Category Archives: Management And Ownership

by | September 28, 2010 · 5:50 am

Hotel Industry Security Risk Management: Hotel Surveillance Systems Used For “Outsider” And “Insider” Threats As Video Systems Perfect “Facial Recognition” Systems

“A homeless person was trying to sneak into the hotel, and we got a shot of him and put it in the system,” explains John Alan  Moore, the hotel’s director of security and life safety, by way of example. When the video system picked him up trying to enter the hotel again, the system sent off an alert, so security might escort him off the property.

“…the hotel isn’t just monitoring for potential outsider threat; it’s also keeping an eye out for rogue insiders, too.The hotel is using facial recognition to monitor employee behavior, paying particular attention to any former employees who leave on less-than-pleasant terms. All employees are informed that video monitoring of them takes place…”

As open buildings, hotels are typically on guard for any signs of trouble. So it’s no surprise that the downtown Hilton Americas-Houston just upgraded its video-surveillance system, installing one based on 3VR Security’s digital recorder platform for the sake of efficient retrieval of video footage for research.

Americas-Houston’s new networked digital-video system also includes facial recognition capability so Hilton can input a digital facial image that can send out an alert related to that individual if picked up by the video surveillance cameras.

But the hotel isn’t just monitoring for potential outsider threat; it’s also keeping an eye out for rogue insiders, too.The hotel is using facial recognition to monitor employee behavior, paying particular attention to any former employees who leave on less-than-pleasant terms. All employees are informed that video monitoring of them takes place.

The video system monitors the areas where employees come to punch into time clocks in order to verify the person’s identity. But perhaps more significantly, the facial recognition system is used to watch for any suspicious activities of employees or former employees.

“If someone leaves under bad conditions, we set up alerts for that,” Moore says. If the former employee suddenly showed up at the hotel, the video surveillance system would send out an alert.

In any serious cases related to any trouble, the video surveillance footage is stored and can be e-mailed to insurance carriers or the local district attorney. The system has 1TB each of storage and backup and only saves movement in clips.

The video surveillance system is used far more often for examining more mundane problems, such as when a guest complains of misplacing an item or wondering where the valet is. And the hotel isn’t doing facial recognition of its guests — though it would be nice to know whenever a top celebrity might walk through the door.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/09/27/urnidgns852573C400693880002577AB003BA3C6.DTL#ixzz10pcTDCVe

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by | September 25, 2010 · 7:08 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Management: “Premises Liability” Holds Owners And Managers Legally Responsible For Accidents And Injuries And Can Only Mitigated By “Daily Documented Property Inspections” Of Potential Hazards

“Premises liability” holds owners and property managers legally responsible for accidents and injuries that occur on property. Liability will vary depending on the legal rules and principles in place in the state where the premises liability injury occurred.

There are, essentially, three classifications of people on your property:

  • Uninvited trespassers
  • Licensees—those entering with permission for their own purposes
  • Invitees—those entering for the benefit of the owners and occupiers

Your obligations to each will vary, and your duty gradually increases as you move from trespasser to invitee.

Trespassers can be undiscovered or discovered. For an undiscovered trespasser, the obligation is not to willfully cause injury. A discovered trespasser should receive a warning of hazards that are not obvious. This is the same duty you owe a licensee.

The invitee garners the greatest obligation. Here the owner or occupier must act to keep the property in reasonably safe condition and warn the invitee of any latent defects.

For best results, employ and document daily property inspections. Have a plan in place that requires employees to keep an eye out for hazards and a system in place to document compliance with the process.

Nonetheless, injuries on your property can occur. However, liability is not automatic. If you have maintained a diligent inspection process and can document compliance, the claimant will have a difficult time proving that you knew or should have known about the condition causing the injury. This provides an avenue to escape liability.

Other traditional defenses center upon the comparative negligence of the injured person and can take many forms. For example, it includes the provision of warnings that go unheeded. It also includes hazards that are so obvious as not to require warnings, but nonetheless go unnoticed.

For more:  http://www.hotelworldnetwork.com/injuries/premises-liability-take-steps-now-protect-your-hotel

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by | September 15, 2010 · 7:31 am

Hotel Industry Risk Management: “Optional Linen Service” And Other “Green Programs” Can Help Reduce “Repetitive-Use Injuries” And Chemicals Usage At Hotels

Categories include promoting environmental awareness through new employee training and workshops,  ….waste reduction, energy and water efficiency and air quality as well as green cleaning and housekeeping practices which include optional linen service – who really needs their sheets changed every day? Similar programs in Virginia Beach, Va., and Ocean City, Md., have been embraced by merchants and tourists alike.

The local tourism and hospitality industries have a vested interest in conservation of natural resources. Aside from the money hotels, restaurants and attractions can save reducing, reusing and recycling, preserving the environmental quality of our area preserves tourism itself. The South Carolina Green Alliance, a partnership between the South Carolina Hospitality Association and the state DHEC, is devoted to helping state lodgings, attractions and eateries go green. The program made its debut last year, and although only a handful of local business are listed on the Web site (greenalliance.com), Tom Sponseller, president of the state hospitality association, says that more are coming. “We have another 30 or so restaurants and hotels that will be added. We’ve only been doing this a short time, and the whole process from implementing changes to filling out the application to it being approved through DHEC can be a bit lengthy.”

Part of the process is working with local businesses to implement changes to reduce the large scale impacts the hospitality industry has on the environment. Businesses in the hospitality industry, as well as their suppliers, can go to schospitality.org for an application listing nine categories in which points can be earned. Depending on how many points earned, a Palmetto tree is awarded, with one Palmetto indicating a business has adopted and is beginning to implement a green plan, to three Palmettos, which indicates a high level of eco-initiatives have been adopted and utilized.

While only a small number of local businesses have made it through Green Alliance certification, that doesn’t mean our local hospitality industry isn’t taking the steps necessary to become more eco-friendly. The Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association (MBAHA) is working with the state program, and encourages its members to take those important first steps in going green. “Our industry wants to get more involved, and it’s a question of figuring out how to do that,” says Stephen Greene, president of the MBHA. “As a group, we’ve been moving forward, but it takes a lot of time and training,” In cooperation with efforts of the state and local hospitality associations, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has encouraged its members to go green. As part of its Going Green program, the Chamber works to provide education, resources and support to its members in implementing energy conservation and waste reduction practices.

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/09/09/1681777/oily-residue.html#ixzz0zbrCTJX5

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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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by | August 24, 2010 · 6:46 am

“Hospitality 2015” From Deloitte: Hotel Ownership And Management Must Position Companies For Future Success, Profitability And Risk Reduction

CLICK ON PICTURE TO OPEN: "Hospitality 2015: Game Changers Or Spectators" From Deloitte

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