Tag Archives: Health Hazards

by | January 31, 2011 · 5:13 am

Hospitality Industry Guest And Employee Health: Studies Of "Smoke-Free" Law In Wisconsin Show "No Adverse Economic Effects"

 “This is excellent news for employers and employees in the hospitality industry,” says Gail Sumi, Wisconsin government relations director for the American Cancer Society.

“This study, like dozens of similar studies nationwide, offers more proof that going smoke-free does not pit business against health, but rather is a common sense health law that keeps workers and employers both physically and fiscally healthy.”

Wisconsin’s six-month-old smoke-free law seems to be working well, according to a new study of the experience of five cities by the University of Wisconsin.

The study – focusing on the effects of Wisconsin’s municipal smoke-free ordinances in Madison, Appleton, Eau Claire, Marshfield and Fond du Lac – found no adverse economic effects throughout the hospitality industry including bars and restaurants.

    Performed by the UW Carbone Cancer Center, the newly released 15-page study compared economic data between the five Wisconsin cities that enacted smoke-free ordinances before the statewide law took effect in July 2010 and similar cities where workplace smoking was still permitted.

    The results showed bars and restaurants in the smokefree cities continued to do well under the ordinances. In fact, in virtually every smokefree community the number of Class B alcohol licenses rose after the ordinances took effect and employment remained strong despite the recession.

Fore more:  http://newsofthenorth.net/article/Top_Stories/State_Headline_News/Smokefree_law_not_hurting_hospitality_industry_study_says/105786

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by | January 12, 2011 · 8:03 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Surveys On "Bed Bug Infestations" Show Most People Feel Infestations Are Increasing And "Transmit Disease"

 

Bed Beg infestations at hotels can result in guilty verdicts against hotel owners if conscious and deliberate behavior led to infestations going untreated.

One out of five Americans has had a bed bug infestation in their home or knows someone who has encountered bed bugs at home or in a hotel according to a new survey released by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

 

 

  • Americans who have encountered bed bugs tend to be younger, live in urban areas and rent their homes. The incidence of bed bugs is three times higher in urban areas than in rural areas due to factors such as larger population size, apartment living and increased mobility, which are conducive to the rapid spread and breeding of bed bugs.
  • Bed bugs are found in all 50 states. Specifically, the pests were encountered by 17 percent of respondents in the Northeast; 20 percent in the Midwest; 20 percent in the South; and 19 percent in the West.
  • Most Americans are concerned about bed bugs and believe that infestations in the United States are increasing. Nearly 80 percent are most concerned about encountering bed bugs at hotels; 52 percent on public transportation; 49 percent in movie theaters; 44 percent in retail stores; 40 percent in medical facilities; 36 percent in their own homes; and 32 percent equally pointed to places of employment and friends’ homes. The fear of getting bitten topped the list of concerns.
  • As the public’s awareness of the bed bug resurgence grows, many Americans are modifying their behaviors to minimize their risk of an infestation: 27 percent have inspected or washed clothing upon returning from a trip; 25 percent have checked a hotel room for bed bugs; 17 percent have inspected or vacuumed a suitcase upon returning from a trip and 12 percent have altered or canceled travel plans because of concern about bed bugs.
  • 16 percent inspected second-hand furniture they have brought into their homes; 15 percent have checked dressing rooms when trying on clothing and 29 percent have washed new clothing immediately upon bringing it home from a store.
  • Of the 13 percent of respondents who said they knew someone who had a bed bug infestation in their home, 40 percent said they avoided entering the infested home and 33 percent discouraged those who had the infestation from entering their own home.
  • Despite the availability of information, most Americans still have misconceptions about bed bugs. Nearly half of respondents incorrectly believe that bed bugs transmit disease. However, research conducted to date has shown that bed bugs do not transmit disease to their human victims, although some people may experience itchy, red welts; 29 percent inaccurately believe bed bugs are more common among lower income households, and 37 percent believe bed bugs are attracted to dirty homes. Bed bugs do not discriminate in regard to household income and are found in both sanitary and unsanitary conditions.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article51366.html

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by | January 7, 2011 · 11:00 am

Hotel Industry Health And Safety Risk: San Francisco Hotel Guests Are Exposed To "Carbon Monoxide" That May Have Come From Outside Through Air Intake System

Fire officials believe the cause of the flu-like symptoms is carbon monoxide after measuring high levels of the potentially deadly gas, a San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman said.

