Tag Archives: Liability

by | November 12, 2014 · 9:42 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Hackers Using Hotel Wi-Fi to Check Into Victims’ Computers”

Safeguarding against such an attack can be difficult for hotel guests. The best defense is to double check update alerts that pop up on your computer during a stay in a hotel.hackers Go to the software vendor’s site directly to see if an update has been posted and download it directly from there. Though, of course, this won’t help if the attackers are able to redirect your machine to a malicious download site

A hacking campaign known as Darkhotel has been deployed by Hackers to steal sensitive information from business executives, security researchers have revealed.

How it happened is that the sophisticated attackers had been lurking on the hotel’s network for days waiting for him to check in. They uploaded their malware to the hotel’s server days before then deleted it from the hotel network days after.

For more: http://bit.ly/1B9M6jS

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by | November 11, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “60 People Fall Ill With Norovirus at Bay Area Luxury Hotel” (VIDEO)

After the outbreak, staff members with the county’s Communicable Disease and Environmental Health Service began working with hotel managementNorovirus to implement infectious disease containment measures. The measures include frequent and comprehensive cleaning of common areas, educating employees about the virus and posting additional signage reminding employees to wash their hands.

Public health officials say 60 people who fell ill after staying at a Bay Area luxury hotel two weeks ago contracted the norovirus — a highly contagious virus that can lead to stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea.

San Mateo County health officials confirmed Friday that the guests and employees of the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City became ill sometime after Oct. 28, and traced the illness to the highly contagious norovirus, which spreads after contact with an infected person or contaminated food and water.

For more: http://lat.ms/1uYVKCD

And for more on how to help prevent Norovirus at your property, check out the video below from Petra’s own P3 Risk Management Team.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/98741016 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Matt Karp, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Preventing Norovirus at Your Property’. 

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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Filed under Employee Practices, Food Illnesses, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

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by | November 7, 2014 · 8:50 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Update: “AH&LA, 80+ Hotel Organizations Call On House Leadership To Pass TRIA Now”

TRIA is intended to provide stability to the economy and assure investors and developers,ahla-80-hotel-organizations-call-on-house-leadership-to-pass-tria-now as they plan long-term projects, that insurance will be available to adequately protect their properties against the financial risk of a terrorist attack. However, a short-term extension creates uncertainty as to whether TRIA will still exist as these projects move forward.

Washington, D.C. — In the wake of the midterm elections, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), along with more than 80 other hotel industry groups including hotel brands, management companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), owners and state hotel associations, called on the House of Representatives to get back to work and pass the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in a letter sent to House leadership.

AH&LA urged lawmakers to focus on the immediate priorities, including passage of this vital piece of legislation, which is critical to protect job and economic growth within the hotel industry and across the broader economy. More than 80 groups joined AH&LA in signing the letter, which was sent to every member of the House of Representatives in addition to House leadership.

For more: http://bit.ly/10ym9JI

 

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by | November 4, 2014 · 8:47 am

Hospitality Industry Health Update: “Maintaining a Healthy Workforce, Workplace Keys to Hotels’ Ebola Response”

So far, it appears that the Ebola outbreak is not holding back companies’ road warriors. According to a poll of corporate travel managers released by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation,Ebola-620x330 nearly 80 percent of the managers said international business travel has either not been impacted at all or has not been impacted much during the past month. Likewise, more than 90 percent of managers said that domestic business travel has either not been impacted at all or has not been impacted much during the past month.

Travelers aren’t immune to the fear of Ebola generated by top headlines, so even though the dangers of a serious outbreak in the United States remain extraordinarily low, hotels must be prepared to respond to guests’ and employees’ concerns. And with flu season upon us, they should be ready to take responsible action no matter what the serious health care scenario.

“The health, safety, and security of our guests and team members is paramount,” stated Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) in a press release. “In these kinds of rapidly evolving situations, it is imperative that we stay informed, dispel fact from fiction, and follow official guidelines.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1x3lCeB

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by | November 3, 2014 · 9:09 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “California Ranks Highest For Workers’ Compensation Costs”

California employers are required by law to have workers’ comp insurance, even if they have only one employee.Workers Comp (NO LOGO) The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) imposes assessments on employers to cover the cost of potential workers comp claims. The amount a business pays into the system depends on how many employees a business has and what its total payroll is.

California has been ranked as the most expensive state for workers’ compensation costs, according to a newly released report.

The Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary from Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services shows that California businesses spend $3.48 for every $100 of payroll issued.

