Safety Precaution in Switzerland Hotels

Posted: December 21st, 2022

Safety Precaution in Switzerland Hotels

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Safety Precaution in Switzerland Hotels

There is need to assess how hotels in Switzerland uphold safety measures because a review of existing literature reveals evident gaps at a time when more facilities are strengthening how they protect their workers against possible harm. [A1] The paper reveals that whereas some hotels have made significant strides in improving safety at the workstation, some Switzerland-based hotels still lag behind, which subject key stakeholders to considerable risk. The study retrieves data from secondary sources to understand some of the factors that deter some hotels from enacting effective safety measures, especially with regard to enacting protection measures that prevent workers from contracting diseases or suffering the effects of a fire breakout. The study also provides hint on some of the mechanisms that could help to build safety at the workstation. Hence, the paper presents a systematic literature review that helps to show the limitations in some hotels in Switzerland with regard to creating a safe work environment. A thematic data analysis helps to scrutinise the collected data from secondary sources. The findings affirm that some hotels still experience challenges enacting safety practices, but have an opportunity to learn from those that have made tremendous strides in this area. [A2] 

Rationale

A workplace free from accidents and injuries attracts both workers and buyers. Staff members are more productive satisfied in such a setting[A3] . A safe workstation is essential for both workers and employees alike. It is the right of all workers to have safety in the workstation (Jonathan & Mbogo, 2016). Workplace safety is important regardless of the size of the firm. All corporations, big or small, need to uphold safety at their workstations. Well-executed safety regulations keep workers safe and also safeguard industrial resources (Jonathan & Mbogo, 2016). Team leaders should be at the forefront of improving works safety because the safer the workstation, the more productive it becomes considering that productive workers are an asset to the entire company. Besides, workplace safety encourages the wellness of workers in safe working station. The benefit results in decreased downtime for safety inquiries and minimise costs for employees’ remuneration (Christian et al., 2009). Enhanced safety also reduces the time required for workers to heal from disturbing encounters and injuries (Christian et al., 2009). Safety is necessary all sectors as well, including the hotels that operate within the hospitality sector. Thus, finding out how hotels in Switzerland strive to maintain safety measures while pointing out on evident gaps creates the chance for operators in this sector to enhance how they safeguard all stakeholders against potential harm or threat that could occur within the work environment. Moreover, the study encourages hoteliers to conduct a SWOT analysis that would help them identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats when it comes to implementing an effective safety mechanism. Thus, those who operate hotels, big or small, one star or five star, should pay considerable attention to improving safety of their workers, consumers, and other stakeholders who may visit the premises for other reasons.

Aim

The main aim of the study is to sensitise hoteliers about the importance of implementing safety precautions at the facility. [A4] Hotel leaders and their employees would be in a better position to counter looming threats when they understand their weaknesses and when they know what needs to happen to overcome situations that could distabilise the group or disturb operations. The study aims to show hotel owners that whereas they may be performing well in certain areas, they need to perform a thorough overview of their ability and position to counter weaknesses to be in a position to safeguard all those who relate to the firm in different capacities. The other aim of the study is to show how failure to embrace suitable remedies could affect business operations with one of the adverse effects being losing on consumer flow. The awareness that poor safety measures could scare away employees and buyers will motivate the management to bolster the group’s focus on this area that is equally influential in the way the company operates. Overall, paying attention to these aims will help transform how hoteliers in Switzerland perceive the issue of safety and trigger the desire to introduce effective remedies that would avert harm.

Objectives

The objectives of the study are to;

• Show the possible limitations in improving safety measures in Switzerland-based hotels
• Provide insight into ways of enhancing safety mechanisms
• Reiterating the significance of adhering to regulations on safety at the workplace [A5] 

