JUST MORE BUZZWORDS?

What do Philip Purcell, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley in the USA, and Paddy Brearley, GM of the Windhoek Country Club & Resort, have in common?

How many hoteliers in South Africa would be able to put emergency evacuation procedures into action as was done at the World Trade Centre in September if disaster struck?

The author of this article, Colin Grimsell is a former director of Southern Sun and Holiday Inns. His company, Hotel Performance Consultants, advises on market feasibilities, improving profitability in the hospitality industry, and conducts risk management audits.

He can be contacted at:
............PO Box 417, Rivonia 2128
............Phone: + 27 01 706 4540
............Fax:....+ 27 01 463 6495
............Email: hpc@fedhasa.co.za

The following are extracts from a report in the UK's Financial Times of 15/16 September 2001: "When the first airliner struck the World Trade Center on Tuesday, employees of the biggest tenant in the complex knew exactly what to do. Today, all but a few of Morgan Stanley's 3 700 employees are alive to talk about it. In 1993 when terrorists bombed the World Trade Center, Dean Witter, a brokerage that is now part of Morgan Stanley, had been affected. Its employees have been training ever since. The workers were organised to evacuate floor by floor. Drills were conducted.

"After the first aircraft crashed into the North Tower, Morgan Stanley's employees in the other tower headed out and never turned back. When the second airliner struck just above Morgan Stanley's 22 floors in the South Tower, evacuation was already under way. It was not until Thursday evening that Morgan Stanley was able to say that it had accounted for all but 15 employees."

In the same week Windhoek Country Club & Resort had a major fire in the conference centre. A full evacuation of the hotel took place, and Paddy Brearley was able to report that no?one had been hurt.

There is no coincidence here. Both of these persons in authority had applied risk management to their businesses by having plans in place, had carried out staff drills and when the real event took place, everyone knew what to do.

What are the main objectives of risk management?
The primary objective of risk management is to eliminate or reduce the risk of loss of life or injury to customers and staff. The secondary objective is to protect property and assets.

Easier said than done
How does a hotelier or restaurateur, particularly those that do not have guidance from a head office, go about achieving these objectives? I believe you make your start on the primary objective. In this respect, there is legislation, the Occupational Health & Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993) and its regulations, to which you must conform.

Occupational Health & Safety Act
Like many of the laws that govern business, this Act involves much administration. In addition, it evolved out of laws written for other industries. However, the intentions are good and, if you extract the salient points, you will be on the road to achieving the objectives of risk management.

First of all, it is important to know that the CEO is the one ultimately responsible for the safety of his employees - and the one who will personally pay the fines and/or go to jail. To add to the burden, in this Act, a person is presumed guilty until proved otherwise. However, a CEO may delegate responsibility to a "senior responsible person" - probably a general manager - but this must be done in writing, with the duties and responsibilities spelt out, and written acceptance received. In turn, the person responsible must make appointments in specific fields and ensure employee participation.

Although the purpose of this article is not to review all the provisions of the Occupational Health & Safety Act, I believe that if one uses the mechanics of the Act to include protection of customers, property and assets, a major slice of risk management will be addressed. The appointments made will help to spread the workload.

Health & safety appointments - The senior responsible person should ensure there are appointed:

• Responsible persons (one person may have more than one responsibility) for:
• fire prevention
• Hygiene
• machinery/electrical
• hazardous substances.
• A health & safety representative for the first 20 employees; and
• An additional representative for each 50 employees.
• For two or more HSRs, a health & safety committee.
• Certificated first aid providers (one per 50 employees).

What are the next steps in risk management?
The Occupational Health & Safety Act has specific requirements about committee meetings, minute taking, and records and investigations - notably of injuries. However, with the framework which must be in place by law, I believe we can take care of our customers, staff, and property by making the framework work for us.

Look at the appointments I have listed, and draw up a plan of action for each responsibility. The obvious starting place is fire prevention. Do you have a comprehensive fire plan? When did you last put this plan into action by having a full?scale evacuation? Have you involved your local fire brigade in a fire drill. From your fire plan, you can develop other plans, such as bomb plan, flood plan, armed robbery, and more. On the physical side, how adequate are your notices and signs for your customers?

What other risks need action?
There are other certain aspects applicable to most businesses and others which are specific to particular types of properties. Are your guests able to secure their own property and are they adequately advised of local risks? If the bathroom shower is in the bath, is the guest protected against falling?

Movement of cash applies to all businesses and also security of information - is a computer back-up of your books of account taken off the premises daily?

If you are in a wildlife area, you will not need to be told what risks there are at your property. But what are your procedures for gun training and for gun and ammunition control? Also, often overlooked, is bush encroachment near thatch.

One of the biggest problems in our business is that we become complacent. Things deteriorate: we walk past them every day and may not notice when something has become dangerous. It is advantageous to use outsiders, be they insurance assessors or experienced people in our business, to walk the property and come back with advice.

Fire - the biggest risk
South Africa has been fortunate, with very few hospitality business fires leading to injury or death. The most common causes of fire in hotels have been kitchen fires (usually deep?fat fryers), guests smoking in bed and staff smoking in storage spaces. Of late I have observed an unfortunate effect of the new anti smoking laws: staff slipping into a cupboard area for a quick drag. Heaven forbid that the well?intentioned efforts of our Department of Health should lead to a hotel fire.

Like Paddy Brearley and Morgan Stanley this September, have your fire plans and drills in place and work from there.