That’s 188 percent of the median cost of $1.85 for all 50 states. California was the third most expensive state in 2012 and the fifth most expensive in 2010.

“California’s workers’ compensation system is incredibly inefficient,” said Jerry Azevedo, a spokesman for the California-based Workers’ Compensation Action Network, which seeks to reduce costs for employers and improve services to injured workers. “It does not do a good job of achieving its goal. For as much as employers pay, they don’t get a lot out of it.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1pgVFZb

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by | October 22, 2014 · 8:37 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Liberty Mutual: Retail and Hospitality Institute II”

“Best practices for mitigating risk and reducing losses for guest and employee injuries and incidents in the retail, hospitality, restaurant, gaming and entertainment industries.”

Liberty

At the conclusion of this institute, you will be able to:

• Explain what drives best-in-class performance in safety and risk
management
• Implement best practices for achieving safety and
operational excellence
• Apply resources and take advantage of networking opportunities that
can lead to stronger risk mitigation practices and related expense control

For more information contact Liberty Mutual at LPED@libertymutual.com with questions.

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by | October 21, 2014 · 8:27 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Hotel Housekeepers Are at Great Risk for Sexual Assault From Guests”

“Women described men who insisted they close the door while cleaning, grabbed their hands as they handed over change and asked where they could “find a girl.”housekeeper-387x580 Kensbock and her colleagues identified a few factors that put women in the hotel industry at a heightened risk for sexual harassment, including the “gendered” nature of their work as housekeepers and their lack of power relative to the guests…Most of the women in Kensbock’s study coped with harassment using passive strategies, like humor or deflection. Though the hotel management had protocols they could follow to report inappropriate behavior, women—fearing guests would retaliate by leaving negative surveys—rarely complained.”

When Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused of assaulting Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who was sent to clean his hotel room, hospitality workers thought the story seemed all-too-plausible. In a New York Times op-ed, Jacob Tomsky, a veteran of the hotel industry, wrote that housekeepers are assaulted by guests “more often than you’d think,” and that their employers don’t offer much protection. In a recent account on xoJane, an anonymous woman describes a decade’s worth of sexual harassment in different parts of the hotel industry—from working the front desk to cleaning rooms. It’s so systemic, she says, that the women developed coordinated strategies to cope with it—like enlisting other housekeepers to stay with them when they’re assigned to clean the room of a “known pervert.”

For more: http://bit.ly/124uEO7

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by | October 20, 2014 · 11:16 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Justices Will Decide Privacy Case on Hotel Records” (VIDEO)

“Los Angeles has said the ordinance makes prostitutes and drug dealers less likely to use hotels if they know that the facilities must collect information about guests and make them available to police on a moment’s noticegavel (1)…In dissent, Judge Richard Clifton said that courts previously have ruled that hotel guests have no expectation of privacy in records of their names and room numbers. “A guest’s information is even less personal to the hotel than it is to the guest,” Clifton said.”

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to referee a dispute over police access to hotels’ guest information without first getting a search warrant.

The justices said they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires hotel operators to open their guest registries at the demand of police.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco divided 7-4 in ruling that the ordinance violates the privacy rights of the hotels, but not their guests.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zi8CGd

And for more information on how to best handle police requests for information, check out Petra’s own Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, in this P3 Risk Management Update “How to Handle Police and Law Enforcement Request for Hotel Guest Information”.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/109469870 w=500&h=281]

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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by | October 17, 2014 · 8:30 am

Hospitality Industry Health Update: “Official Recommendations of the P3 Team Regarding Ebola”

Petra’s Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, has put together his best recommendations regarding the Ebola virus. Please click the image below to view the list at it’s full resolution and be able to save the image for personal use or to pass along to anyone you may know in the hospitality industry!


P3 Ebola Sheet

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by | October 13, 2014 · 11:17 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Denver Police Warn Hotel Guests About Scammer Claiming to be Front Desk Employee”

The person called the guest, claimed to be working the front desk of the hotel,downtown denver then convinced the guest to release their credit card information, police said. Later, the guest became suspicious and called the front desk and realized they had been scammed.

A scam artist claiming to be a hotel employee in downtown Denver tricked a guest into giving out their credit card number and security pin.

The same scam was attempted on four other guests on the same night, according to the Denver Police Department. Investigators did not say which hotel the scammer targeted.

For more: http://bit.ly/1D7hU6v

And for more information on how to best handle hotel hoaxes and scams, check out Petra’s own Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, in this P3 Risk Management Update “Hoaxes and Scams”.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/108805070 w=500&h=281]

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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