Literature Review

Safety Measures against COVID-19

The recent COVID-19 pandemic may be one of the most unprecedented and impactful events for companies, policymakers, investors, and many other stakeholders. [A6] Along with the global outbreak of the respiratory illness, it has also crippled economic activities in key markets and industries, thereby also seriously affecting the stability and performance of the hospitality sector. Aharon et al. (2021) acknowledge that the hospitality industry is one of the service-oriented areas that has suffered immensely because of the crisis. Consequently, various scholars have embarked on identifying the safety measures operators in this area have adopted to safeguard staff members and customers against the disease, particularly because many people are yet to get the recommended vaccine, besides the idea that some have negative perception towards the preventive mechanism with the belief that it could harm them. Aharon et al. (2021) use a dataset by generated by Hale et al. (2020) assessing the government’s indulgence in the containment of COVID-19 spread, to examine the reaction of the hospitality safety measures to various forms of state directives. The study showed that the government interjected by urging operators in the hospitality sector to embrace the wearing of masks, use of sanitisers, maintaining distance, and reducing overcrowding. Consequently, hoteliers adhered to these regulations as the only way being relevant in the sector. Failure to abide by these safety measures could result in serious legal repercussions other than the idea that not many consumers would not associate with eateries that do not enact measures to curb the spread of coronavirus. Thus, many managers were compelled to adopt a change management strategy that would adjust how their firms respond to managing the health crisis.

An example of a firm that has done exemplary well in enacting safety measures against COVID-19 is Swiss-Belhotel International that operates globally but has its headquarters in Hong Kong[A7] . The group announced its plans to enact a new hygiene and health measures to reaffirm buyers of a transformed focus on consumer well-being in the wake of the health crisis (Swiss-Belhotel International, 2022). The firm has introduced ten additional Health and Safety regulations, which have been proposed by the senior management and a committee responsible for health and safety to add on existing measures (Swiss-Belhotel International, 2022). The added commitments will be auxiliary to the group’s already broad Health and Safety internal guidelines based on a framework of tough company regulations. As part of the newly recommended plans of Health and Safety, all subsidiaries of Swiss-Belhotel will execute improved levels of sanitation and utilise disinfectants to curb coronavirus and other bacterial infection in all public areas, encompassing guestrooms, receptions, fitness facilities, lobbies, conference areas, pool stations, bars, and restaurants (Swiss-Belhotel International, 2022). Improved hygiene regulations at the company will also entail back-of-house operations. Some of the recommended measures to enhance health and safety at the international firm include using the Swiss-Belhotel International greeting practice when welcoming visitors and guests instead of handshake, and establishment of disposal points at strategic places to avoid contamination from used masks and tissue paper. Swiss-Belhotel has also equipped washrooms with disinfectants and enough running water in addition to providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to its workers and some visitors (Swiss-Belhotel International, 2022). These measures together with others contribute significantly towards improving safety measures at the organisation.

Whereas many operators in the hospitality sector have enacted safety mechanisms that would protect their workers and buyers, some are yet to enact these regulations, which shows a considerable loophole in maintaining safety against COVID-19. [A8] For example, Jewers (2021) writes about Walliserkanne restaurant in Switzerland that had constantly failed to abide by the mandate to administer the country’s coronavirus passport instruction. Instead, the facility went ahead to allow consumers without Covid certificates, which guarantees someone has either recovered from the illness or has been completely vaccinated or tested negative for the virus (Jewers, 2021). Consequently, the government ordered the shutdown of the restaurant and its proprietors arrested for not abiding by COVID-19 regulations. The incident that happened on 1 November 2021 led the police to place large concrete blocks to obstruct the entrance to the facility (Jewers, 2021). The violation by Walliserkanne is an indication that many other facilities in the Switzerland hospitality sector fail to abide by measures enacted to keep people safe against coronavirus, a defilement that have adverse safety repercussions.

Safety Measures on Fire Extinguishers

A principal requirement when operating a hotel is to ensure that it is fitted with adequate apparatuses that will help to counter a fire breakout. The probability of encountering a fire breakout in a hotel is high because a large portion of activities that happen at back-of-house involve use of fire such as cooking (Sierra et al., 2012). Hence, being able to manage fire breakouts is a fundamental consideration when considering improving how the organisation enhances its safety structures.

Ineffective Attention on Emergency Exit Points

Concerns also revolve around how some hotels create emergency exit points that would facilitate how people evacuate the building in case on a crisis. There is need to have an emergency exit in a hotel, especially one that welcomes large number of visitors on a regular basis because it may be difficult to get away in case of an emergency (Anichiti et al., 2021).

