by | February 5, 2011 · 9:43 am

Hospitality Industry Fire Risks: Canadian Hotel Health Club Sauna Fire Caused By "Short-Circuited Ceiling Light"

An almost full Chateau Laurier was evacuated Thursday night after a fire broke out in the sauna room, and while the investigation was still ongoing Friday morning, early indications were that a ceiling light may have short-circuited.

The fire was contained to the sauna, which is encased in thick masonry, said fire department spokesman Marc Messier. Perrin added that while it is a heritage building, the hotel’s electrical systems have been updated and are regularly checked to make sure they’re up to code.

The historic, 99-year-old hotel was at 91-per-cent capacity, firefighters said. The blaze broke out at about 11:40 p.m. in the sauna ceiling on the main floor and it was brought under control by midnight. No injuries were reported, and damage was estimated at about $12,000. Hotel guests gathered in the lobby where blankets, hot chocolate and more were passed around, said hotel spokeswoman Deneen Perrin. Staff were also on hand to provide regular updates during the 20 minutes that guests needed to be out of their rooms.

The fire was initially reported by overnight cleaning staff who were working in the pool area, which was closed, and saw some smoke. While the nearby health club is open 24 hours a day, no one was using it at the time, Perrin said.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Chateau+Laurier+sauna+fire+forces+evacuation+near+capacity+hotel/4228769/story.html#ixzz1D6g2fkOB

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by | February 4, 2011 · 2:58 pm

Hospitality Industry Risk Solutions: New York Hotel Introduces "iPads" Into Guestrooms For Room Service, Concierge Communications, And Room Controls As Technology Delivers Instantaneous Quality Control Throughout Property

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/19170938]

 At the touch of a screen, guests are able to order room service, make restaurant reservations, communicate directly with the concierge, request wake-up calls, explore NYC destination guides, and even check airline schedules and print boarding passes (which are promptly delivered to their room). Guests can even use the iPad to control the lights in their room as well as the heat and air conditioning systems.

New York’s Plaza Hotel is offering iPads in each of its guest rooms and suites. The program, which launched in January, makes the landmark hotel on Central Park South the first hotel in the world to provide guests services and room controls using iPads and Intelity’s ICE (Interactive Customer Experience) software to all of its guests.

“We chose the iPad because it is a great piece of equipment that is here to stay and won’t disappear tomorrow,” adds Krige. “It brings another five star element to the hotel.”

The iPads will not replace the human element at The Plaza.

“They are not meant to replace our concierge service and the personal touch we are known for,” Krige says. “It is to provide more choice. At a five star hotel you should have choices—if you want to use the iPad, you can do so. If you want a butler service, that is available, too. If you want to be left alone, that is a choice, as well. By putting the iPads in the guest rooms, we are bringing a new technology to everyone’s fingertips.”

In addition to providing a service to guests, the system helps the hotel track how it responds to requests made by guests, such as how long it takes to deliver a requested toothbrush. “If you order a pair of slippers, the request will go directly to the slipper department with no intermediary,” says Krige. “The requests go directly to the end producer, so that they can be very efficient.

For more:  http://www.luxist.com/2011/02/03/the-plaza-in-new-york-offers-ipads-in-all-guest-rooms-and-suites/

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by | February 3, 2011 · 10:21 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hotel Owners Must Strive To "Avoid" Employee Lawsuits With "Strong Management" And "Attentive HR Staff"

“…a review of selected cases shows plaintiffs prevailed in 55% of retaliation and whistleblower lawsuits and in 75% of sexual harassment cases…”

“…The pro-employee and, many argue, pro-union policies of the Obama administration have arguably made matters worse, if not convincing employees to sue or obstruct their employers, at least showing them how it’s accomplished…”

 

The Department of Labor, for example, citing the difficulty the average employee encounters in navigating the legal system, has said it will now provide wage/hour claimants who had filed cases with the agency but whose claims would not be heard (including those whose claims lacked merit) with a list of local attorneys who, as a DOL official announced, “may be able to help.” 

The National Labor Relations Board, its regulatory and judicial reach muted during the Bush administration, is an agency reborn, replete with pro-union appointees. In mid-December 2010, the Board announced a proposed rule that would require employers to place on employee bulletin boards a poster notifying employees of their right to unionize. Employers, particularly those in the hospitality and other service industries staffed predominantly by minimum wage employees, are understandably likely to object. Meanwhile, unions won two-thirds of all conclusive elections conducted in 2009, the most recent year surveyed, according to the NLRB’s 2009 annual report.

