Category Archives: Risk Management

by | April 19, 2011 · 5:16 pm

Hospitality Industry Guest Health Risks: Hotel Management Must Remain Proactive In "Bed Bug Infestation" Prevention Through Use Of Professionals, "Good Passive Monitoring" And Detailed Action Plans

Trip Advisor, Bed Bug Registry, Bed Bug Database and other websites allow users to upload and track bed bug sightings and encounters online.

Bed Beg infestations at hotels can result in guilty verdicts against hotel owners if conscious and deliberate behavior led to infestations going untreated.

There is even a Bed Bug iPhone App that was launched late 2010.  

There are a number of proactive approaches that can be implemented to lessen their impact on your operations when they arrive. EcoGreenHotel spoke with Michael Merchant, PhD an urban entomologist for the Texas AgriLife Extension in Dallas to discuss ways to reduce your risk:
 

  1. Work with a Pest Management Professional (PMP) that has experience combating Bed bugs. Rely on the PMP’s experience and knowledge to guide you through all of the steps needed to prevent or eradicate an infestation. Bed bugs are complicated pests and are resistant to many traditional chemicals and treatment protocols.  An over-the-counter chemical remedy applied by an untrained hotel staff member could be a recipe for disaster.
  2. Employ good passive monitoring in your guest rooms. Glue or deadfall traps allow hotel owners to identify potential problems quickly and without great expense. If bed bugs are spotted in a trap, a well-trained PMP can quickly identify if the infestation is limited to one room or if it has spread to adjacent rooms. Canine units trained to detect bugs can also be brought in to help identify the extent of the infestation.
  3. Develop a bed bug action plan to educate all hotel staff members what to look for in the guest rooms and how to react quickly and effectively if a guest makes a complaint in person or online. Simple visual inspections by trained housekeepers looking at sheets, mattresses and other hiding areas is an inexpensive first line of defense.
  4. Use of mattress, pillow and box-spring encasements effectively eliminates the most common breeding grounds. A typical encasement set for a king bed can be purchased for around $150. It is extremely important that the mattress encasement be placed on both the mattress and the box springs. Encasements can also help eliminate allergens and dust mites that improve indoor air quality in your green hotel.
  5. Until a nationwide eradication strategy is implemented, we will continue to see this epidemic in hotels and other lodging facilities, homes, movie theaters, dormitories, and all of the other uninviting areas they reside nationwide. Hotels will definitely be subjected to bed bugs arriving with guests on a continual basis. The problem will not go away without a fight.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article54128.html

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by | April 18, 2011 · 6:21 pm

Hospitality Industry Guest Risks: Hotels From Hawaii to New York Have Employed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) To Reduce Towel Theft

“…Linen Technology Tracking, a Miami-based company (has)  patented a washable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip for hotels to sew into towels, robes and bed sheets…”

The chip can trigger an alarm if a guest tries to take a tagged item from the premises. The New York Times reports that three hotels in Honolulu, Manhattan and Miami have introduced the system but wish to remain unnamed.

William Serbin, the executive Vice President of Linen Technology Tracking tells the New York Times that high cotton prices led to costlier towels which served as motivation for developing an anti-theft system. He adds that the technology has a double purpose — in addition to catching thieves, it helps hotels monitor linen demand and adjust their supply accordingly.

It’s a successful system. The Honolulu hotel has saved nearly $15,000 since implementing the tags last summer and their monthly towel theft is now less than a quarter of what it was before. Can travelers hope for rapid rate reductions as a result? Probably not, but NewsFeed can dream.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/18/want-to-steal-a-hotel-towel-check-for-a-new-tracking-chip-first/#ixzz1JvjQgc7I

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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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by | April 13, 2011 · 9:31 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Health Risks: Major Hotel Sued In New York Supreme Court Over "Legionnaires' Disease Contracted At Dubai Hotel

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide is facing a $16.7m (AED61.3m) lawsuit in the US after two guests staying at the Westin Mina Seyahi in Dubai claim they caught legionnaires disease at the property.

The paper reported that Nogues started to feel weak and feverish two days after checking into the hotel with her son and a friend on February 14. With her health deteriorating, she returned to France on February 21 where she was also diagnosed with legionnaires’ disease.

The suit claims that Thomas Boyle, from Britain, and Elodie Nogues, from France, contracted the disease after staying at the Westin in January and February of 2009, according to a report in The National.