Lack of Information among Staff Members

Poor information among members of staff is a major contributor towards ill-preparedness when it comes to regulating safety in hotels. Employees are not able to respond fast enough when they do not know what to do in case of a fire breakout, a terrorist attack, flood, earthquake, health crisis or any other emergence that could breach security (Senya, 2017). However, staff members would be in a better position to respond when they have adequate information concerning ways of averting issues that could distabilise safety within the workplace. The idea that a well-informed workforce

Lack of Maps

Hotels, especially large ones, need to have maps as a safety precaution. The intervention helps to guide workers, buyers, and other visitors at the facility. However, some hotels do not seem to pay considerable attention to this area. Consequently, they intensity the possibilities of encountering adverse effects when some people cannot locate specific places.

Above all, operators in the hospitality sector need to adhere to the legal provisions that determine how this sector should observe safety measures in Switzerland. [A9] In the country, there are two chief laws regulating occupational safety and health (OSH). The Labour Law covers and advocates for fair working hours, health coverage, safeguarding of personal integrity, and development of effective workplace regulations and standards. The other one is the Accident Insurance Law that protect occupational diseases and fatalities, which emanate entirely from the workplace (ILO, 2007). [A10] The State Secretariat of Economic Affairs works closely with related bodies to enforce these legislations. The provisions apply to all sectors, including hospitality. Based on these legislations, each worker must understand that they have a legally protected right to safety and health at work. Specifically, the Labour Law that determines building regulations and protection of worker health impact significantly on hotel operators who must ensure that their operations do not defy any of these provisions (ILO, 2007). Leaders in the hospitality sector must understand the requirements of these legal directives as well as sensitise their workers about how they work to eradicate scenarios where a workstation fails to meet key safety standards.

Methodology

A systematic literature review is the most suitable research design for this study. [A11] The approach entails identifying, selecting, and critically evaluating research or secondary sources to respond to a clearly generate question. The approach utilises transparent and rigorous techniques in an attempt to summarise all accessible but relevant evidence with minimum bias. The method is suitable in this study because it offers an inclusive overview of literature connected to a research question and fuses previous literature to enhance the foundation of a particular topic, while upholding to the ideologies of bias reduction and honesty.

Data Collection

The most used data collection technique for this case is secondary sources. [A12] Consequently, the study searches reliable databases such as the Social Science Database, ERIC, Scopus, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, and Directory of Open Access Journals for appropriate literacy sources. In addition to seeking data from peer-reviewed journals, the study acquires data from particular reliable web-based sources from credible authors. The search process results in the selection of ten relevant secondary sources while guided by inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria in this instance include selecting works that show the safety measures operators in the hospitality sector embraces to safeguard their operations, workers, and other stakeholders, as well as which describe the constraints that some facilities experience in their attempt to excel in this area. Using key words, terms, and phrases improves the likelihood for settling on the appropriate secondary sources for this study. Guiding terms and phrases such as “hospitality”, “hotels”, “safety”, “safety in the hotel sector”, “risk management”, “fire extinguishers”, “emergency exit points”, “maps and directories”, and “uninformed workforce about safety measures in the hospitality industry” [A13] direct the search process. Another inclusion criteria is ensuring that the selected work is current and relevant in the contemporary world. More fundamentally, significant portions of the selected sources address the safety loopholes in the hospitality sector in Switzerland. Consequently, the study settles on literature published in since 2010. However, this research omits works that neither address the safety gaps in the hospitality sector nor give recommendations on how to improve on the current state. The study also excludes literature that is difficult to trace the credibility and validity of the author and their proclamations.

The following are the selected ten secondary sources for analysis in this research; Zizka et al. (2021), HOTREC (2010),

Secondary sources are preferable in this case due to several reasons. One of the reasons why the study settles on secondary sources is that they give a variety of expert view and insights on the topic under investigation. Besides, the study gathers data from secondary sources because compared to primary sources, they save the researcher the strenuous process of planning, performing, and assessing sources as common with primary sources. In addition, secondary sources provide a faster and less costly option of collecting data compared to techniques such as the experimental method.

