Category Archives: Training

by | April 23, 2010 · 5:45 am

Spa Pool Risks: Hopsitality Owners Should Be Aware Of Microorganisms Present In Spa Pools And Take Steps To Prevent Proliferation

 The risk potential of contact with pathogens through spa pool use has been exacerbated through the promotion of the therapeutic properties of spas. Spa treatments can provide suffers of muscular skeletal disorders, such as rheumatism, relief from pain. However, this has become confused with mineral spa treatments for general ailments. Consequently, many people suffering from common illnesses, such as influenza or digestion complaints, frequent leisure spa pools hoping to gain some relief from their symptoms. Unfortunately, such practice can introduce the bacteria into the Spa system and consequently increase the risk of infection for other bathers.

(From a NalcoEurope.com posting)   Spa pools are the third most common cause of legionnaires disease and are known to harbour other bacteria that can cause serious skin complaints and even blindness.

A commercial spa pool should be considered as any bath that consists of a self-contained body of water, which is recirculated, filtered, heated, and chemically treated but is not emptied and cleaned and refilled after each bather.

Due to the high water temperatures (30-40°C), availability of nutrients and convoluted design Spa pools are particularly prone to microorganism proliferation. Furthermore, due to the high level of contact between the bather’s skin and the spa surface, biofilms quickly form and so frequent cleaning is essential.

Continuous filtration to remove contaminants and the application of a disinfectant is imperative in order to ensure safe hygienic conditions.

Spa pools should not be considered as small swimming pools. Spa pools operate with much smaller volumes of water in relation to the number of bathers that use them. In addition, water temperatures are much higher as is aerosol generation and the general risk to bathers from the number of water borne pathogens.

The following table identifies the micro flora that are of particular concern in spas:

Bacteria Illness Description Other Detail
Shigella Diarrhoea, Fever, Nausea 1-3 day incubation, 4-7 day illness,
E Coli Diarrhoea, Vomiting, Fever 3-4 day incubation, & day illness
Giardia Gastroenteritis 7-12 day incubation, 7-10 day illness,
Cryptosporidium Diarrhoea, Vomiting, Fever, Cramps 7 day incubation, 10-14 day illness,
Legionella Flu Like Pneumonia Aerosols – SPA & HVAC
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Follicultis – Swelling of Ear Canal Transmitted on Any Wet Surface
Mycobacterium spp Broken Skin Infections Bather Shed on Wet Surfaces
Mycobacterium. Avium Respiratory Illness – Flu Hypersensitivity pneumonitis Bather Shed.
Aerosol Transmission
Staphylococcus Aureus Skin, Wound, Eye & Ear Infections. Impetigo Bather Shed.
Leptospira Interrogans Weils Disease – Haemorrhagic Jaundice
Aseptic Meningitis		 10-20 day incubation, Pool Infected by Urine from Infected Humans and Animals

http://www.nalcoeurope.com/library/spa-pools-and-pathogen-risk-assessment.html

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by | April 20, 2010 · 8:36 am

Hospitality Industry Risk: Cybercrime Is Targeting Smaller Companies Who Need To Employ Security Packages

“We are in an arms race with sophisticated, high tech enemies who are now concentrating on smaller business bank accounts in addition to their continued efforts to steal from large corporations.” To combat the risk, Conner suggests that small businesses employ a “triple threat” security package that would include

• Authentication 

• Fraud detection  

• “Out-of-band transaction verification and signing for high-risk transactions”

(From a USAToday.com article)    Authentication and fraud detection intuitively make sense – these sorts of products look at your transaction, and transaction history, and check for suspicious activity. Conner explained that while Entrust already offers the first two types of protection, to better serve its customers, it is adding that third, necessary layer, of protection with a new product being launched this week.

 “IdentityGuard Mobile” is an app for your smartphone. When a potentially suspicious activity begins to hit your account, this product sends you a text of the transaction details and asks you to authenticate and approve it before the bank can approve it.

