Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Safety, Security, and Risk
Management
World of Resorts: From Development to Management
Third Edition
(424TXT or 424CIN)

© 2010, Educational Institute

Competencies for
Safety, Security, and Risk Management
1. Discuss the essential role of security at resorts.
2. Describe the elements of a comprehensive security
program.
3. Summarize safety issues and activities at resorts.
4. Explain how resorts can effectively manage a crisis.
5. Describe how resorts can manage the various risks
they face and control their insurance costs.

© 2010, Educational Institute 2

Safety and Security Issues
• Guestroom security
• Room door visual identifiers (peepholes)
• Proper identification of persons requesting keys
• Lock and key control
• Safe-deposit boxes
• Lockouts and luggage liens
• Surveillance of common areas
• Malfunctions in elevators
• Perimeter and access control of grounds and buildings
• Swimming pools and other recreation amenities
© 2010, Educational Institute (continued) 3

(continued)

• Alarm systems
• Communications systems
• Computer security
• Inventory security
• Adequate security staffing
• Pre-employment screening and
employee bonding and training
• Drugs and addiction
• Handling intoxicated patrons
• Handling disturbances
(continued)

(continued)

• Removal of trespassers and unauthorized solicitors
• Investigation of incidents
• Reporting accidents
• Handling deaths/suicide attempts
• Fire safety alert and evacuation
• Blackouts
• Terrorist threats, bomb scares
• Natural disasters
• Emergency procedures
• Risk/crisis management
•

Training Topics for Security Personnel
• Safety guidelines
• Crowd and traffic control; guarding; maintaining order
• Accident prevention and first aid
• Fire prevention; fire evacuation
• Handling bomb and terrorist threats
• Procedures for dealing with accidents and emergencies
• Preventing persons from disrupting lawful meetings held
in the resort
• Dealing with intoxicated guests and seeing to their safety

(continued)

• Escorting resort cashiers who carry money and
other valuables
• Investigating thefts in guestrooms and other areas
of the resort
• Interrogation techniques and legal means of
obtaining information
• Guarding property in public areas
• Policing loading areas
• Inspecting parcels carried in and out by employees


(continued)

• Fostering good public relations with guests
• Communicating with local authorities on security
checks
• Inspecting physical barriers and mechanical and
electrical equipment
• Monitoring electronic security systems
• Ensuring that alarms are in working order


Possible Components of a Security
Department Reporting System

1. Daily activity report
2. General incident report
3. Loss report
4. Other reports
5. Monthly statistical report


Ways Employees Can Assist
in Security Matters
• Being alert to and reporting suspicious activities,
situations, or persons anywhere on the property.
• Reporting on any drug paraphernalia or other
suspicious items that may be in plain view when
cleaning or making repairs in a guestroom.
• Reporting any unsafe conditions that merit
immediate attention and correction.
• Alerting security when checking in guests with
large but empty suitcases.

Ways Employees Can Assist
in Security Matters
(continued)

• Alerting security of unidentified packages left in
public areas.
• Checking on the proper posting of innkeepers’
notices, if required by local regulations.
• Ensuring that any information pamphlet, tent card, or
letter advising guests about the need for
safety/security caution is placed where it will be seen.


Resort Areas Covered by Security
Technology
• Outside grounds
• Hotel and perimeters
• Timeshare condo
• Vacation club villa
• Resort-operated shops
• Recreational facilities
• Conference hall
• Spa and health center


Resort Areas Covered by Security
Technology
(continued)

• Inventory storage—liquor and food stores, etc.
• Money-handling areas—cashiers’ stations, house
bank, etc.
• Specific objects—safes, safe-deposit boxes, art
and artifacts, etc.


Major Areas of Security Concern
• Physical security and perimeter control
• Surveillance
• Guestroom security
• Alarm systems
• Communication systems
• Electronic room-locking systems
• Electronic in-room safes


Electronic Guestroom Locking Systems
• Per-room cost, as well as central control cost, of the
original installation.
• Cost of card keys and reprogrammable card keys.
• Quality of the locking mechanism.
• Levels of keying (guests, room attendants, bellpersons,
maintenance employees, security personnel, etc.).
• Battery (type, life, out-of-order or run-down warning,
and ease of change).
• Reliability of access card under special conditions
(humidity, scuffing, etc.).
• Ability to provide a record of entries in case of an

(continued)

• Whether attempted forced entries are also recorded,
identified, and timed.
• Ease of producing and controlling duplicate keys.
• Handling of a wide variety of special operational
situations (for example, guest pays bill but remains
temporarily in room; accidental assignment of new
guest to occupied room; pre-arrival registrations, etc.).
• Adequacy of audit trail.
• Ability to issue temporary keys for single access and/or
for a predetermined time period.

(continued)

• Interface capability with property management system.
(When this is present, the system can, for instance, provide
a listing of the last ten to fifteen guests occupying a
particular room, lock out all personnel from a given room,
and provide management with the ability to override the
locking system for fire, safety, or other reasons.)
• Bi-directional communication between door and central
computer.
• Possible system extensions to other technology categories
(for example, life safety or energy conservation systems).

Computer Systems and Interfaces
• Property management system (PMS)
• Point-of-sale (POS) system
• Marketing and sales system
• Electronic locking systems
• Telecommunications systems
• Human resource systems
• Data archival system
• In-room entertainment
• High-speed Internet

Specific PMS Security Features
• Being SOX-compliant
• Being PCI-compliant
• Having tools such as “change logs” to track all
employee modifications to the database
• Having multiple levels of backup, including
redundant multiple disks, high-speed tapes, and
real-time upload to off-site company data storage
centers of guest and hotel databases for quick data
disaster recovery
• Regular testing of PMS integrity

Resort/Hotel Safety Facts
1. Accidents do not normally originate from fires, floods,
or earthquakes but from everyday occurrences such as
lifting a carton incorrectly or straining to stop a fall.
2. Five working areas present the greatest hazards: food
preparation, food service, stewarding (handling dishes
and glassware and cleaning), receiving, and guestroom
housekeeping.
3. The vast majority of all accidents (85 percent) are
caused by unsafe behavior rather than unsafe working
conditions.


Resort/Hotel Safety Facts
(continued)

1. Good safety habits are learned behavior; they are not
simply common sense. The majority of accidents occur
in an employee’s first six months of employment.
2. Large hotels usually incur more losses than small
hotels, partly because of the higher rate of employee
turnover in large hotels.
3. For most employees, their immediate supervisor is the
originator of good and bad safety habits.


Sample Resort/Hotel Safety Program
1. Development of a fire brigade
2. Formation of a safety and security committee
3. Development of emergency procedures
4. Regular hotel inspections
5. Investigation of accidents
6. Establishment of a medical/first aid program
7. Implementation of safety training programs
8. Establishment of written objectives for loss control
9. Implementation of claims-evaluation meetings
10. The filing of essential reports

Crisis Planning
Items of concern:
• Resources to be directed to a crisis management
program (personnel, equipment)
• Involvement of local community or governmental
agencies
• Establishment of a control center
• Predetermination of person(s) in charge
• The chain of command to follow when senior
management is unavailable
• Establishment of a crisis communication plan

Crisis Planning
(continued)
Items to check:
• Readiness for the most likely type of crisis
• Liaison possibilities with other lodging establishments in
the community
• Personnel needs, availability, and skills
• Emergency equipment, supplies, and communication needs
• Training opportunities to prepare the staff for emergencies
• Available technical assistance from hospitality trade
associations
• Opportunities for emergency preparedness and simulated
emergency drills at the community/state/provincial level

Possible Actions in Structuring
Emergency Response Teams
• Establishment of responsibilities by department for
appropriate response by staff within department.
• Establishment of a command center with a
prearranged chain of command and an alternative
command center if the primary one is put out of
commission.
• Possible establishment of a team of employees with
technical, mechanical, and firefighting capabilities
for use in the event of a community-wide emergency.


Possible Actions in Structuring
Emergency Response Teams
(continued)

• Designation of a single spokesperson for the
resort, with an understanding among all
employees that they are not to talk to reporters or
camera operators.
• Possible assignment to specific personnel of such
responsibilities as feeding, housing, laundry, first
aid, and construction repair as required by the
particular emergency.


Emergency Supplies
• Emergency power and lighting (flashlights,
candles with protective containers); auxiliary
power-generating capability with reserve or
alternative fuel supplies.
• Sump pumps for relieving flooding problems.
• Emergency communication equipment.
• Food and water reserves.


Emergency Supplies
(continued)

• Gas-, battery-, or manually operated tools for use in the
event of a power failure; tools for cutting, lifting, and
moving debris in the event of a building collapse due to
flooding, wind, or earthquakes.
• Shutters for covering glass windows and doors.
• Miscellaneous supplies—strapping tape and rope needed
for fastening things, first-aid kits, etc.
• Bedding, cots, and bed linens if the property is designated
as a housing center in a community-wide incident.

AH&LA Basic Guidelines for
Handling Communications in a Crisis
• Every lodging establishment should be ready with a
prepared crisis communication plan. A plan can provide
a coherent way for management to tell its side of a crisis
story, and present the hotel’s image as professional and
concerned.
• An audience with the press in the heat of a crisis may be
the only opportunity to explain the steps taken to guard
against such a crisis, and to show the operator’s efforts
to protect guests, employees, and the community.
Cooperating with the press gives management some
control over the way the crisis is reported.

(continued)

• Truthfulness is mandatory. One lie, misrepresentation,
or intentional failure to disclose relevant information
will damage the hotel operator’s credibility before the
press, the public, the guests, and the employees.
• Guests and employees must be informed. Making them
aware of efforts to resolve the crisis—and providing
them with instructions on a regular basis—assuages
feelings of helplessness, frustration, panic, or despair,
and could ensure their cooperation when it is most
needed.

(continued)

• Whatever the nature or cause of the crisis,
management must publicly express concern for the
victims for any inconvenience, loss, or harm caused
by the crisis. Failure to do so can result in news
coverage that focuses on the hotel’s culpability and
lack of compassion.


(continued)

• Designating a single spokesperson to communicate with
the press in time of crisis—and instructing all
employees to refer all questions to this spokesperson—
is essential. It is the only way to ensure that facts are
reported accurately and consistently, with no
speculation by employees about what occurred.
• Legal help in preparing and vetting media statements is
advised to avoid jeopardy from possible material
misrepresentations.

Four Steps in the Risk
Management Process
1. Risk identification
2. Risk measurement and evaluation
3. Risk reduction or elimination
4. Risk coverage—how much risk to accept
and how much to insure


Typical Industry Risk Coverage
• Risk of asset or property loss from exposure to fire,
explosion, sabotage, crime, or such natural disasters as
hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or earthquakes.
• Risk of income loss that may occur with property loss
or when business is disrupted. In such cases the loss is
twofold: loss of revenue from business disruption, plus
the cost of rebuilding or repair. To identify income
risks, the risk manager considers the effect of building
malfunctions that render rooms unsalable, or external
factors that could impact operations.

Typical Industry Risk Coverage
(continued)

• Liability risks, which are harder to identify but can be
more devastating. Huge awards are often won in
individual lawsuits and sometimes in class action suits.
Lodging operators need liability coverage for the
products and services they sell, acts of employees, or
business vehicles that are employed in the business.
• Loss of a “key person,” one whose skills, knowledge,
or special qualities are not easily replaced, and whose
presence is essential to the reputation or visibility of
the business. Generally, in the lodging business, the
key person refers to a principal or a CEO, not managers
at the property level.

Types of Coverage Provided by RHA
Property Program—Comprehensive coverage
• Flood, earthquake, and wind
• Business interruption (e.g., loss from unusual
events on property, food contamination such as E.
coli, murder, suicide, contagious disease)
• Boiler and machinery
• Decontamination and cleanup expense for land
and water on resort grounds
• Golf courses, plants, trees, and shrubs
• Land improvements
• Builder’s risk
(continued)
•

(continued)

Casualty Program
• Comprehensive general liability
• Liquor liability
• Spa
• Saddle animal/trail rides
• Business vehicle liability and physical damage
• Umbrella/excess liability


(continued)

Pollution Legal Liability
• On-site cleanup of pollution conditions
• Legal liability for pollution conditions
• Business interruption coverage resulting from
pollution condition causation
• Underground storage tank coverage (available)
• Microbial matter coverage (available)


(continued)

Employment Practices Liability
• Prior acts coverage
• Punitive damage coverage
• Third-party coverage (e.g., guest claims of
discrimination)
• Accidental death and dismemberment coverage
• Aggressive rates and deductibles
• Limits to fit individual member requirements


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