It claims the health of the pair deteriorated rapidly and resulted in hospital stays.

The disease is a form of pneumonia spread through airborne water droplets, which thrives in water and air-conditioning systems.

For more:  http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai-hotel-faces-16-7m-lawsuit-over-legionnaires-393411.html

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by | April 12, 2011 · 12:23 pm

Hotel Property Damage Risks: Texas Hotel Hit With "High Winds" And Section Of Roof "Falls Off"

“…Some of the worst (wind) damage hit the Comfort Suites, where a section of the roof just came off…”

“…the damage in the Waxahachie area was consistent with 80 mph straight-line winds…”

Signs all over town were destroyed, including some highway signs that were not only upside-down but also facing the wrong direction.

“Luckily, that’s the only damages there are to the hotel,” said Charity Betts, General Manager of Comfort Suites. Fortunately there were no injuries at the hotel.  The roof blew off around 3:00 Monday morning, and you couldn’t find one guest who slept through all this.

Robinson’s room was right under the damaged section. “It kinda felt like the room was trembling a little bit,” said Robinson.  

Over at Lowe’s, merchandise was strewn across the parking lot.  To make matters worse, the cash registers weren’t working, so all transactions had to be done by hand.

“Everybody’s just like ‘oh my gosh, I can’t believe this happened,‘” said Betts. 

For more:  http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-section-of-hotel-roof-torn-off-in-waxahachie-20110411,0,6946765.story

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by | April 10, 2011 · 8:12 am

Hospitality Industry Information Security Risks: Hotel Management Should Consider "Cyber Liability Policies" With "Vicarious Liability Provisions" To Insure Guest Information Database Breaches

“…clients with robust cyber liability policies will find coverage under the vicarious liability provisions. …”

Data breaches generally represent enormous problems for companies,” said Alan N. Situn, a shareholder with law firm Greenberg Traurig L.L.P. in New York. “Not only can they be very expensive, but equally important to many companies (is) the reputational damage that they perceive from these types of breaches” if information they provide to a third party is somehow breached.

Hackers tend to hold on to such information “usually about a year, and then use it in the hope that folks have become a little bit more relaxed and not as vigilant,” said Mauricio F. Paez, a partner with law firm Jones Day in New York.

For the most part, the companies that are affected are in a damage- or crisis-management mode, said Robert J. Scott, managing partner with law firm Scott & Scott L.L.P. in Dallas. “They’re emailing their customers; they’re apologizing for the inconvenience, trying to clarify and limit the scope of the magnitude of the problem; and they’re hopeful the leakage of the email doesn’t result” in other problems.

Observers noted that the firms were notifying customers of the data breach even though they were not legally required to do so by state laws, except in North Dakota, unless more damaging personal information, such as Social Security or credit card numbers, had been revealed.

Epsilon customers whose data was breached have been “doing everything they should be doing in terms of being up front and honest with the consumers,” Mr. Scott said.

If the breach results in litigation, the question will arise of “how does that fit into the overall risk management program of the company” that hired the outside marketing company, said Kroll Ontrack’s Mr. Brill, who suggested that affected firms review their risk management programs now.

For more:  http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20110410/ISSUE01/304109976

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by | April 8, 2011 · 10:53 am

Hospitality Industry Health Insurance: Law Firms Advise Hotel Ownership And Management To Prepare For Implementation Of Health Care Reform With "Wellness Programs" And State-Run "Insurance Exchanges" On The Way

Given the legal challenges to the proposed reform of the United States health care industry, there might be a temptation on the part of hoteliers to take a laid-back attitude toward preparing for the changes. That line of thinking, however, would be a mistake, said Scott Sinder, a partner in the Steptoe & Johnson law firm government affairs and public policy practice.

