Why is safety training important in the hospitality industry

As lucrative as the hospitality industry can be, managers frequently face a number of challenges in terms of retaining employees while remaining in compliance with health and safety standards. The challenges faced by hospitality industry management include:

• High turnover rate
• Insurance and regulation concerns
• Maintaining a reputation for high-quality service
• Younger employee demographics

Encompassing not just hotel and food service businesses, the term hospitality industry also includes transportation, tourist attractions, and amusement parks. Around the world, the hotel and restaurant business alone is a nearly $3 trillion industry. It is estimated that tens of millions of people are employed in the hospitality industry. As such, there is naturally a lot on the line when it comes to retaining employees while adhering to compliance standards.

Management must ensure that employees are properly prepared for practically any scenario. At the same time, it’s vital for hospitality industry management to be assured their employees are satisfied in an effort to keep their turnover rate low. The best way to accomplish all these goals is with an effective yet convenient training delivery method. Online training can accomplish all of these goals.

Regulation and insurance concerns

The hospitality industry is dependent on delivering high customer service. Along with this territory come insurance and regulation concerns. Having a permit taken away or a lawsuit brought against a business can quickly spell disaster. Therefore, it’s necessary for managers to ensure employees are properly trained on health and safety issues. Online training, such as Work Health and Safety Standards, makes it easy for hospitality businesses to ensure their employees can avoid potentially detrimental incidences.

The consequences of a fire can be devastating in any industry, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage while putting lives at risk. In the hospitality industry, the consequences of a fire can be more serious. With the assistance of an online fire safety awareness course, managers can ensure their employees and guests stay safe. This course helps employees learn about fire prevention, minimizing fire hazards, and how to detect fires.

Businesses in the hospitality industry are often prime targets for terror organizations. Online training courses, such as a bioterrorism awareness course, can provide employees in the hospitality industry with the information necessary to recognize the elements of a terrorist attack, prepare for an attack, and understand the proper actions to take in the event of an attack.

High turnover rate

Compared to other industries, the hospitality industry tends to have a higher turnover rate. A number of factors contribute to this higher turnover rate, including the fact that hospitality jobs tend to be part time and seasonal in nature. An effort among employees to upgrade their positions combined with lower-than-average wages contribute to higher turnover rates. As a result, the hospitality industry has to deal with near-constant onboarding of new employees. This can create numerous training challenges. Yet, managers must rise to the challenge and ensure that new employees have necessary training as quickly as possible. Online training makes it possible for managers to meet their objectives quickly and easily. When employees feel as though employers take a genuine interest in their well-being, they are much more likely to stay rather than searching for new employment.

Developing a reputation for quality customer service

Any business in the hospitality industry is dependent on maintaining a reputation for quality customer service. This is necessary for not only attracting new customers but also retaining current customers. Even a single incident, such as food poisoning, can cause a business’s reputation to suffer. Conversely, when a business is well known for safe practices and cleanliness, customers will naturally increase. A food safety and sanitation course can help make sure an unfortunate incident does not destroy a business’s reputation. The best way to ensure a solid reputation for customer service is to make certain employees are trained to meet high safety and health service standards.

Making training flexible and scalable

Although these factors demonstrate the challenges associated with health and safety training for hospitality industry employees, it is now easier than ever to meet those standards with online training. Managers can streamline training while taking advantage of an easy-to-use delivery system. As a result, training becomes more effective and flexible. Online training is also easily scalable to meet the changing needs of a business’s workforce.

The reality is that accidents can happen at any time in any industry. In the hospitality industry, managers are responsible for the health and safety of not only their employees but also every guest that enters their establishment. Employees must understand how to protect themselves, co-workers, and customers. Effective training ensures no one gets hurt and your business is not penalized for failure to adhere to regulations. Online health and safety training is the ideal tool to teach employees how they can make the best decisions for their safety, for the safety of their customers, and to avoid potential hazards and risks.

Safety and security are among the most important issues within the hospitality industry. From ensuring that guests have an exceptional experience to protecting everyone who walks in the door, managers have a tremendous responsibility. As challenging as that responsibility may be, it does not have to be difficult. Online training can provide the tools hospitality managers need to keep their establishments safe, reduce employee turnover, and provide guests with a superior experience.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.