“The hotel staff promptly contacted the fire department to assess the situation and assist with transporting the guests to area hospitals for treatment,” Singer said.

Investigators discovered that the air intake for the hotel is on the Stevenson Street side of the building so it draws air in from the outside, Talmadge said. “They’re thinking the carbon monoxide might have come from outside through their intake system.”

Four guests at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis fell ill late Thursday after being exposed to carbon monoxide in their downtown hotel rooms, authorities said. The four guests were flight attendants staying in four separate rooms at the hotel, located at the intersection of Fourth and Mission streets, hotel spokesman Sam Singer said.

The San Francisco Marriott Marquis issued the following statement today: “Early this morning four guests at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis complained of flu-like symptoms. The hotel staff promptly contacted the fire department to assess the situation and assist with transporting the guests to area hospitals for treatment.

The four guests were transported to San Francisco General Hospital and St. Francis Memorial Hospital where they “are now doing well,” Singer said.

“Initially we believed it to be the heating system in the rooms,” fire Lt. Mindy Talmadge said. “But after further investigation we determined it couldn’t be the heating system because they use a steam system which doesn’t use carbon monoxide.”

For more: http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=102638

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by | November 13, 2010 · 6:43 pm

Hotel Industry Health And Safety Issues: New Ways To Eliminate “Bed Bug Infestations” Include “Baking” Hotel Rooms At Temperatures Of 130 Degrees”

If the pests are carried into a hotel, the company is prepared to bake them to death at 130 degrees or higher for two hours, a time and temperature that is overkill. Bedbugs die

State inspectors have the authority to shut down an establishment that poses an "imminent health hazard" involving fire, flood, sewage backup, rodent infestation, bed bug infestation or "any other condition that could endanger the health and safety of guests, employees and the general public."

after 20 minutes at 113 degrees, Dunkelberger said.

“… the company places heaters, fans and an air scrubber in the hotel room to warm the air, circulate it and eliminate impurities. Probes are used to determine the temperature in at least six areas of the room — under the carpet, between the mattresses and inside the credenza — until it reaches at least 130 degrees. Then, the room bakes for two hours.”

ISIS Hospitality, a local leader in the hotel industry, has found a new method for exterminating bedbugs: heat. The pests cannot stand it, which is why ISIS Hospitality is baking rooms in its six hotels to eliminate them.

Bedbugs are a persistent problem that plague everyone in the hospitality industry, and they did not skip over any hotel in the Black Hills, said Rich Dunkelberger, chief executive officer of ISIS Hospitality.

“Bedbugs don’t discriminate. They like Ritz-Carltons as much as they like Motel 6s,” said Dunkelberger, whose company started using the new method about two weeks ago. “We’re excited about this because we found something we know works and we’re doing it now.”

The company manages The Hotel Alex Johnson, AmericInn Lodge & Suites, Country Inn & Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites and LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Rapid City, and Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Resort in Deadwood.

“We have no active infestations in any of our six motels,” Dunkelberger said.

If the pests are carried into a hotel, the company is prepared to bake them to death at 130 degrees or higher for two hours, a time and temperature that is overkill. Bedbugs die after 20 minutes at 113 degrees, Dunkelberger said.

Using the ThermaPure method, the company places heaters, fans and an air scrubber in the hotel room to warm the air, circulate it and eliminate impurities. Probes are used to determine the temperature in at least six areas of the room — under the carpet, between the mattresses and inside the credenza — until it reaches at least

130 degrees. Then, the room bakes for two hours.