 With the challenges to small business coming from all sides – decreased lending, tighter budgets, wary consumers – the last thing we need is to take a financial hit due to cybercrime, so we must be vigilant. Keep your security patches up to date. Make sure you have a robust antivirus suite. Change your pass codes frequently. Use the triple threat.

  http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2010-04-18-cyber-threats_N.htm

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by | April 17, 2010 · 6:58 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance: Finding The Right Insurance Broker With The Proper Insurance Products For Your Business Is Essential

(From a BusinessInsider.com article)   As an entrepreneur /executive one of the decisions you need to make is who to use to help you insure your company.  

 For some reason many people go to great lengths to do due diligence when selecting an attorney or accountant, but then spend thirty seconds deciding who should handle their insurance.  

Those people tend to do business with one (or more) of five types of people. 

So here are the five types you meet when you buy insurance – and how they could impact your company.

1. The Buddy  -  You’ve just set up your company and you need the basics – General Liability, Workers Comp, Property, etc.  The guy on your whiffle ball team, who also helped you with your homeowners insurance, says he can hook you up!  He has no experience working with other companies like yours, no relationships with insurers that are familiar with your industry.  But he’s a great guy and he assures you it’s a no-brainer. 

He sends you some applications to fill out. The questions seem odd, don’t really apply to your company – and most of all it takes a sh*$! ton of time for you to complete.

You fax them back, wait a couple of weeks and he surfaces with a policy and a bill.

The Result:   No thought went into anticipating what you may need next – like Errors & Omissions when you sign your first client contract (E&O is coverage that addresses claims that your product or service didn’t work properly or caused some kind of harm to someone), Directors & Officers when you get your first round of financing (D&O is basically coverage that protects the management team and board from claims that they mismanaged the company), global coverage when you open a sales office in the UK, etc. 

 The insurer you are with – let’s call them Quicksand Mutual – can’t provide any of those coverages. So when they come up, which will be sooner than you think, there will be a mad scramble to find these policies with different insurers, costing you time and more money.

You end up with a disjointed, patchwork insurance program with multiple insurers and no economies of scale by having everything in one package.  Since your buddy has no experience in your industry, he has no ability to provide services that may drive down your cost and reduce the likely hood of your having a claim. 

Now you can get away with the buddy’s insurance program for a while – but if you have a claim, or need advice on a contract or industry specific issue you will find out the hard way that he was not the right broker for you.

2. The Biggest Broker in the World!  Your company is the next Facebook.   You have some high profile VC board members.  You need to work with the Biggest Broker in the World! 

In fact, one of those board members knows one of the top executives from the Biggest Broker in the World! from his country club.

The Result:  The Biggest Broker in the World! handles the insurance for companies like Microsoft, Dell and Cisco.  Their best talent handles those accounts.  Their average account brings in $50,000 of revenue in both commissions and other fees. 

 All of your policies combined will throw off a total of twelve hundred bucks of income.  You will have a lot of questions and need a lot of hand holding.  Your company will change a lot over the next couple of years – hiring and firing, adding locations, new products, new client contracts, etc.  

The Biggest Broker in the World! assigns you to their D team – maybe a recent college grad, maybe a service center…..until you can be more profitable for them.  Like when you are about to have your IPO. 

You’ll wait won’t you?  And will you also please let them know when you are bigger, cause no one at their company even knows they insure you.

3. The Butcher, 4. The Baker, and 5. The Candlestick-maker …. You already bought a policy from the Buddy (for this segment let’s call him the Butcher).  Now you open an office in San Jose.  The Butcher doesn’t have a license in CA and suggests that you contact someone local out there.   He knows a guy from insurance school, the Baker. 

 You call the Baker and he is happy to set you up with a set of new policies for your California office! 

Next, you land that big round of VC money and the term sheet says you need Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance.  The Butcher and Baker both say they can do it for you but you’re not so sure.  This one seems a little more sophisticated.  The VC suggests a broker that they use, that specializes in D&O insurance, the Candlestick-maker. 

