.com/default/article/Police-arrest-3-after-mini-riot-in-Minneapolis-2165669.php

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Injuries, Insurance, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Washington Hotel Replaces "300 Tempered-Glass Panels" After Glass "Disintegrates" And Falls 11 Stories

“…(This was) …the third time in a year that glass has rained down from condominium balconies at the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences just south of Pike Place Market…”

The balconies, all on the condo levels between the 11th and 21st floors, will be closed until new panels or a new railing system are installed.

 

Now the owners are taking out all 300 tempered-glass panels in the building, panels similar to those that fractured and fell this summer at high-rise condos in Austin and Toronto.

“Our only priority here is the safety of everybody involved, either residents or people passing by,” said the hotel’s general manager, Ben Trodd. “We’ve taken a very proactive step now. The general contractor is now removing all of the remaining panels that are on the building.”

No one was injured in the three incidents. Falling pieces of glass cracked, but didn’t break, five large sections of the glass awning that covers the sidewalk outside the hotel entrance. A car was slightly damaged in the July incident, Trodd said.

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Filed under Guest Issues, Injuries, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Hotels Are Targeted By Terrorists For "Worldwide Attention"; Housekeepers Should Be Trained To "Report Suspicious Activity"

“…Terrorists are increasingly targeting hotels because of the worldwide attention such attacks receive…so it’s important to have a plan in place. Marriott, for one, uses a multi-point crisis management program that is reviewed semiannually…”

Preparedness should extend beyond a company’s executives, said Tom Whitlatch of Hospitality Risk Controls. Housekeepers, those employees who spend a considerable amount of time in hotel hallways and guestrooms, need to be trained to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior.

Housekeepers, he said, should not be afraid to challenge people they see in hallways to show room keys. “We have to train them and get them to understand it’s OK to do that,” Whitlatch said.

Further, housekeepers need to keep their eyes open for suspicious activity in guestrooms, too, Durham said.

“It’s the housekeeper who might go into the room who might notice something unusual about a piece of equipment or luggage sitting on the bed,” she said.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/6312/Experts-detail-hotel-security-plans

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Injuries, Labor Issues, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Spa Safety: Hotel Spas And Saunas Usage Can Be Monitored And Regulated With New Heat-Resistant, Waterproof RFID Bracelets

“…a heat-resistant waterproof RFID bracelet -08, specially designed to be used in high temperature environment like sauna and spa hotel, etc. Incorporated with silicone and RFID tag, this heat-resistant RFID bracelet tag can be used in the sauna as admissions, payment and security…”

This waterproof RFID bracelet is perfectly used in high temperature environment, since it can survive in the extreme temperature from -30 Celsius degree to +60 Celsius degree while still maintaining high identification accuracy. With this heat-resistant contactless bracelet worn on wrist, the guests of the sauna can get in or out of the place freely and pay the fee without cash or credit card. Thus, it can guarantee the safety of the guests.

For more:  http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/162586-1313742730-heatresistant-rfid-bracelet-waterproof-for-sauna-and-spa-hotel.html

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Filed under Guest Issues, Injuries, Liability, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management, Technology

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Hotel And Lodging Groups Remain Opposed To Pending California Legislation "Mandating The Use Of Fitted Sheets"

“.. Senate Bill 432.. would create “new occupational safety and health standards for all hotels, motels and other similar transient lodging establishments in California…”

“.. It would mandate the “use of fitted sheets … on the bottom sheet on all beds” at such lodging. And it would mandate the “use of long-handled tools,” such as mops, to reduce stooping “to clean bathroom floors, walls, tubs, toilets and other bathroom surfaces…”

 “A 2009 report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that housekeepers have higher (7.87 per 100) injury rates than other hotel workers…”

The California Hotel & Lodging Association pointed out that the medical study didn’t even mention fitted sheets as culprit in the injuries. And it charged it would cost up to $50 million to replace the regular sheets with fitted sheets. Mr. Hayes said the high number is “a bunch of nonsense” and that Sen. De Leon and other legislators are working on the bill to “find a way to implement it without added costs,” within the hotels’ economic structure.

He said the major hotels are in favor of working for a compromise bill. But the association remains adamant against any bill. And he said that, as only about 10 percent of housekeepers are unionized, including the sheet rules in future contracts wouldn’t help much.

