Tag Archives: Virus

Hospitality Industry Risk Management Update: “Reducing the Spread of Contagious Illnesses” (Video)

A supplement to frequent hand washing is to use hand sanitizer.handwashing To encourage use of hand sanitizers by employees and guests, place labeled hand-sanitizer dispensers at the front desk, restaurant areas, back offices, public restrooms, and elevators. Check and refill the dispensers daily.

Winter months bring an increase of cold, influenza, and other communicable illnesses to the workplace. To reduce the spread of germs and cross contamination, housekeeping departments should focus on common contact points.

Sanitize Hard Services. Most hard surfaces, such as doors, drawers, telephone receivers, TV remote controls, light switches, toilet handles, and in-room directories, can be disinfected with a commercial disinfectant cleaner on a daily basis. Returned guestroom keycards should be placed in a separate bin for disinfecting. All guestroom glassware must be thoroughly washed with hot water and detergent—in a dishwasher or three-compartment metal sink—before being placed back into service. Improperly sanitized glassware and utensils can transmit mononucleosis, herpes, E. coli, salmonella, hepatitis A, influenza, and even staph infections. Hotel glassware should never be washed in a guestroom sink.

For more: http://bit.ly/1E0wrBS

And for more on industry best practices, 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, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

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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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

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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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Health Update: “CDC Confirms First Case of Ebola in US”

U.S. health officials have been preparing since summer in case an individual traveler arrived here unknowingly infected, telling hospitals what infection-control steps to take to prevent the virus from661TexasEbola spreading in health facilities. People boarding planes in the outbreak zone are checked for fever, but symptoms can begin up to 21 days after exposure. Ebola isn’t contagious until symptoms begin, and it takes close contact with bodily fluids to spread.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Tuesday that a patient being treated at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for Ebola, the first case diagnosed in the United States.

The patient left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States on September 20, CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. It’s the first patient to be diagnosed with this particular strain of Ebola outside of Africa.

For more: http://fxn.ws/1nLAMVj

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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: North Carolina Restaurant Settles "Food Contamination" Class-Action Lawsuit For $375,000; Hundreds Had To Be Vaccinated For Hepatitis Virus

“…the lawsuit alleged that the restaurant chain exposed customers to potentially contaminated food or people, cost them wages and medical expenses, and caused fear and physical pain…a $375,000 fund has been set up by the restaurant’s parent company… to settle a class-action lawsuit…”

A lawsuit has been settled involving hundreds of people who had to be vaccinated after eating at a Fayetteville restaurant last year. The Fayetteville Observer reported those who were immunized after eating at the Olive Garden restaurant are eligible for payments of up to $250.

Hundreds of people got vaccinations after learning that one of the restaurant’s workers had tested positive for the virus, which causes liver inflammation.

Florida-based GMRI denied any wrongdoing but said it wanted to settle to end the litigation.

For more:  http://www.northjersey.com/news/health/174592761.html

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Filed under Food Illnesses, Guest Issues, Health, Insurance, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Internet Risks: Hotel Management Must Train Employees To "Check Security Software And Certifications On Websites" To Prevent Downloading Internet Viruses

“These Internet scammers are very sophisticated…They’ll send an e-mail that looks like eBay or PayPal, asking for your information. The attorney general speaks often about Internet safety, and he encourages consumers to check the security software and certifications on websites and never store their personal information there. We have an identity theft protection tool on our website, www.Ag.ky.gov…”

Every website you visit tags your computer with a tracking device called a “cookie.” Your every move online — e-mail, downloads, credit-card purchases — is stored on your own computer’s hard drive as a digital footprint, even though you religiously delete and empty your recycle bin.

(A woman) was digitally minding her own business and was accosted by a phony website phishing for her personal information — something all too common on the Internet. As technology insidiously pervades every aspect of life, personal privacy becomes more endangered and difficult to maintain. Erik Eckel, a managing partner at Louisville Geek and Berg’s computer service tech, called her problem “one of the biggest trends we’ve seen.

Users will click on a link on someone’s Facebook page, or travel to a site that’s infected and they receive a pop-up window saying, ‘You’re infected. You want to go ahead and license the software? Only $39.95.’ The pop-up won’t go away, people buy it and then an illegitimate user has their credit-card number.” And then there are hackers, like David Kernel, now serving a yearlong sentence at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky for invading Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account during the 2008 election and sharing her password and telephone number.

Even Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway was a victim of identity theft, weeks after announcing a special unit on cybercrime.

For more:  http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110222/FEATURES/302220033/With-latest-Web-perils-it-s-wise-to-be-paranoid?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFEATURES

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Theft

Hotel Industry Health Risks: Wisconsin Hotel Kitchen Is Source For Gastrointestinal Illness Suffered By Hotel Guests At A Fund-Raising Luncheon

A norovirus usually comes on suddenly, with 24 to 48 hours of exposure, with symptoms lasting one or two days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can spread by eating food or drinking liquids or touching contaminated surfaces.

“…the Country Springs kitchen has been cleaned and kitchen staff have been informed about proper hand washing…”

Waukesha County health officials confirmed Monday that a norovirus is behind the outbreak of gastrointestinal illness reported by many of the 500 people attending a fund-raising luncheon last week at the Country Springs Hotel.

Julianne Klimetz, a county spokeswoman, said initial lab results confirmed the cause. In addition, investigators have confirmed that two people handling the food were ill at the time.

Health officials have not gotten reports of any secondary infection, in which someone who attended the lunch and became ill then spread it to someone else.

“It can be spread quite easily from one household member to another,” Klimetz said.

For more:     http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/93988304.html

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Filed under Health, Liability, Training