This guy drives his Benz to your office, tells you about how he handles the D&O insurance for the last four IPO’s in the country and assures you that you are with the right broker (NOTE: some brokers specialize in specific types of policies as opposed to industry segments where they can handle all types of insurance for that niche.  This happens a lot with D&O as the premiums are usually high, and there is little or no service work involved – so they throw off a lot of income to a broker.  Hence the Benz.). 

He sets you up with a state of the art D&O policy.  It is the most expensive insurance policy you have ever seen.

The Result:  You have three brokers. 

 None of these characters communicates with the other.  You have overlapping coverages and therefore are paying duplicate premiums. 

None of them feel like they are “in charge” of your account, so they don’t make any recommendations, review/update coverage or take much of an interest in your company. 

None of them realizes you have salespeople working from their homes in 6 States and now each State’s insurance department is fining you for non-compliance on Workers Comp. 

You have bills coming in from 3 agents, at least 3 insurers and your bookkeeper can’t figure out which bill is for which policy.  A new client contract calls for evidence (a certificate) of insurance.  Hmmmmm, guess you gotta call all 3.  You have a claim and are unsure which policy would cover it, so you call all 3 brokers, none of whom think their policy will cover it. 

But go ahead and send it in; the insurers will fight it out.  Ahhh, music to your ears while your company is getting sued…

What to do instead:  So, when it comes time to get insurance – maybe the bank, landlord or VC is requiring it – rather than just hiring anyone so you can check a box and move on, spend a little extra time selecting your broker.  It will pay dividends down the road.  Here are some questions you should consider asking a prospective broker:
  •  What other companies in my industry/like mine do you work with?
  • Can I call someone at those companies and ask about your work?
  • My company is poised for growth an we expect a lot of moving parts – and insurance is not our main consideration.  How will you help us stay on top of these changes so we don’t miss anything?
  • Do the insurers you work with specialize in my niche and offer industry specific coverage?
  • What special services do you provide that will help me save time, reduce my premiums and minimize the possibility of us having a claim?
  • How much time should I expect to spend on completing applications?
  • Can you describe your smallest and largest clients?
  • Do you handle all areas of insurance for companies like ours or just one type of coverage?
  • Do you have any group buying programs where I can leverage the power of a bigger group in my industry?

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-5-brokers-to-avoid-when-buying-small-business-insurance-2010-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail#ixzz0lK2TIRmK

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by | April 16, 2010 · 6:53 am

Restaurant Food Safety: Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Will Force Restaurant Operators To Increase Use Of Disinfectants And Sanitizers

Food safety product demand in the foodservice sector will also be boosted by efforts on the part of restaurant operators to avoid the devastating impact of a foodborne illness outbreak on their image. In particular, such efforts will include the use of more efficient disinfection products, which will fuel demand for disinfectants and sanitizers used in restaurants and other eating and drinking establishments.

(From a PRLog.org article)     US demand for food safety products is forecast to rise 6.6 percent per year to $2.9 billion in 2014. Recent high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks, in addition to large product recalls due to food safety concerns, will continue to fuel demand, as the prevention, identification and traceability of food contaminants will remain key issues for consumers, food industry participants and legislators. Demand for food safety products will also be boosted by the adoption of more stringent food safety regulations. For instance, projected increases in the frequency of food plant inspections will raise demand for diagnostic testing products.

Advances will also be supported by growth in food and beverage production, and expansion in the foodservice industry, as food processing plants and foodservice establishments constitute the largest markets for food safety products. Sales of smart labels and tags will exhibit the fastest gains, driven by the rapid adoption of new smart label technology in food packaging.

http://www.prlog.org/10627949-demand-for-food-safety-products-in-foodservices-industry-available-through-bharatbook.html

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by | April 15, 2010 · 4:47 am

Food Safety: Costco To Test Meat Supplier Trimmings For E.Coli Prior To Grinding Into Hamburger

And on the industry’s own initiative, Costco reached a new agreement with a major meat supplier that would allow Costco to test that company’s shipments of trimmings for E. coli before they are ground into hamburger, which Costco believes is a critical food safety step, and one that few other companies perform.

