Our latest survey asked our audience of hospitality workers for feedback on the safety and sanitation policies that have been put in place since the start of the covid pandemic. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey, below are the results.

Now that we’re a few months into implementation of the new guidelines and policies, we wanted to know if hospitality workers feel the safety and sanitation practices are keeping them safe while at work, and if properties have truly implemented them. 

The safety and sanitation practices the industry released

There have been an abundance of safety and sanitation practices released from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and various hotel and restaurant companies to detail out how to keep employees and guests safe. 

Restrictions and guidelines have fluctuated over the past few months, with changes in capacity allowance, mask mandating and travel self-quarantine requirements to guard against the ever changing spread of covid.

The AHLA Safe Stay guidelines are regularly updated to detail out providing protective personal equipment (PPE), implementing use of PPE for guests and staff as well as proper hand washing and disinfecting of surfaces and common areas in hotels to increase the confidence in travelers and guests. 

Individual hotels have also partnered with various health companies to come up with innovative solutions to keep staff and guests safe and provide the best experience during their workdays or stay. 

Some hotels have partnered with companies such as RB, the maker of Lysol and Dettol, Ecolab, Proctor & Gamble and Diversey to provide the proper cleaning products, while others have created cleanliness councils with health experts from various government agencies and universities to ensure the wellbeing of guests and staff. 

Are new safety and sanitation practices actually being implemented?

The top safety and sanitation practices that hotels and foodservice properties have implemented are requiring face coverings for staff, increasing hand cleaning – especially in foodservice, COVID-19 specific training for employees and enforcing physical distancing throughout the property. 

Other safety practices that have been implemented at most properties include increased cleaning of high touch surfaces, required face coverings for guests, only cleaning guest rooms when necessary or requested, and utilizing new technologies to reduce contact during check ins/check outs, room service and payment. 

According to a recent commissioned survey from the AHLA, the most important safety factors for frequent travelers to feel safe in a hotel are requiring face masks for hotel employees (87%), suspending housekeeping (86%), and requiring face masks for guests (85%). 

How do employees feel?

85% of our respondents say that they feel property level staff has been adequately trained on the new practices, and 87% answered that their hotel does have a plan in place if a staff member or guest tests positive 

Most of our respondents (77%) answered that they are expected to enforce the new safety and sanitation practices with the guests, and although most answered that they are comfortable doing so, 41% of respondents also answered they believe being asked to enforce the policies are above their typical responsibilities and pay grades. 

75% of respondents do feel that the safety and sanitation measures are enough, however 30% do believe that guests and staff are not being held to the same sanitation standards, and that there is some room for improvement to make sure everyone is as safe as possible when traveling and returning to work. 

What are those improvements?

Although overall our respondents feel comfortable with enforcing the new safety and sanitation measures, there is still room for management to support employees more, and implement additional guidelines.

Management can support their staff members with additional training, including training employees for difficult conversations they may have while enforcing policies with guests who may push back. Providing a standard operating procedure handbook that indicated the hotel expectations for employees and guests, procedures and resources employees can turn to for all possible scenarios they may encounter.  

Being mindful of what their employees are going through, both emotionally and mentally is also very important. Respondents answered that managers should “acknowledge the dedication in keeping the facility up to covid standards during daily or weekly meetings” to help boost morale and remind employees of the reason they are working so hard during this time. 

It is important for managers to try to keep a positive and encouraging tone while being mindful of what is happening in the world. 

Respondents also mentioned that managers should explain the importance of new safety policies, as well as have signs around the hotel to remind guests of the policies and the importance of those policies to ensure the safety and cooperation of everyone. Adding additional staff to shifts can also help make sure that everything runs smoothly and alleviates the extra responsibilities for staff. 

There is room for improvement to update the safety and sanitation policies by staying up to date with the national, state and local guidelines that are ever-changing. Managers, employees and guests should be up-to-date with the latest restrictions and mandates to help keep each other safe.

Hotels should also be informing their guests of daily schedules and policies on the TV sets in each guest room to limit contact and misinformation. Upon check in, guests should be informed where hand sanitizers are placed in their rooms, and that masks are available if needed. Managers and hotels should ensure masks and hand sanitizers are available for each guest and employee as well.

Overall, hotels are doing what they can to provide a safe working environment for their employees and a safe guest experience for travelers by following the policies and guidelines released by the health experts and more.