For more:  http://articles.ocregister.com/2011-08-16/news/29897915_1_sheets-housekeepers-hotel-workers

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Filed under Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Legislation, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Guest Safety Risks: Child Drowns In Missouri Hotel's Hot Tub As "Water Slide" Distracts Adult Supervision

“…The death of a 3-year-old who drowned in a hotel hot-tub is being ruled an accidental drowning….the boy’s grandfather was watching two older siblings at a water slide when he noticed Parker was underwater in the hot tub and pulled him out…”

Police say 3-year-old Parker Wilson of Rosendale went underwater in a hot tub at the Ramada Inn last Monday. Wilson was at the water park with his siblings and their grandparents.

Emergency workers performed CPR on the boy but he later died at the hospital.

For more:  http://stjoechannel.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=216927

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Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Congressional Committee Investigates "Multiple, Redundant Inspections" By OSHA Related To "Labor Intensive" UNITE HERE Campaign On "Safe Work Environments" Against Hotel Management

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Filed under Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Legislation, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Employee Injury Risks: California Legislation Requiring "Fitted Sheets" On Hotel Beds To Reduce Heavy-Lifting By Housekeepers Is Up For Vote This Month By State Assembly

“…(California) SB 432.. would require hotels to use fitted sheets instead of flat sheets to reduce the amount of mattress lifting housekeepers must do. The legislation also would require hotels to provide long-handled mops so housekeepers won’t have to clean bathrooms on their hands and knees as they do now…”

The state Senate has passed a bill proposed by Sen. Kevin de LeÏŒn (D-Los Angeles) that would help prevent or reduce housekeeper injuries. It comes up for a vote in the Assembly this month. But the bill is facing stiff opposition from the hotel and tourism industry, which says it will increase costs and stifle growth.

A representative of the hotel industry, led by the California Hotel and Lodging Assn., told a Senate Committee that if SB 432 passes, California hotels will have to spend an additional $15 million or more to buy fitted sheets to replace the sheets for 550,000 beds at $25 per sheet. But hotels generally replace their sheets annually..

For more:  http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-cohen-maids-20110802,0,7847167.story

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Filed under Health, Injuries, Insurance, Labor Issues, Legislation, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Liability Risks: Florida Hotel Sued By Victim Of ATV Crash For "Serving Alcoholic Drinks" To Defendent

“…The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, contends that the Clevelander Hotel regularly allowed on-duty police officers to drink alcohol and hang out at its nightclubs…”
 
A lawsuit filed Thursday claims that a popular South Beach hotel regularly served alcoholic drinks to an on-duty police officer who later crashed his speeding all-terrain vehicle into two people strolling the beach before dawn, seriously injuring both.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Kitzie Nicanor, 29, seeks unspecified damages from the Clevelander Hotel and Derick Kuilan, who was fired from the Miami Beach Police Department shortly after the July 3 crash. Kuilan, 30, also faces criminal charges in the case.

Nicanor suffered a traumatic brain injury that will likely require years of rehabilitation, said her attorney Frank Toral. Nicanor, a Seattle resident who has a 1-year-old son, remains hospitalized in stable condition. Her parents are caring for her son.

Earlier this week, Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega said his department was investigating whether on-duty drinking by officers, clearly banned under agency policy, was nevertheless more common than expected.

http://www.newsok.com/atv-crash-lawsuit-names-sobe-hotel-fired-cop/article/feed/280408?custom_click=pod_headline_usnational-news

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Pool Safety: Young Boy Saved From Near Drowning In Michigan Hotel's "Murky" Pool During Pool Party

“…Blackman Township Public Safety deputy director Jon Johnston says the boy was pulled from the pool, limp and unresponsive. He adds the the child was a guest at a birthday party among nearly 25 other kids when he ended up in the deep end…”

“There were several adults in the immediate pool area and the mother was in the gathering area surrounding the pool so it was situation where one the kids they lost track of,”

A four-year-old boy is recovering, in serious condition on Wednesday after nearly drowning in a hotel pool. It happened at the Avalon Hotel and Conference Center in Blackman Township late Tuesday night. A guest from Stevensville, Michigan is being credited with saving the child’s life.

“The water was a little murky but I knew I saw somebody at the bottom of the pool — little legs, little arms.”

Bettig and his family were at the Avalon Hotel, just off US-127 for a memorial service for his father. “We came home to sit around the pool and look at some pictures of Dad and about fifteen minutes into looking at the photos my son bought it to my attention that there was a boy floating in the water,” said Bettig. “If it wasn’t for his eyes noticing — a couple minutes could have gone by and the little boy might not have had a chance.”

He says the child was underwater for a couple minutes before Bettig dove in. The child was pulled from the pool with a strong pulse but not breathing on his own. He was taken to Allegiance Hospital and then flown to the University of Michigan hospital.

For more:  http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/125881063.html

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