These days, the hospitality industry is under more pressure than ever to provide safe environments for guests and visitors. Besides overnight guests, you might also host conferences and a variety of other social events (especially once social distancing regulations begin to lessen). However, whenever your lobby is full of guests, there is always a chance that someone could get hurt, and that you could be blamed. What can you do, instead, to keep injury risks low throughout the property?
Though you likely have liability insurance for any guest injuries that might occur, you still must do all you can to minimize the chances of accidents happening. After all, an injury lawsuit could do severe damage to both your finances and reputation. Consider the best ways to both minimize risks and use your liability coverage to your advantage.
Liability Risks in Hotels
Hotels are supposed to be like homes. They serve meals, provide sleeping quarters, offices and exercise facilities, and even host events. In all of these spaces, the risk of someone getting hurt is ever-present. Countless liabilities will always threaten, no matter how many precautions you take to minimize them.
Should someone get hurt in your hotel, they might need extensive medical treatment, and could face a lot of personal financial struggles, including a loss of their ability to work. Because an accident occurred in your hotel, they might blame you for their losses, and sue you for compensation. You might be forced to help them pick up the pieces of their injuries.
Luckily, your general liability insurance likely contains bodily injury coverage. It will compensate injured third parties for their losses, while helping you cover your own legal expenses for the challenges. Some policies go further by offering accidental medical payments benefits, which compensate someone who gets injured in your hotel regardless of whether you were negligent in the accident.
Keeping Common Areas Safe
Though your general liability insurance can provide a high degree of protection against client injuries, you still want to keep your hotel as safe as possible. There are numerous ways that you can implement a risk management strategy to always keep your property safe.
- Remain alert, and walk through the property several times per day to spot any potential risks—puddles, exposed wiring, broken glass, etc.
- If you notice problems, then immediately clean them up, isolate them or call someone to fix the issue.
Place warning signs in dangerous areas, such as near workout equipment, hot plates, or wet floors. These can help customers avoid these areas.
Additionally, pay close attention to all of the safety codes required of businesses in your area. These might be occupancy limits, sanitation laws and other risk management standards. The more you do to keep your hotel safe, the lower your risk will be of a guest ever getting hurt. Contact our team of dedicated insurance agents at Owens Insurance Agency, for more information give us a call at (606) 784-3575.