Tag Archives: Maintenance

by | September 17, 2014 · 9:24 am

Hospitality Industry Maintenance Update: “Focusing on Acoustics Can Improve Guests’ Comfort”

Even with thicker walls, pathways through which sound escapes can defeat construction. Unsealed recessed electrical outlets are a common example.guest accoustics “I know a hotel with walls constructed to STC-60, but they performed at only STC-42 because the outlets weren’t sealed,” Battaglia says. “Yet, the ‘fix’ was simple. Preformed acoustic seals were installed by the maintenance crew between guests. The results were nothing short of remarkable.”

Your guests’ ears never rest, not even when they’re sleeping. Throughout the night, guests are likely to hear off-and-on HVAC systems, TVs in adjacent rooms, and luggage carts in hallways.

“When humans were still sleeping in caves, we needed to hear twigs snap when predators approached,” explains Jeff Loether, founder of Electro-Media Design, which provides acoustical and audio visual guidance for various hotel flags in the United States and overseas. “When man moved from caves to hotel rooms, he brought his hearing acuity with him.” And while hungry predators are no longer a problem, sounds that go bump in the night are.

For more: http://bit.ly/ZpV7UT

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by | October 13, 2012 · 6:17 am

Hospitality Industry Fire Safety Risks: South Carolina Hotels Implement "Preventative Maintenance" Program Including Housekeeping Checking Smoke Detectors After Guests Depart

“…the resort says it follows a detailed preventative maintenance program with a 300 item checklist, ensuring that everything from electric outlets to appliances inside guest rooms are safe to use…upon the departure of each guest, housekeeping is instructed to check the smoke detector for safety to make sure it’s still in working condition…”

Studies show that working smoke detectors cut your chance of dying in a fire by half.

When it comes to hotel fire safety, Springmaid Beach Resort on Ocean Blvd learned just how important smoke detectors are, after a small electrical fire broke out in the boiler room this past summer.

“We had to clear all those rooms out of people that were right around it and move them to a different property,” says Donald Hovis, the marketing manager for the establishment.

It’s a safety measure more hotels are starting to do. In Georgetown, the fire department has teamed up with hotels requiring cleaning staff to check smoke detectors after each guest checks out of the room. The staff also leaves a card stating the test has been done for the next occupant to see.

While Myrtle Beach doesn’t require it, the fire department says it’s been working with hotels for years on getting housekeeping to check the devices, and the fire marshal says he’s confident Grand Strand hotels are ensuring guests’ safety.

Several hotels we checked with along Ocean Boulevard say they check them regularly. Hovis says following this summer’s small fire, they learned another valuable lesson.

For more:  http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/19806893/grand-strand-hotels-reveal-fire-safety-plan

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by | March 29, 2012 · 8:38 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: New York Elevator Mechanic Dies When Electrocuted During Maintenance Work Near Control Panel

“…(He) was performing maintenance in the engine room on the ninth floor of  the Axa Equitable building …when he was electrocuted just  after 9:30 p.m…”  

Con Edison was called to the scene for safety reasons, an  agency spokesman said, but it was unclear how the man came into contact with  live wires in the room that houses a control panel and a riser that works to  operate the building’s 34 elevators.

A 39-year-old elevator mechanic died when he was electrocuted at work in a  44-story midtown office building Wednesday night, fire and police officials  said.  Emergency responders found  the repairman unconscious and in cardiac arrest, a fire official said.  But  he died less than 30 minutes later, according to a police source.
“He’s  dead,” a fire source at the scene said. “He was lying on live  wires.”
Building workers said the man had been employed for the past five  years by the Schindler Group – a company that develops, installs and services  elevators and escalators, according to its website – which contracts with the  building to supply in-house mechanics to keep up with repairs.
“He has  three kids, it’s horrible,” said one coworker said. “He was a very nice guy. He  was hardworking and smart,” he said of his fallen friend. “But no one knows what  happened.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mechanic-electrocuted-elevator-manhattan-office-building-article-1.1052532#ixzz1qWQmFsvr

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by | February 28, 2012 · 1:17 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: New York Hotel's "Fatal Elevator Accident" Caused By Service Company's "Maintenance Errors"

Maintenance workers failed to enable a door safety circuit on an elevator moments before an advertising executive was killed after stepping into the elevator in an office tower in Midtown Manhattan, according to officials from the city’s Department of Buildings and the Department of Investigations.

According to officials, the workers did three things wrong:

  • They never re-enabled the safety circuit after performing the upgrade and restoring the elevator to normal service.
  • They did not post a warning that work was being performed, as required under the city’s building code.
  • They did not call the Buildings Department for an inspection, as legally required, before putting the elevator back into service.

If the circuit had been working properly, officials said, it would most likely have prevented the elevator from moving abruptly and pinning the executive, Suzanne Hart, inside an elevator shaft. As a result, the Buildings Department is suspending the license of the owner of the maintenance company, Transel Elevator, that performed the work and will seek to have the license revoked.

For more:  http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/city-blames-fatal-elevator-accident-on-poor-maintenance-work/

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by | December 30, 2011 · 5:59 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Texas Hotel "Service Elevator" Malfunctions Resulting In Housekeeper's Fatal Six Story Fall

In Texas, licensed inspectors must check elevators annually. The service elevator at the Crockett Hotel was installed in 1981 and its last annual inspection was in December 2010, according to the most recent records on file with the licensing department. Elevator inspector William McPherson did not note any concerns in his report.

In a 2008 inspection report, McPherson wrote that the service elevator needed a door restrictor — a device that prevents elevator doors opening when an elevator is stuck between floors. It prevents occupants from falling out of the elevator down the shaft, and from being injured if the elevator moves while they try to climb out.