(From a DinersJournal Blog posting)  The Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, responded to the article by saying what happened to Stephanie Smith — the now 23-year-old dance instructor who became paralyzed after eating a hamburger tainted by E. coli — was “unacceptable and tragic,” and vowed to press on with initiatives to reduce the incidence of pathogen contamination. Several pieces of legislation were introduced in Congress, including a bill by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York that would require hamburger grinding companies to test for deadly E. coli. And on the industry’s own initiative, Costco reached a new agreement with a major meat supplier that would allow Costco to test that company’s shipments of trimmings for E. coli before they are ground into hamburger, which Costco believes is a critical food safety step, and one that few other companies perform.

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/q-a-with-michael-moss-round-one/

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by | April 14, 2010 · 5:41 am

Hospitality Industry Risk: “PCI Security Standards” Should Be Implemented By Hotels And Restaurants To Protect Customer Data

The PCI Security Standards Council will enhance the PCI DSS as needed to ensure that the standard includes any new or modified requirements necessary to mitigate emerging payment security risks, while continuing to foster wide-scale adoption.

(From a PCIsecuritystandards.org posting)   The PCI DSS, a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security, was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. Inc. International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis.

The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations proactively protect customer account data.

The PCI Security Standards Council will enhance the PCI DSS as needed to ensure that the standard includes any new or modified requirements necessary to mitigate emerging payment security risks, while continuing to foster wide-scale adoption.

Ongoing development of the standard will provide for feedback from the Advisory Board and other participating organizations. All key stakeholders are encouraged to provide input, during the creation and review of proposed additions or modifications to the PCI DSS.

The core of the PCI DSS is a group of principles and accompanying requirements, around which the specific elements of the DSS are organized:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

Protect Cardholder Data

Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data
Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software
Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control Measures

Requirement 7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes

Maintain an Information Security Policy

Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security

To further the adoption of the PCI DSS, the PCI Security Standards Council defines credentials and qualifications for QSAs and ASVs. The PCI Security Standards Council also manages a global training and certification program for QSAs and ASVs, and will publish a directory of certified providers on this Web site.

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml

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by | April 12, 2010 · 1:23 pm

Hospitality Industry Food Safety: New “HACCP Food Safety Employee Manual” From Food Safety Expert Tara Paster Focuses On Food Safety And Preparation

(From a PRWeb.com article)  Deadly outbreaks of foodborne illnesses over the past few years have focused increased attention on food safety and preparation. The Obama Administration has announced new steps to upgrade the US food safety system, with a public health-focused approach based on prevention, strengthened surveillance and enforcement, and improved response and recovery. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration recently released its updated Food Code, a model code and reference manual for the state and local agencies that regulate more than one million restaurants, retail food stores and vending and food service operations.
News Image
These recent changes are the focus of food safety expert and Pearson author Tara Paster’s new training guide for the food service industry, The HACCP Food Safety Employee Manual, 2nd Ed. The book debuted today at the 12th Annual Food Safety Summit in Washington, D.C., the largest and most established trade show focusing on food safety, quality assurance and food security.

Designed for workers in casinos, restaurants, schools, the military and retail outlets, The HACCP Food Safety Employee Manual is a user-friendly guide to the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) training processes to prevent foodborne illness in retail food service. The second edition incorporates the new FDA Food Code guidelines to assist the industry in prioritizing their food safety interventions and inspections. Participants receive a Basic HACCP Certification upon completing the course.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/04/prweb3858584.htm

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by | April 8, 2010 · 6:33 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Issues: There Is No Clear Legal Guidance For Hotel And Restaurant Operators If They Suspect A Guest Or Patron Is Likely To Commit Illegal Acts

“A proprietor of an inn, tavern, restaurant, or like business is liable for an assault upon a guest or patron by another guest or third party where the proprietor has reason to anticipate such an assault and fails to exercise reasonable care to forestall or prevent the same.”

(From a Volokh.com posted article)   “The duty of a proprietor of a tavern or inn to protect his patrons from injury does not arise until the impending danger becomes apparent to him, or the circumstances are such that a careful and prudent person would be put on notice of the potential danger.” 