  Vanquishing the curse of litigation is no easy task. Labor and employment lawyers long have argued that the only effective way is to keep it from happening—to keep the genie in the bottle. How? The most practical prophylactic is a combination of strong, compassionate leadership (the opposite of what destructive leaders peddle) and an equally strong, dialed-in HR team who fairly administer policies that recognize an employee’s intrinsic value and reinforce the organization’s unequivocal support for fair treatment.

For more: http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/4679/Two-big-HR-challenges-in-2011

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by | February 2, 2011 · 10:33 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: "Bed Bug Summit" Being Held In Washington DC Focuses On Need To Develop And EPA To "Approve" Effective Commercial Pesticides

Hotel operators, public-health officials and leaders of an industry spawned to combat bedbugs urged tighter U.S. regulations and development of effective pesticides during the second National Bed Bug Summit.

“Given the difficulty of exterminating bedbugs, we are calling upon” the EPA “to conduct further research and development of effective pesticides,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn wrote in a Jan. 31 letter to the EPA with fellow members.

“Given the difficulty of exterminating bedbugs, we are calling upon” the EPA “to conduct further research and development of effective pesticides,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn wrote in a Jan. 31 letter to the EPA with fellow members.

 

 

  • The Environmental Protection Agency convened the meeting as New York City Council members urged the agency to set regulations for better use of insecticides.
  • There are over 300 pesticide products registered to get rid of bed bugs, according to the Office of Pesticide Programs at the Environmental Protection Agency
  • Research shows that bed bugs may be developing resistance to some pesticides.

“It remains a huge concern,” said Joseph McInerny, chief executive officer of the American Hotel and Lodging Association at the two-day conference in Washington that ends today. Housekeeping and maintenance staff are the “first line of defense,” spotting speckles of blood that signal rooms may be closed for weeks by an infestation, he said yesterday.

Bedbugs — wingless insects that feed on the blood of sleeping animals — invaded stores of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Victoria’s Secret and Nike Inc.’s Niketown in New York City last year as well as hotels, offices and homes.

The insects can cause reactions through bites, as well as blister-like skin infections and, in rare cases, asthma and anaphylactic shock, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW AGENDA OF BED BUG SUMMIT

“2010 was definitely the year of the bedbug,” Natalie Raben, marketing director of M&M Environmental, a New York pest- management company said at the conference.

For more:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-02/bedbugs-bite-on-hotels-spurs-call-for-more-effective-pesticides.html

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by | February 1, 2011 · 5:16 pm

Hotel Industry Liability Risks: 2-Year Old Falls Down Elevator Shaft At New York Hotel After Child Opens Door That Should Have Required A Key

 The toddler then fell through a 16-inch gap. Inspectors say the switch should have required a key to operate or should have been in a locked panel.

Newer elevators are designed so there is no gap between the door and wall. Building owners have until 2015 to have older elevators retrofitted.

The chief building inspector in Joliet says a code violation played a role in an elevator accident which injured a 2-year-old boy last week. The child fell down an elevator shaft at the plaza hotel.

Inspectors tell the Joliet Herald News that the boy probably flipped a switch which stopped the elevator between floors and opened the doors. The toddler then fell through a 16-inch gap. Inspectors say the switch should have required a key to operate or should have been in a locked panel.

Newer elevators are designed so there is no gap between the door and wall. Building owners have until 2015 to have older elevators retrofitted.

The state fire marshal’s office has temporarily suspended the licenses of two inspectors who certified that elevator in October.

For more:  http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7932805

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by | January 31, 2011 · 8:05 am

Food Industry Risks: New York Tortilla Factory Ordered To Shut Down After Employees' Death And Discovery That Owners Did Not Carry Workers' Compensation Insurance

The state Workers Compensation Board issued a stop-work order at the Williamsburg facility after learning the factory’s owner, Erasmo Ponce, was not offering workers’ compensation insurance to his employees.

A Brooklyn tortilla factory where a man was crushed when he fell into a dough mixer has been temporarily shuttered, state officials said Friday. Tortilleria Chinantla was not closed because of Juan Baten’s gruesome death, but his loss of life did lead investigators to the facility, officials said.

“The owner would need to get the insurance and pay fines before he is permitted to reopen,” said agency spokesman Brian Keegan.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the state Department of Labor are investigating the deadly accident. Baten, 22, reached into the mixer early Monday and was sucked inside after his hand was snagged by one of its blades. The young father was killed instantly when a turbine broke his neck.

For more:  http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2011/01/29/2011-01-29_feds_shutter_deadly_bklyn_tortilla_factory.html

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by | · 5:13 am

Hospitality Industry Guest And Employee Health: Studies Of "Smoke-Free" Law In Wisconsin Show "No Adverse Economic Effects"

 “This is excellent news for employers and employees in the hospitality industry,” says Gail Sumi, Wisconsin government relations director for the American Cancer Society.

