HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
MODULE 3: Topic 3:
SAFETY AND SECURITY OF GUESTS,
EMPLOYEES AND ASSETS
OVERVIEW
he guest, who comes to a particular hotel, comes with an understanding that he and his
belongings both will be safe and secure during his stay at the hotel. At the same time it is also
quite important that the hotel staff and assets are protected and secure. Hence it is very
important to have a proper Safety and Security system in place to protect staff, guests and
physical resources and assets such as equipment, appliances buildings, gardens of the hotel and
also the belongings of the guest. Safety and Security is always the first priority towards guest service.
OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this module, you are expected to;
1. Discuss the importance of safety precautions in the lodging industry; and
2. Enumerate the steps in handling emergency in lodging industry.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES: Discussion, Practical exercises, Reading materials and Video Presentation
IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY SYSTEM
The management must take care that the Safety and Security systems cover the
following areas:
1. Guest: Protection from crimes such as murder, abduction and health hazards from outsiders,
hotel staff, pests, food poisoning etc.
2. Staff: Providing staff lockers, insurances, health schemes, provident funds etc. Protective
clothing, shoes, firefighting drills, supply of clean drinking water use of aqua guards, sanitized
wash rooms etc.
3. Guest luggage: Secure luggage storerooms and proper equipment such as luggage trolley
and bell hop trolley should be provided.
HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
4. Hotel Equipment: Lifts, Boilers, Kitchen equipment, furniture fitting and building etc. must be
protected and for these the Safety and Security should cover up fire safety equipment, bomb
threat security system, water floods security system, earthquake security system , safe vault
safety and security system etc.
5. Protection of raw materials, goods, provisions and groceries etc. For this the safety and
security system should cover proper storage and pest control systems, apart from the
application of total material management system.
6. Protection of Funds:
• Only one person should have access to each cash bank and each bank should be in a
separate drawer.
• All transactions should be recorded immediately.
• The cashier should close the cash register drawer after each transaction.
• Cashiers should complete transaction in process before changing currency into different
denominations for the guests. Each change request should be handled as a new transaction
to avoid confusion.
• A supervisor or a member of the accounting division should occasionally conduct an
unscheduled audit of front office cash registers.
• The hotels should have a policy that states where employees should place cash during a
transaction.
TYPES OF SECURITY
1) Physical aspect is divided into two parts ;
a) Internal security
• Against theft
• Fire safety
• Proper lighting
• Safeguarding assets
• Track unwanted guests
b) External Security
• Proper lighting outside the building
• Proper fencing of the building
• Fencing of pool area to avoid accidents in the night
• Manning of service gates to restrict entry
HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
• Fixing of closed circuit TV cameras
2) Security aspects of persons
1. a) Staff
• Effective recruitment and selection
• Identification of staff
• Key control
• Red tag system
• Training
• Locker inspection
b) Guests:
• Check scanty baggage guests
• Guests suspected of taking away hotel property should be charged according to hotel policy
• Guest room security:
i) Provide wide angle door viewer, dead bolt locks, night torch, chains on doors etc
ii) Employees should be trained to not give any information about in-house guests to
outsiders.
iii) While issuing a duplicate card key ask for identification if in doubt of the guest.
iv) House keeping staff should never leave keys expose on unattended carts in corridors
3) Security aspects of systems
The term system implies the operations of the hotel eg: all the equipment used for operation,
procedures laid down for operations and policies to be followed. Systems procedures and policies
if followed properly shall safeguard the assets and increase life span of equipment as well as avoid
any breakdown maintenance
This would mean the following:
• Fix duties and responsibilities: Fix duties of staff members so that they don’t interfere with
others’ work.
• Make surprise checks
• Staff who have access to liquid assets should be made to sign a bond so that in case of theft
the concerned person can easily be caught
• Hiring of some independent security company to check the security system of the hotel
• Record of all losses and missing items immediately
• Inventory control should be proper
HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
• Auditing should be done on a regular basis
• Proper system for cash disbursements should be made
HANDLING EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Apart from fire and bomb threat etc. the front office staff at some point of time have to handle
a lot of unusual situations also. Some such situations may be death and illness of guests, theft in
hotels etc and many others.
1) Death of a guest in the hotel :
Once the information comes to the front desk it should directly be reported to the front
office manager.
• The front office manager will then report it to the GM or resident manager
• The security manager should also be informed immediately
• The police is informed and the hotel doctor is summoned who will check and confirm the death
• Meanwhile the hotel will locate the residential address of the deceased and will inform the relatives.
• Once the police complete all formalities and activities and gives the permission, the dead body is
fully covered and then removed from the room on a stretcher. For this purpose the service elevator
and not the guest elevator is used
• A death certificate is obtained from the doctor
• A report should be prepared as to who informed of the death, time,, room number and date of
death. In case there is any luggage of the deceased in the room a list should be prepared and the
luggage should be kept in the luggage room and the person performing this activity should sign
this report
• The guest room is locked and sealed.
• After obtaining clearance from the police the room is opened and thoroughly disinfected and spring
cleaned and only after permission of the police and subsequent permission of the GM or resident
manager the room should be sold.
