Ways To Reduce Slip-And-Fall Injuries In Your Hotel
When you operate a hotel, perhaps hundreds of people may come and go through your building on a daily basis. While you're busy thinking of ways to effectively serve them, you also need to think about their safety. Exterior locks, security cameras, and even security officers are all integral for safety, but don't overlook the risk of someone slipping and falling. Such an injury can lead to a personal injury lawsuit that can cost your hotel financially and give you a poor reputation in the community. Here are three ways that you can reduce the risk of such injuries and issues with a personal injury attorney.
Closing Off Access
If there's a part of your hotel in which the conditions underfoot are treacherous, you may want to completely close off access to the area until you deal with the problem. For example, if a bottle of soap from a housekeeping staff member were to fall off the housekeeping cart and spill on a tile floor, this area would be extremely slippery and the chance of someone falling would be high. Instead of risking peoples' safety by leaving the area open, tape it off or use other physical barriers until you've resolved the issue.
Putting Up Warnings
In some cases, physical warnings about slippery areas underfoot can be enough to protect your guests, and to protect yourself from a future legal issue. For example, if you're worried about water on the pool deck, you need to alert your guests to this issue. Multiple signs that indicate that swimmers should accept that the pool deck can be slippery underfoot and swim at their own risk are important. You should also have staff monitoring the area so that they can put up folding signs in the event of particularly treacherous conditions.
Verbally Alerting People
Sometimes, having a hotel staff member on the scene of a slippery area to verbally warn people is a good idea. For example, if there's ice around the front door of the hotel during the winter, signs can definitely help, but someone standing at the door and letting guests know of the issue is more proactive. Of course, your maintenance staff should also be taking steps to remove the ice with deicer or a chipping tool, but the presence of a hotel staff member can be important in this scenario. This staff member can also welcome guests to the hotel, performing a double duty that can impress those who are staying with you.