“It turns into a super-heated convection oven,” said Bob Almond, director of maintenance for ISIS Hospitality. Almond attended a weeklong training session to learn the method.

Although it is beyond the kill stage temperature, the company keeps the room around 130 to 140 degrees to ensure the demise of the pests; higher temperatures cause damage to items in the room.

Almond and the maintenance crew are heating all rooms that were previously treated by other extermination methods in the past three years to ensure all bugs and eggs are dead, Dunkelberger said.

“Then, we can feel confident that we have sterile hotels,” Dunkelberger said.

The extermination method comes with a $70,000 price tag, which includes the equipment and the weeklong training course in California.

“I’m more than willing to make the investment. It’s well worth it so we can rest assured our guests are safe,” Dunkelberger said. “We’ve done everything we possibly can to kill the bedbugs. There is nothing else more that we could do. If there was, I’d do it, but there is nothing more we can do.”

For more:  http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/article_5f3347be-efa5-11df-baab-001cc4c03286.html

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by | November 9, 2010 · 6:49 pm

Hotel Industry Employee Injury Risk Management: Housekeepers File “Multicity Injury Complaint” That Demands Hotel Management Use “Fitted Sheets”, “Long-Handled Mops And Dusters” And Lower Room Quotas To Reduce Injuries

The complaints recommend the hotels:

  • use fitted sheets to reduce the number of times that women must lift 100-plus pound mattresses;
  • long-handled mops and dusters, so workers do not have to get down on their hands and knees to clean the floors or climb bathtubs to reach high surfaces;
  • and what the union considers to be “reasonable” room quotas.

Housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa joined with their mainland counterparts to file the first multicity injury complaint against the hotel operator with the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In addition to Honolulu, complaints were filed by workers at a dozen Hyatt properties in San Antonio; Chicago; San Francisco; Santa Clara, Calif.; Los Angeles; Long Beach, Calif.; and Indianapolis. Those properties employ more than 3,500 workers, according to Unite Here Local 5, the hotel workers union.

Some Hyatt properties require room attendants to clean as many as 30 rooms a day, nearly double the industry standard, according to the union. Housekeeping duties include heavy lifting of beds, linens and other work that can strain the body.

For more:  http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/businessbriefs/20101110_Business_Briefs.html

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by | November 7, 2010 · 10:45 am

Hotel Industry Health And Safety Issues: Bedbug Infestations Eradication Efforts Are Complicated And Expensive (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA8z4IVEG-0]

They are not even five millimeters long and cannot fly or jump. Yet bedbugs strike fear in homeowners and business owners. Well, not all business owners. Some see money in these little bloodsuckers.

Missy Henriksen speaks for the National Pest Management Association. She says they are now seeing bedbugs in unusual places: schools and hospitals, store and movie theaters. So, as the numbers have grown, those bed bugs are spreading out and traveling along with people. New York and other cities have outbreaks. But the United States is not the only country affected. Jeff White is an insect expert who hosts Bed Bug TV on the website BedBug Central. He says the lack of public awareness has caused this rapid expansion of bedbug infestations. Mr. White says bedbugs nearly disappeared from the United States for fifty or sixty years. Now researchers are looking for faster, safer ways to control them without the kinds of poisons used in the past. The name is misleading. Bedbugs do not just live in beds. Mr. White says they can survive for a year without food — that is, blood. In September, an industry event called BedBug University’s North American Summit 2010 took place near Chicago, Illinois. More than three hundred sixty people attended the two-day meeting.The industry says bedbugs are the most difficult pest to control. Treatments can cost from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars in a hotel or apartment building.

Missy Henriksen says Americans spent almost two hundred sixty million dollars on bedbug treatments last year. That was only five percent of total spending on pest control but that number does not include other costs. She says the total economic effect is much greater. Businesses that have bedbugs often must close to solve the problem. Bedbugs have not been shown to spread disease. But they can leave itchy bite marks and cause allergic reactions in some people. Lately, however, another bug has caught America’s attention. The National Pest Management Association is now getting the most questions about stink bugs. Outbreaks have invaded homes and offices in many states. Stink bugs are harmless except to farms and gardens. And they smell bad only if you smash them.