“This study, like dozens of similar studies nationwide, offers more proof that going smoke-free does not pit business against health, but rather is a common sense health law that keeps workers and employers both physically and fiscally healthy.”

Wisconsin’s six-month-old smoke-free law seems to be working well, according to a new study of the experience of five cities by the University of Wisconsin.

The study – focusing on the effects of Wisconsin’s municipal smoke-free ordinances in Madison, Appleton, Eau Claire, Marshfield and Fond du Lac – found no adverse economic effects throughout the hospitality industry including bars and restaurants.

    Performed by the UW Carbone Cancer Center, the newly released 15-page study compared economic data between the five Wisconsin cities that enacted smoke-free ordinances before the statewide law took effect in July 2010 and similar cities where workplace smoking was still permitted.

    The results showed bars and restaurants in the smokefree cities continued to do well under the ordinances. In fact, in virtually every smokefree community the number of Class B alcohol licenses rose after the ordinances took effect and employment remained strong despite the recession.

Fore more:  http://newsofthenorth.net/article/Top_Stories/State_Headline_News/Smokefree_law_not_hurting_hospitality_industry_study_says/105786

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by | January 30, 2011 · 12:05 pm

Florida Hotel Threatens "TripAdvisor.com" With Lawsuit Over "Inaccurate Reviews" Of Cleanliness Of Hotel; Website Does Not Perform "Onsite Inspections"

A Volusia County hotel is threatening legal action after a website listed the hotel as one of the dirtiest in the country.

According to state officials the report by TripAdvisor.com paints an inaccurate picture of conditions at The Desert Inn Resort.

The owner Dennis Devlin showed WFTV his hotel which is located on Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach. Devlin said he’s furious at the travel website, which advertises reviews from travelers.

“When they put someone on a list you think they’d at least do an onsite inspection to verify what they’re saying is true,” said Devlin.

Some of the reviews said the Desert Inn Resort has roaches; however, the hotel just passed a state inspection which looks for sanitation and safety violations. Devlin claims that a majority of the reviews are bogus. “One person can write two negative reviews a month just by having different email addresses, different IP addresses.”

A spokesperson from TripAdvisor.com told WFTV that the reviews are based on cleanliness ratings from travelers who said they’ve stayed at The Desert Inn Resort.

They said out of hundreds of reviews, 80 percent wouldn’t recommend the hotel. WFTV asked if they check hotel confirmation numbers or receipts to prove its travelers stayed at the hotel. A spokesperson said they don’t ask for that information. Delvin said it’s unfair and that’s why he plans to sue TripAdvisor.com.

For more: http://www.wftv.com/news/26665059/detail.html

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by | January 29, 2011 · 9:01 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: New York Restaurant Employees "Secretly Tape" Owner And Supervisors And Claim Violation Of "Federal Labor Laws"

“These tapes and transcripts provide irrefutable proof that the Boathouse Restaurant has repeatedly violated federal labor laws,” said Peter Ward, president of Local 6 of the hotel and restaurant workers union.

Employees at the iconic Boathouse Restaurant in Central Park have been secretly taping their bosses.

Fed up with their treatment by management, dozens of waiters and dishwashers have been reporting to work for the past year armed with miniature cassette recorders and have taped hundreds of workplace conversations. Restaurant owner Dean Poll can be heard on several of the tapes warning his employees that if they vote for a union he “will go out of business.”

A dozen workers claimed Thursday in interviews with the Daily News that supervisors routinely threatened and retaliated against them for trying to organize a union.

On Tuesday, Poll suddenly dismissed 16 workers – all supporters of the union campaign.

The restaurant normally employs about 100 people in the winter and up to 200 during the spring and summer.

“They told us we were terminated because they have a new policy of bringing in agency workers,” said Francisco Labayen, a banquet waiter who regularly wore a wire to work.

Local 6 responded to those firings by formally petitioning for a union election Thursday to the National Labor Relations Board. Ward wants investigators from the federal agency to listen to the audiotapes for themselves and sanction Poll for a host of unfair labor practices.

For more:  http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/28/2011-01-28_restaurant_staffs_tale_of_the_tape.html

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by | January 28, 2011 · 7:42 am

Hotel Industry Security Risks: Department Of Homeland Security's "If You See Something, Say Something" Campaign Promotes Training Hotel Employees And Managers To Report "Suspicious Situations" On Property (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znBuKpuPb_Q]

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 Somethingâ„¢” 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.

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