Data Analysis

The research uses a thematic analysis as the main data analysis technique because of the advantages linked to the style. [A14] The procedure is a methodology for analysing data, typically qualitative data by searching a data set to identify, review, and give a description of frequent appearances (Nowell et al., 2017). The principal purpose of a thematic analysis is to distinguish subjects in the data that are remarkable or important, and use them to address the research or to come up with appropriate descriptions about an issue. Habitually, a thematic analysis involves much more than simply offering a momentary impression of the data. Characteristically, an appropriate thematic analysis interprets data and constructs meaning from it. Kiger and Varpio (2020) contend that the data analysis method is flexible and allows a researcher to scrutinize collected data from various angles. The data analysis method is desirable in this situation because it does not need the detailed technical and theoretic consciousness of other qualitative approaches, and inclines to offer a more accessible and consistent form of breakdown, particularly for examiners who are on the early stages of their research practice (Nowell et al. 2017, p. 2). However, the research takes into account some of the possible confines related to the procedure. An instance of a disadvantage based on the article by Nowell et al. (2017) is the lack of considerable literature contrasted with other methods such as the grounded theory and ethnographic studies. The restraint could make investigators who do not have much expertise in this exercise to feel apprehensive on how to implement an effective and operational thematic analysis.

The theme of ineffective risk management approaches in the hospitality sector emerges when analyising various scholarly works.

Findings

Conclusion

References

Anichiti, A., Dragolea, L., Harsan, G., Haller, A., & Butnaru, G. (2021). Aspects regarding safety and security in hotels: Romanian experience. Information, 12, 44-66. https://doi.org/10.3390/info12010044[A15] 

Christian, M., Bradley-Geist, J., Wallace, C., & Burke, M. (2009). Workplace safety: A meta-analysis of the roles of person and situation factors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(5), 1103-1127. doi:10.1037/a0016172

HOTREC. (2010). Guidelines to fire safety in European hotels. https://www.hotrec.eu/wp-content/customer-area/storage/89d7684ef4b8c01cc2805de58902023b/MBS-methodology-Guidelines-to-fire-safety-in-European-hotels-10-February-2010.pdf[A16] 

ILO. (2007). National labour law profile: The Swiss confederation. https://www.ilo.org/ifpdial/information-resources/national-labour-law-profiles/WCMS_158921/lang–en/index.htm

Jonathan, G., & Mbogo, R. (2016). Maintaining health and safety at workplace: Employee and employer’s role in ensuring a safe working environment. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(9), 1-7. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1118861.pdf

Kiger, M., & Varpio, L. (2020). Thematic analysis of qualitative data: AMEE guide no. 131, Medical Teacher, https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1755030

Nowell, L., Norris, J., White, D., & Moules, N. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1609406917733847

Senya, E. (2017). Assessing the awareness of safety rules in the hospitality industry in Ghana: A case of some selected hotels in the Accra Metropolitan Area. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Sports, 32, 21-30. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234696944.pdf

Sierra, F., Rubio-Romero, J., & Gamaz, M. (2012). Status of facilities for fire safety in hotels. Safety Science, 50(7), 1490-1494. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2012.01.006

Swiss-Belhotel International. (2022). Health, safety and hygiene procedures – our 10 commitments. https://www.swiss-belhotel.com/en-gb/news/hsh

Zizka, L., Chen, M., Zhang, E., Favre, A. (2021). Hear no virus, see no virus, speak no virus: Swiss hotels’ online communication regarding coronavirus. Information Communication Technologies in Tourism, 2, 441-451. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-65785-7_43

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 [A1]Hook.

 [A2]Thesis statement.

 [A3]Emphasising the need to conduct the study.

 [A4]Introducing research aims.

 [A5]Research objectives.

 [A6]Introducing COVID as a safety threat.

 [A7]An example of a firm that has excelled in preventing COVID.

 [A8]Example of failed hotels in enacting measures to curb COVID.

 [A9]The need to adhere to legal provisions.

 [A10]Examples of applicable laws.

 [A11]Identifying the research design.

 [A12]Opening remark.

 [A13]Examples of key words.

 [A14]Introducing the data analysis style.

 [A15]APA 7 requires author’s last name, initial for first name, year, title, journal name, volume number, and page numbers for journal articles.

 [A16]APA 7 requires author’s name, year, title, and URL for websites.