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by | October 11, 2010 · 2:08 pm

Hospitality Industry Health Risk Management: Hotel Owners Must Establish Formal “Bed Bug Infestation Risk Management” Protocols For Preventing And Then Eradicating Infestations

In certain cases, courts can even levy large judgments against hotel operators who rent rooms infested with bed bugs. In 2003, a federal appellate court awarded $372,000 in

State inspectors have the authority to shut down an establishment that poses an "imminent health hazard" involving fire, flood, sewage backup, rodent infestation, bed bug infestation or "any other condition that could endanger the health and safety of guests, employees and the general public."

punitive damages, roughly 37 times the compensatory award in the case, to a couple bitten by bed bugs while staying at a chronically infested Motel 6 in Chicago.

Hotel owners and operators have faced periodic reports of bed bugs for decades, but a newfound public fascination with the problem, combined with the proliferation of websites dedicated to documenting bed bug outbreaks, has created a frenzy of media activity never before seen. Indeed, bed bug stories have been reported in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and many other local television and print outlets across the country. Stoking the traditional media’s interest in bed bugs is a rash of new online forums where travelers post the unsettling details of encounters with the pests.

Much of the coverage seems sensational and overblown, but property owners and third party operators in the hospitality industry have to face the reality that the process of eliminating bed bugs from hotel rooms can be quite expensive and can lead to litigation and costly settlements. Additionally, reports of infestation on online travel sites like TripAdvisor and bed bug reporting sites like bedbugregistry.com and bedbugreports.com can cause significant reputational harm and loss of business.

The good news for hospitality companies is that robust risk management practices, and the appropriate insurance and risk financing programs, can significantly mitigate the financial impact bed bugs can have on a hotel organization.

Establishing formal risk management protocols around bed bugs is an important first step in minimizing the cost of infestation. Proactive steps for hotel organizations include creating a formal program to train housekeeping staff on spotting bed bugs, creating a policy on how to handle outbreaks or complaints and implementing regular pest control inspections.

“Bed bugs are on our list of emerging issues facing the insurance industry, not only for hotels, but in the retail, apartment, and residential healthcare sectors,” noted Brian Gerritsen, Senior Director of Hospitality Business at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. “The recent increase in bed bug related claims has prompted us to become more proactive about the issue with our insurance customers.” Mr. Gerritsen’s team recently released an industry alert recommending that hotel operators take several actions to prevent potential infestations in guest rooms including:

• Chemically treating mattresses and sealing them in plastic

• Washing/drying bedding and towels regularly and daily if possible

• Vacuuming cracks, crevices and other hiding places and sealing openings permanently so the bugs don’t have a place to hide

• Having regular inspections and extermination services done by a qualified pest control contractor

• Training and educating housekeeping employees to recognize the presence of bed bugs and immediately report any activity to the appropriate personnel

For more:  http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/don039t-let-bed-bugs-bite-insurance-and-risk-management-perspective

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by | September 16, 2010 · 5:51 am

Hotel Industry Health Risk Management: Early Bed Bug Detection Is Critical For Successful Eradication Programs (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OOZ8wBuF0k&feature=channel]

Bedbugs have made a comeback in the US due to increased international travel. Bedbugs can crawl out of a traveler’s suitcases and establish themselves in hotel rooms. A Bedbug problem can be quite expensive. In fact, an outbreak could lead to serious litigation and large settlements and loss of business. Can your property afford it? This program trains your employees to spot bed bugs so they can be caught in the early stages and remediated before a major infestation occurs.

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by | September 13, 2010 · 7:14 am

Hotel Industry Swimming Pool And Spa Risks: Las Vegas Hotel Suffers Chemical Malfunction In Pool Which Sickens Guests

Richard Brenner, hazardous materials coordinator for the Clark County Fire Department, said that sodium hypochlorite went into the hotel’s lazy river pool when a valve used to control the chemical malfunctioned and did not shut off properly. He also added that the chemical went into the water and fumes in the air had made guests sick but expected them all to be ok.