  • One of the biggest issues hotel companies will have to wrestle with will be whether to retain grandfather status, which refers to plans in place prior to 23 March 2010
  • Grandfathered plans, for example, can allow for changes to the network of providers but cannot impose new or decreased annual spending limits
  • The potential introduction of a wellness provision that provides funding for employers to establish wellness programs…will be the biggest key to keeping health-care costs down
  • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that just 38% of the employees in the hospitality sector had access to health care as of March 2010 compared with 71% across all industries
  • Every state will eventually have an Insurance Exchange as most state lawsuits against health care reform will be settled before Presidential Election

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/5314/Hoteliers-should-assume-health-care-changes

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by | April 6, 2011 · 4:45 pm

Hospitality Industry Pool Health And Safety: Illinois Hotel Pool Shut Down By Health Officials For "Numerous Ongoing Violations"

The order is against ABVI Management, Inc., owner of America’s Best Value Inn, 140 Venita Dr., in O’Fallon. According to Madigan’s statement, the order came after the Illinois Department of Public Health and St. Clair County public health officials found…

“numerous, ongoing violations of state law that protects public health and safety and attempts to prevent the spread of infection.”

“One of the more glaring violations alleges an inspector with the St. Clair County Health Department observed on Feb. 11 that hotel management had reopened the swimming pool and had removed the IDPH closure order notice after the agency inspected the pool and shut it down Jan. 19 for failing to address violations found in earlier inspections.”

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has obtained a temporary restraining order against an O’Fallon hotel, ordering it to keep its swimming pool closed until health officials get to the bottom of “numerous, ongoing violations” involving health and sanitation violations.

From the statement: A hearing on the injunction will be held April 6. “If you travel with children as I do, where’s the first place they beg to go after check-in ─ the pool, of course,” Madigan said in the statement. “Travelers and parents shouldn’t have to worry about hotel management not doing its job to keep pools safe, clean and free of hazards.”

An employee of the hotel contacted this evening said the pool is closed. A spokesman for management of the hotel wasn’t immediately available.

For more:  http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/article_cff335ea-5b2f-11e0-a0dd-00127992bc8b.html

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by | April 5, 2011 · 2:15 pm

Hospitality Industry Security And Terrorism Risks: "Eye On Awareness—Hotel Security And Anti-Terrorism Training" Online Video Course Offered By Hotel Association (Video)

CLICK ON "SEE" TO WATCH "EYE ON AWARENESS" PREVIEW

Hotel bombings in Baghdad, Jakarta, and Morocco—hospitality properties have become popular targets for terrorism in recent years. Not surprisingly, a majority of today’s guests list safety and security as their most important concern when planning a hotel stay.  How can your hotel ensure a sense of security and still offer a welcome and inviting environment for guests? A property’s front-line employees may well be the most crucial, yet often overlooked, element of effective hotel security.

Developed in partnership with international security experts, hospitality leaders, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s If You See Something, Say Something™ campaign, Eye on Awareness—Hotel Security and Anti-terrorism Training™ provides the skills and knowledge essential for hotel employees to recognize, report and react to suspicious situations at their property.

For more:  http://www.ahlei.org/eyeonawareness/

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by | April 4, 2011 · 8:22 am

Hospitality Industry Information Security Risks: Large Email Marketing Services Company To Many Hotels Has Data Breach And Guest Email Accounts Are Stolen

In addition to the banks, other impacted companies included hotel brands Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Marriott Rewards, and retail heavyweights Home Shopping Network, Walgreens, Brookstone, New York & Company and Kroger. TiVo is also included in this list.

“…customers should “exercise extreme caution,” as email addresses are all cyber-criminals need to initiate a phishing attack. Users can expect to see more spam, and should be vigilant about email offers that ask for personal information or have links to other sites that ask for personal information.”

Many of these phishing attacks tend to take the form of security alerts—informing users that their accounts have been compromised and they should verify their log-in credentials to reset their accounts—or direct marketing scams promising special deals that require a credit card number.

Epsilon, a large email marketing services company with a roster of A-list clients, reported a data breach that is impacting practically anyone who has ever signed up to receive a retail offer or alert through its email account. The company warned that thieves may use the information to launch a phishing campaign to trick users into disclosing more critical data.

On March 30, Epsilon detected “an unauthorized entry” into its email system. During this time, a subset of clients’ customer data was exposed. Epsilon only has the information of people who opted-in to receive marketing emails, and the theft was limited to email addresses and customer names, according to the company.

“A rigorous assessment determined that no other personal identifiable information associated with those names was at risk. A full investigation is currently underway,” Epsilon said in a terse statement on April 1.

“Epsilon has advised us that the files that were accessed did not include any customer information other than email addresses,” used books retailer AbeBooks wrote in a message to customers on April 3.

For more:  http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Epsilon-Data-Breach-Hits-Banks-Retail-Giants-154971/

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