Other jurisdictions have applied the landowner-invitee analysis to determine whether a university has a duty to protect students from the criminal actions of third parties. In analyzing the issue, [most of the courts] relied upon Restatement (Second) of Torts § 344 (1964), which provides:

“A possessor of land who holds it open to the public for entry for his business purposes is subject to liability to members of the public while they are upon the land for such a purpose, for physical harm caused by the accidental, negligent, or intentionally harmful acts of third persons or animals, and by the failure of the possessor to exercise reasonable care to 

“(a) discover that such acts are being done or are likely to be done, or

“(b) give a warning adequate to enable the visitors to avoid the harm, or otherwise to protect them against it.”

The general rule is that a landowner has no duty to protect an invitee on the landowner’s premises from a third party’s criminal attack unless the attack is reasonably foreseeable. Prior similar acts committed upon invitees furnish actual or constructive notice to a landowner. A university owes student tenants the same duty to exercise due care for their protection as a private landowner owes its tenants.

http://volokh.com/2010/04/06/what-should-landlords-do-if-a-tenant-is-accused-of-a-violent-crime/

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by | April 6, 2010 · 10:12 am

Hotel Industry Sexual Harassment: Smaller Hotel Operators Have Minimal “Workplace Hostility” Procedures In Place And Managers Are Often “Friends” Of Senior Management

The situation was difficult to report internally, as the hotel had no clear-cut method of filing such a form of workplace hostility, according to Tsamis. Calls by Windy City Times to the human resources department at the hotel were not returned.

The matter grew more complicated because the manager is friends with the son of the general manager and the human resources manager, according to Kosman.

“Because there was not a policy of reporting in place, I wrote a letter to Bricton Group,” Tsamis said.

(From a WindyCityMediaGroup.com article)   When Hernan Cortes began working for Holiday Inn in 2006, he was pleased with the job.

“It was an excellent work environment,” said Cortes.

Things changed radically in August 2009, when, according to Cortes, his new male supervising manager began sexually harassing him and, ironically, discriminating against him due to his sexual orientation.

Sexual harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation, two forms of workplace hostility, have intersected in a case involving employees of a Holiday Inn franchise in Elmhurst, Ill. The hotel is run by The Bricton Group, which is based in Park Ridge, Ill.

Two employees of the hotel have sought legal advice due to the alleged incidents.

Dan Kosman, the second employee seeking legal assistance, began working for the hotel in June 2009. Around August, his supervising manager—the same manager who also supervised over Cortes—allegedly began sexual harassing him as well.

“I’d walk by and he’d pinch my butt,” Kosman said. “I’d be by the filing cabinet, bending over, and he’d come over and bump me purposely.

Kosman added that the manager also committed more lewd actions, such as exposing his penis to him. Cortes reportedly faced similar harassment.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation also came into play, when other employees were present, said Kosman and Cortes.

“He called me ‘F squared,’ which mean ‘f’ing faggot,'” Cortes said.

“As the harassment went on, he was obviously a closeted gay,” Kosman said. “When there were other people around, he was definitely throwing [ homophobic words ] around to whomever he was talking to. I would be somewhere on the sidelines … and he’d say, ‘Oh, that guy’s a fag.'”

Kosman sought the advice of Lambda Legal, an organization that offers legal assistance to the LGBT community, in December. Lambda referred Kosman to his current lawyer, Betty Tsamis.

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=25872

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by | April 5, 2010 · 4:18 am

Restaurant Food Safety: Food Safety Certification Training That Will Benefit Kitchen And Wait Staff (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-P7K0Bg_eo]

Food safety certification training is something that must be done by everyone in your kitchen staff and wait staff. Make sure you get your employees properly trained with guidance from a restaurant owner in this free video on the restaurant business.

Expert: Ernie Paquette
Contact: www.restaurantzola.com
Bio: Ernie Paquette is the owner of Zola Restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, nationally-known chef Debra Paquette.
Filmmaker: Dimitri LaBarge

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