• Some important facts to be kept in mind are:
Do not enter the room alone always take the lobby manager and security officer with you
In case you are aware that the deceased was under the treatment of a specific doctor, the same
should be called instead of the hotel doctor. His physician will also be helpful in knowing and
notifying the incident to the relatives and people known to him
Do not disturb the body or touch anything before the arrival of the police as this may be a
murder or suicide case.
HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
2) Handling accident cases:
• A knowledge of first aid would come very handy in such situations. In general, the following
points should be taken care of.
• Remove the person who has met with accident from the site of accident {as early as
possible and take him to a more comfortable area, use a stretcher in case the need be.
• Call the doctor and if possible, give him the details of accident and gravity of the accident.
• Take someone along with you to the site of the accident as you may need help
• Keep alert you must serve the victim immediately by providing first aid
• Try to protect your establishment from any false allegations
• Prepare a full report of the whole accident giving details of the date and time who reported the
incident, room no., site of the accident etc. Also make your comments as to the reason of
the accident and how could it have been prevented and what action is to be taken to
avoid the same in the future.
The accident book:
• An accident book is usually maintained in all organizations and the receptionist should record
all details of accidents which have occurred to employees whilst carrying out their daily
activities.
• The book must be kept in a place easily accessible by any injured person or a person bonafide
• Particulars of an accident may be entered here in either by the injured person himself or by
a person acting on his behalf
• The accident book when filled up should be preserved for a period of three years after the date
of the last entry
• Every employer is required to take steps to investigate the circumstances of the accident
recorded and if there happens to be any discrepancy between the circumstances found by him
and the entry made, he is required to record the circumstances so found.
3) Situation of Theft:
Theft is divided into three categories:
1. Theft by employees of the hotel can be avoided by:
Work business and personal references should be checked before the employee is hired.
A detailed record of all employees who enter the guest room such as chamber maids
bellboys room boys maintenance etc
All hotel keys should be returned to the department concerned and no employee should
be allowed to take keys out of the hotel’s premises.
HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
2. Theft of hotel property by the guest:
Can be avoided by taking the following steps:
• Installing automatic locks on the guest room doors
• Appointing a security officer who would walk and take rounds at regular intervals
• Inform guests to use the safe vault of the hotel and not to keep valuables in the guest room
• Keep a watch on walk in as their likelihood of being a thief is more as compared to a guest
who has undergone a process of making a reservation in the hotel
• Avoid giving room numbers of resident guests to visitors or over the telephone callers.
• In case the guest loses his key and asks housekeeping to open the room door for them, HK
should direct them to front desk
• Master key should be kept under strict supervision and control
3. Theft by outside visitors can be avoided by:
• being aware of suspicious persons
• regular and irregular schedule of vigil and security rounds
• Stagger lunch and rest periods of employees to keep one person on duty on each floor at
all times
• Instruct eh telephone operator not to connect calls to the guest room incase the request is
made by the caller by room number. The receptionist should insist on knowing the name of the
guest who the caller wishes to speak to.
• Guest should be informed to keep the balcony door closed to avoid anyone entering the rooms
from the balcony
• Closed circuit televisions should be used
4) Situation of illness and epidemic/pandemic:
The receptionist may be called for assistance during sickness of a guest.
Patient should be advised to consult the house physician but in case the guest has his
own physician the same should be called.
Housekeeping needs to be notified about the sickness and instructions if any
If the case of serious sickness, the guest should be moved to a nursing home
During epidemics all precautionary measures especially in food and beverage service area should
be followed.
HM 2105:
FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS
5) Handling a drunk guest:
The guest should be removed from the lobby as early as possible but being careful not to
irritate/offend him. Preferably taken to the back office or to his room. If he behaves unruly, the
hotel security must be called.
REFERENCES:
Accommodation Management. The Housekeeping Operation Manual. Uttarakhand Open University.
ASEAN Toolbox .(2016)”Housekeeping Competency Standards”. [Link].
Barrows,C.W, and [Link]. (2016). Introduction to Management in the Hospitality Industry, 10 th
[Link] Wiley and Sons,Inc.
Brigham,G.H. (2015). “Housekeeping for Hotels, Motels,Hospitals,Clubs,Schools. New York : Ahrens.
Guerrier,Y.2016. “Hotel Managers” Carrers and Their Impact on Hotels in Britain”.International
Journal of Hospitality Management 6(3):121-130.
Martin,R.J, and [Link].(2014).”Professional Management of Housekeeping (new edition) New
York. John Wiley & Sons.
Nebel, E.C III. (2015) .”Managing Hotels Effecyively: Lessons from Outstanding Hotel [Link]
York:Van Nostrand Reinhold.
O’Fallion,Michael, Rutherford D.G. (2015). “Hotel Management Operations”John Wiley & Sons,Inc.
(5th Editon) edition
Sudhir Andrews. Hotel Housekeeping Training Manual.
Dr. William D. Frye is an Associate Professor in the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management at
Niagara University and co-author of AHLEI’s housekeeping textbook Managing Housekeeping Operations.
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