Owning a hotel can be an exciting business if you love meeting new people and helping them enjoy their time away, whether for business or pleasure. There sure is a lot of planning that you need to do first, however, including considering your own goals, hiring good staff, and acquiring everything you might need for the hotel for supplies in the rooms and other places like the kitchen. One thing that should be on the top of your list is a Hotel/Motel Safety Manual. This is probably one of the most important things to have before you begin because of all the ways it keeps you and your staff, and even your guests, safe.

Some Safety Manual History

The beginning of this century saw many health and safety risks for workers in the United States. Many people have helped to improve this, including workers themselves, unions, employers, government agencies and scientists. They have made a lot of progress over the years, with a goal for every worker to be productive and safe in their working environment, free from long-term consequences from workplace accidents and injuries. Having a Hotel/Motel Safety Manual available for your workers is essential in achieving this goal.

OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 has been a leading force in keeping the workplace safe for employees. Before this was in place, there were not many regulations in place for workplace safety, and because of this there were many more workplace accidents, and even deaths, than can be seen today. When Nixon signed this act into being, it made it so it was mandatory for any business to have a safety manual in place.

OSHA has created several guidelines for everything that might be harmful to one’s health. These include list of chemicals that should have limited access and making personal safety equipment mandatory. All businesses are required by law to display OSHA safety posters where employees can easily read them. All these things have helped OSHA to reduce the amount of workplace fatalities since beginning in the 1970’s.

Reasons for Having a Safety Manual

Although they are required by law to have in any business, having a Hotel/Motel Safety Manual for your Hotel is important for many other reasons. They keep you and your employees safe, helping to avoid as many workplace accidents as possible. Having the procedures in writing makes them more concrete, and your employees will take it more seriously. These manuals can also be used to train any new employee, making it easier to train them all in the same manner with the same information. They contain potentially life-saving information, with all information needed on safety procedures plus the rules of handling any hazardous materials, whether using them, storing them, or disposing of them. Having your safety manual handy and accessible also allows you and your employees to continually remind yourselves of specific procedures so that you ensure every procedure is being followed correctly.

If you ever have any questions about your role as an owner/manager in the issue of workplace safety, it is a good idea to go right to the source itself, OSHA. They can assist you with any questions or concerns that you might have regarding the safety of your hotel employees.

So as you get ready to open up your hotel, be sure to get your Hotel/Motel Safety Manual right from the beginning. As you can see, it is detrimental to the safety of you and your employees. Go over it with your employees so that they all understand as well the importance of safety in the workplace.

American Occupational Safety & Health Consultant with experience in Operational Risk Management, Insurance Loss Control, Safety Engineering and other safety related disciplines. Writes construction safety manuals.

American Occupational Safety & Health Consultant-Writes for http://WorkplaceSafetymanuals.com to help small businesses with small budgets find affordable safety resources online.

Author Bio: American Occupational Safety & Health Consultant with experience in Operational Risk Management, Insurance Loss Control, Safety Engineering and other safety related disciplines. Writes construction safety manuals.

Category: Business
Keywords: safety engineering, safety manuals, workplace safety, hotel safety, employee safety in hotels