The state’s chief elevator inspector will investigate a fatal incident at the Crockett Hotel, where a housekeeper fell six stories down the shaft of a service elevator Wednesday evening.

Brendel said the elevator was regularly maintained and inspected. He told police that the hotel “had been having problems with the elevators,” but they had been serviced and were working properly, according to a San Antonio police report.

The death stunned Rodriguez’s family, who described her as a warm, kind-hearted woman. She left behind four children, 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Family members say they have not received any explanation from hotel management about the cause of the death. Gloria Rodriguez’s daughter, Sara Ochoa, said the elevator had frozen with an employee inside it a few days ago, and it had gotten stuck in the past.

Lawrence Taylor, chief inspector for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees elevator safety, was traveling to San Antonio on Thursday to investigate, department spokeswoman Susan Stanford said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency that enforces safety standards for workers, also is investigating the incident.

Brendel said he couldn’t remember if the restrictor had been installed. But in a 2009 letter sent to state officials, he wrote that the hotel was planning to install one. More recent inspection reports did not find any problems regarding the door restrictor.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Cause-unclear-in-death-at-hotel-2431280.php#ixzz1i1f7zxA3

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by | December 17, 2011 · 11:35 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Safety: New York Hotel Elevator Malfunctions "Killing Hotel Guest" Hours After "Electrical Maintenance Repairs"

“…Electrical maintenance work was being performed on an elevator just hours before it malfunctioned, killing an advertising executive in Midtown…”

Photo by Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

“…The last fatal elevator accident in the city also involved Transel: Robert Melito, 44, a technician for the company, was servicing an elevator on the 10th floor of a building at 230 West 38th Street on Sept. 23 when he fell to his death…”

Suzanne Hart, 41, was crushed to death on Wednesday morning after the elevator she was stepping into lurched upward, pinning her between the outside of the car and the wall of the elevator shaft.

Mr. Sclafani said the department would be conducting citywide sweeps of elevators maintained by Transel Elevator Inc., the company that serviced the elevators at 285 Madison Avenue, where the accident occurred.

The company maintains elevators at nearly a dozen prominent buildings in the city, according to Transel’s Web site, including the Graybar Building, the BMW Building and the Hippodrome Building. Additional clients listed on the Web site include Carnegie Hall and the Plaza Hotel.

For more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/nyregion/elevator-that-killed-yr-executive-was-undergoing-maintenance-city-says.html?_r=1

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by | December 5, 2011 · 7:00 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Arizona Hotel's Elevator "Free-Falls" Several Floors Injuring Female Guest

“…Right after the second-floor button lit up, she heard a loud noise and the elevator went into a free-fall mode…The elevator hit the ground. The woman broke her right ankle, and possibly her left ankle, too…”  

A woman suffered broken bones after the elevator she was riding in fell several floors at a Phoenix hotel Saturday night, fire officials said. The woman, who was not identified, was riding up to the third floor at the Embassy Suites at I-17 and Greenway, according to Capt. Scott McDonald of the Phoenix Fire Department.

It was not immediately known what caused the elevator to fall.

For more:  http://www.kpho.com/story/16185739/woman-hurt-in-falling-elevator

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by | June 17, 2011 · 7:00 am

Hotel Industry Guest Safety: Texas Hotel Guests Injured When "Glass Panels" Fall From 24th Floor To Pool Deck Recalling Fatal "Window Accident" In Atlanta

“….two glass panels fell from balcony railings of two unoccupied condominium units on the 24th and 25th floors and landed in the pool area…”

The hotel’s general manager, Drew McQuade, told the newspaper that four people were treated for cuts and other injuries.

“It was not packed, but there were a fair amount of guests at the pool,” McQuade said. “We feel fortunate that there were not more people injured.”

The incident, which occurred June 10, recalls the May 28 tragedy at the W Hotel in Midtown in which two women fell through a glass window in their 10th floor hotel room. LaShawna Threatt, 30, was killed in that incident and Cierra Williams, 28, was critically injured. Witnesses said the two women were engaged in “horseplay” when they crashed through the window.

McQuade said engineering experts were investigating the incident.

For more:  http://www.ajc.com/news/glass-panels-fall-from-979520.html

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by | April 15, 2011 · 10:13 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Satisfaction: "Hotel Room Cleanliness And Maintenance" Are #1 Guest-Reported Complaints And Problems

“…the most consistently reported problems from hotel guests across the country involve room cleanliness and maintenance, according to experts at Hospitality Staffing Solutions.”

“…Properties benefit when they can maintain a static number of permanent employees with relative job security while meeting the ever-changing demand that is inherent to the travel and tourism industry with help from staffing companies like HSS, which is equipped to meet the needs of most properties within 24 hours.”

A property can offer hundreds of amenities including a first-class spa, top-rated restaurants and an immaculate 18-hole golf course, but if a guest checks in and finds their room dirty, that guest may leave and never come back – and you can bet they’ll tell their friends (and probably Tweet) about it, too!
 
At HSS, housekeeping specialists undergo a selective recruiting process, which includes background checks, reference interviews and extensive training sessions. As a result, they are consistently listed at the top of posted room inspection scores. 

“Room attendants are the primary ambassadors of any guest-centric facility, so we are very picky,” said Holliday. “The key to ensuring high levels of excellence among back-of-house employees is to selectively recruit the best talent and motivate them by offering advancement opportunities tied to performance. This formula has worked very well for us.”
 
“Hotels often need to staff entire departments in a very short amount of time,” he said. ”

For more:  http://www.hotelinteractive.com/article.aspx?articleid=20370

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