About 100 people had trouble breathing but did not need to go to hospitals, instead were treated by responding emergency personnel.  It was also reported that the people taken to local hospitals were conscious and alert and none of the guests were in critical condition.

High concentrations of a chemical similar to bleach seeped into a pool at the world-famous MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip, leading the hotel officials to evacuate some 1,500 guests and sending at least 26 people to local hospitals with breathing difficulties on Friday.

“People started smelling chlorine. It doesn’t take much to set our nose off”, Brenner said.

The MGM Resorts International officials emphasized that once it was discovered what happened the valve was immediately shut off. While the leak only affected the lazy river pool, all of the resort’s five pools were closed to error on the side of caution.

For more:  http://www.dailyrosetta.com/chlorine-leaks-at-mgm-grand-las-vegas-pool/1247.html

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by | September 8, 2010 · 5:41 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Hotel Managers Are Finding Innovative Ways To Detect Bedbugs Early But Eradication Is Costly

“Short of putting a bedbug-sniffing beagle at your door to check everyone before they come in, you’re going to get bedbugs,” he said. “Dealing with them is the cost of doing business these days.”

State inspectors have the authority to shut down an establishment that poses an "imminent health hazard" involving fire, flood, sewage backup, rodent infestation, bed bug infestation or "any other condition that could endanger the health and safety of guests, employees and the general public."

The costs of coping with bedbugs are significant, and they are not covered by most insurance policies because they are seen as a maintenance issue. Hiring bedbug-sniffing dogs, which is considered the most effective detection technique, costs about $250 for a 1,200-square-foot retail store and as much as $10,000 for a million-square-foot department store.

 

Eliminating infestations is also costly, ranging from $750 for a few rooms in an office building to $70,000 for a large apartment complex. And that is just for the application of the cocktail of pesticides that kills bedbugs. It costs an additional 40 percent for the gold standard regimen of placing all the contents of an office or retail space into a heat chamber — bedbugs die at 120 degrees — and then spraying pesticides in the temporarily empty rooms.

An employee first discovered a bedbug in the 137-room hotel in 2003, and Mr. Tyler has since instituted a comprehensive bedbug detection program to find the blood-sucking insects before a guest does.

  • Mr. Tyler created a position called “bedbug technician” — an employee whose sole job is to go from room to room checking for bedbugs.
  • There is also a bedbug bounty of $10 paid to any employee who finds one.
  • If a bedbug is found, the room and all adjacent rooms are taken out of service for up to five days while they are steam-cleaned and chemically treated to eliminate the bugs and their eggs.
  • The mattresses in the rooms are also discarded. The total cost for each room is $2,500, including lost bookings.

“It sounds like a lot of money, but the value of a good reputation is infinite,” Mr. Tyler said. “Your biggest fear is that someone will get bitten and post something about it on an online travel site, and that’d be a killer.”

Bedbugs used to be solely a residential problem, but they are showing up in commercial settings, and not just in places with beds like hotels, nursing homes and apartment complexes. Increasingly, pest control companies report finding bedbugs in office buildings, movie theaters, clothing stores, food plants, factories and even airplanes.

“To stay ahead of bedbugs, I recommend having the dogs come through quarterly,” said Pepe Peruyero, chief executive of J&K Canine Academy in High Springs, Fla., which trains bedbug-sniffing dogs and offers inspections for large buildings like department stores and school dormitories. However, he added, many customers cannot afford it and instead choose to rely on the vigilance of employees after an initial dog check comes up clean.

“It takes about four to seven hours per room” for the combination heat and pesticide procedure and a couple of hours on three separate occasions if using pesticides alone, said Judy Black, technical director for the Steritech Group, based in Charlotte, N.C., which provides pest control and other quality control services to commercial customers. “Getting rid of bedbugs is not quick or easy.”

For more:   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/business/08bedbug.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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