Staff safety is your concern

However we might want to fudge the figures and hide from reality, violent crime is on the increase in the UK. The number of reported violent incidents rose by 6.8% in the 12 months to September 2000, and the number of robberies during the same period rose by 20.8%. Like it or not, it's getting tougher on the streets. And hospitality is not immune.

Violence is much closer to the surface of ordinary lives these days and incidents which, in the past, might have just been "angry" or "confrontational" are now more likely to turn nasty. One minute, the customer enquiring about a late-night room is your soul mate, having a laugh; the next, he's pointing a gun in your face and is demanding the takings from the till.

I'm not suggesting that violence is out of hand, and there are still boundaries that most people won't cross. But it is important that hotels, restaurants and service providers which deal directly with the public begin to take account of the situation.

The industry puts great emphasis on creating a safe environment for its customers, with increased internal security, scanning of luggage and "women-only" floors in hotels, for example. Well, safety must also apply to staff.

Companies should begin to look more closely at ways of training staff to identify potentially violent situations. Staff need to know how to deal with them, and they need to feel confident that, when they are working the night shift or are in an isolated location, they are equipped to handle any kind of incident. Relying on instinct, luck and chance is not enough.

Hotels abide by health and safety rules, fire regulations, food hygiene laws, etc, and most will train their staff to provide good customer care. The question is: how many have procedures in place to deal with the rare and infrequent visitor who turns nasty?

It's worth a thought.

By Forbes Mutch, Editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper