Hotels: Staff And Training

Hospitality risk consultants across the board stress the importance of thorough vetting (including background checks), rigorous training, and regular proficiency testing of even the most junior staffers. Some hotel chains began internal reviews within days of the Mumbai attacks; McIndoe’s firm dispatched agents to conduct emergency audits on more than 50 hotels around the world in December alone. “There’s huge turnover in the industry; institutional knowledge bleeds out fast,” says Jan Schnabel, global hospitality and gaming practice leader at Marsh, a global insurance broker. “Hotels need to check constantly that all employees are proficient in the execution of any emergency response.” The drills work: Devendra Bharma, executive vice president of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Mumbai (including both the Trident and the Oberoi), cites his 1,400-strong staff’s regular evacuation exercises as the reason that more than 450 guests from both hotels were led to safety during the November attacks.