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!
Tag Archives: OSHA
Hospitality Industry Health Update: “Official Recommendations of the P3 Team Regarding Ebola”
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership
Hospitality Industry OSHA Update: “Updates to OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule”
“OSHA will now receive crucial reports of fatalities and severe work-related injuries and illnesses that will significantly 
enhance the agency’s ability to target our resources to save lives and prevent further injury and illness. This new data will enable the agency to identify the workplaces where workers are at the greatest risk and target our compliance assistance and enforcement resources accordingly.”
-Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels OSHA’s updated recordkeeping rule expands the list of severe injuries that employers must report to OSHA.
As of January 1, 2015, all employers must report
- All work-related fatalities within 8 hours.
- All work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye within 24 hours.
You can report to OSHA by
- Calling OSHA’s free and confidential number at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).
- Calling your closest Area Office during normal business hours.
- Using the new online form that will soon be available.
Only fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported to OSHA. Further, for an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye, these incidents must be reported to OSHA only if they occur within 24 hours of the work-related incident.
For more:Â http://1.usa.gov/1oJPwyW
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Filed under Claims, Employee Practices, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Hot-Sheets Bronx Motel Kept Bloody Mattress in Room Years After Customer Died of Overdose on Bed”
“…A room attendant who photographed the soiled mattress in room 230 weeks
before the inspection told an arbitrator it had been in use up until April, 2014…The firm also found that hotel management had failed to properly train staff on how to handle sheets and towels contaminated with human waste and other substances…”
Working in this Bronx motel is a bloody hell.
The owners of a hot-sheet motel where union laborers have been protesting wage and benefits cuts failed to replace a bloody mattress two years after a dead man was found on the bed, workers claim.
Owner Ankoor Naik has also ignored two independent reports that found inadequate training and protection for employees at the 94-unit flophouse despite hazardous conditions and bedbug infestations, workers and safety experts attest.
For more: http://nydn.us/1qL4QQDÂ
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Filed under Bed Bugs, Claims, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Training
Hospitality Industry Safety Solutions: Hotel And Restaurant Kitchen “Safe Work Practices” To Prevent “Slips, Trips And Falls” Of Young Employees
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Filed under Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Florida Hotel Faces Serious “OSHA Safety Violations” After Death Of Worker Crushed By Elevator; Lacked “Written Lockout/Tagout Procedures”
“…(the Hotel management company)Â had faced $23,000 in proposed fines for three serious and two other-than-serious alleged violations, 
according to the citations…RIA-Tradewinds allegedly lacked a written lockout/tagout procedure for the hotel’s elevators, the employee authorized to lockout/tagout the elevator involved in the death didn’t do so, and there was no coordination of lockout/tagout procedures with Progressive Environmental. The two other-than-serious violations involved the lack of documentation for lockout/tagout procedures and training…”
Two companies face $84,000 in proposed fines over the death of a worker in Florida who was crushed by an elevator car while cleaning the bottom of an elevator shaft, according to citations released Nov. 4 by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The citations, dated Oct. 15, allege the two companies failed to coordinate their lockout/tagout procedures and that employees lacked required lockout/tagout training.
The worker, Mark Allen Johnson, 45, of Tampa, was employed by Progressive Environmental Services, doing business as SWS Environmental Services of Panama City Beach, according to OSHA and police reports. He died April 24 while cleaning oily water from the bottom an elevator shaft at a St. Petersburg Beach hotel. The hotel, Tradewinds Island Grand Beach Resort, is managed by RIA-Tradewinds Inc., according to the citations.
OSHA cited Progressive Environmental for one repeat and four serious alleged violations carrying proposed fines of $61,000.
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Filed under Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Kansas Hotel Group Pays Fired Worker $22,000 In Back Pay And Damages; Filed “Whistleblower Complaint” After Raising Workplace Safety Issues
“…every employee has the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation or termination,†said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “When employees are fearful or reluctant to raise these issues with their employers, hazardous conditions could go undetected until employees are injured or sickened…”
http://www.whistleblowers.gov/
“…True North will immediately post the whistleblower fact sheet and OSHA poster, in English and Spanish, in conspicuous locations at all of its work premises nationwide, where they can be seen and read by all employees. It will also provide annual training on whistleblower rights and employer responsibilities to all managers and supervisors and provide training materials to all newly hired or promoted managers.â€
As part of an enterprise wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, True North Hotel Group Inc., a hotel management company based in Overland Park, Kan., will pay $22,225 in back wages and compensatory damages to a former employee who was terminated from a Massachusetts location after raising workplace safety concerns. The company will also educate all its managers and notify its employees nationwide about workers’ whistleblower rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act as administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
As the story goes, a worker at True North’s Devens Conference Center in Massachusetts was subjected to disciplinary action and then terminated in October 2011 after notifying superiors about safety concerns.
The worker then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to the complaint. True North has elected to settle the matter by taking corrective action.
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Safety Issues: Private-Sector Workplace Injuries Fall 30% From 2003-2011; Workers’ Compensation Claims And Premiums Decline As Safety Progams Pay Off
“…For private-sector employers, the number of injuries involving missed work days, job restrictions or transfers to different chores dropped to 1.8 per 100 full-time workers in 2011 from 2.6 in 2003…safety experts say OSHA crackdowns and more corporate focus on 
reducing hazards helped cut the injury rate. Also, legislation in many states has made it harder to qualify for workers’ compensation, which has reduced the number of claims…a benefit of the decline is that the average cost of workers’ compensation per $100 of payroll fell to $1.79 last year from $2.67 in 1994…”
About 100 federal and state court cases involving retaliation for workers’ compensation claims were decided last year, roughly double the number a decade before, estimates Lex Larson, president of Employment Law Research Inc. Some lawyers attribute the increase to growing awareness among workers that they can seek redress in court.
While employers say the decline in injuries shows that safety programs are paying off, unions and plaintiffs’ lawyers counter that companies sometimes discourage workers from speaking up.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is taking a tougher line with employers and says too many injuries go unreported. The agency last year reminded employers that federal law bars them from retaliating against employees for reporting injuries. It also warned employers against offering bonuses or prizes for meeting safety goals if those incentives deter workers from reporting injuries.
For more:Â http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323664204578610133657300940.html
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Filed under Claims, Health, Injuries, Insurance, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Safety Solutions: Hotels And Restaurants With Ten Or More Employees Must Maintain A Written “Fire Prevention Plan” That Complies With OSHA Standards
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Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Health And Safety Compliance: OSHA To Increase Inspections And Enforcement Of “Emergency Exit Routes” Requirements
Retailers and hospitality entities (as well as other employers with multiple establishments) should be particularly attuned to this issue for several reasons. First, even without this directive from OSHA’s national office, year after year, 1910.36 continues to be one of the five standards most frequently cited against employers in these industries. Second, whereas in most workplaces, exits and exit routes are intended for egress of employees only, in retail and hospitality locations, emergency exits are there for both employees and patrons, which increases the scrutiny on the issue. Third, OSHA has launched at least two special emphasis enforcement programs (one in Delaware and another in Pennsylvania) focused on retail establishments, and looking at egress issues as one of the top focus areas.
Finally, although initial fines for egress-related violations are typically only $2,000 or less, OSHA now treats related workplaces within a corporate family as one workplace for purposes of Repeat violations, which carry penalties up to $70,000 per violation. This has been the primary weapon OSHA has used to drive up penalties against employers with multiple workplaces, like retailers and hospitality employers. By actively pursuing more Repeat violations, OSHA is issuing much higher penalties. Over the past four years, OSHA has increased the number of Willful and Repeat violations it has issued by more than 200%.
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Hawaii Hotel Fined $48,000 By OSHA For 14 “Workplace Safety And Health Violationsâ€; Lack Of Employee Training
According to the OSHA release, the serious violations at Kauai Beach Resort involved storage, handling and labeling of propane tanks, electrical wiring, electrical work practices by untrained maintenance personnel, and training and use of personal respiratory and electrical protective equipment.
A popular Kauai hotel received 14 workplace safety and health standards violations on Thursday, and nine of them were serious enough for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to take action. Kauai Beach Resort in Lihue faces a total of $48,000 in proposed fines. Kai Management Services of Lihue, the management company for Kauai Beach Resort, received the violations following a routine inspection conducted on Feb. 14 by the OSHA Honolulu Area Office.
- Workers mixing chlorine for swimming pools do not present a hazard to swimmers. Failing to follow proper safety precautions puts the workers health in jeopardy and it is the responsibility of the employer to train them, he said.
- The maid service handles chemicals and it is the responsibility of management to ensure they are trained and using safety equipment, he said.
- Untrained workers altering the wiring of an electrical panel in performing day-to-day maintenance is a serious violation. Management must ensure that only qualified personnel work on energized circuits, he said.
- Another violation included the incorrect use of flexible cords as substitutes for fixed wiring. In some instances this occurs from daisy-chaining several electrical strips in an industrial kitchen, where an overload from high amperage appliances could cause melting and a fire hazard, Lemke said.
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Filed under Health, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Risk Management, Training
