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Case study

"Our mission is to provide a safe environment for employees, guests, and visitors and to ensure that the same accident never happens twice," said Abigail, the safety committee chair and executive housekeeper of the Seven Bungalows Resort. The nesort boasted 1,500 rooms spread over 200 acres of tropical beach. The property catered to vacationers by pampering them with fine food, state-of-the-art fitness facilities, luxurious linens, skillful massage artists, and spacious rooms with awe- its monthly meeting. The top item on the agenda for the hour-long meeting was the orientation of two new members-Ryan, a laundry supervisor, and Brianna, the executive administrative assistant for the chief financial officer. Around the table were the other members of the committee: Victoria from the front office; Jack, the executive chef; the dining room's matre d', Rachel; Jennifer, the banquet manager; the human resources representative, Tony; and Joseph, the security director. Each of them had been on the safety committee for a minimum of a year. A feW, such as Abigail and Joseph, had been on it since its inception eight inspiring views. It was 9 A.M. On a Tuesday morning and the safety committee had gathered for years ago. "Victoria, why don't you explain to Ryan and Brianna the four functions that we serve as a security committee," Abigail suggested. Victoria smiled as if the two were VIP guests and pointed to the orientation nacket in front of them. "You'll find it all in your booklets, but in brief, we fulfill four very important purposes. First, we emphasize prevention by working together to identify hazards in each of our departments through safety inspections. Second, we are all conduits of safety information to and from this committee and our respective departments. Third, we act to create an awareness of safety issues in the hotel. Finally, we investigate accidents as they occur." "Most of the hazard identification has been done," Jack said. "But new hazards are constantly being created and often the procedures we've put in place to protect people get bypassed. We'll show you how to do an inspection, what to look for, and what constitutes a hazard. After this meeting is over, you can accompany me as I do my weekly inspection of the kitchen. Abigail will then work with you to develop checklists for each of your areas." "The things you find on your inspection can help you fulfill our second purpose," Abigail said. "You can let us know what hazards we need to deal with, and you can let precautions exist. This also helps create a greater awareness of safety at the resort. What sort of things come immediately to mind when you think about the safety information that all employees need to know?" %3D your CO-workers know what hazards exist and why certain safety laundry," Ryan answered. "OSHA requires that everyone know where an MSDS is for each chemical. They're also very useful for knowing what sort of personal protective equipment should be worn when handling each chemical. I know I use Well, certainly the Material Safety Data Sheets for all the chemicals in the them a lot." "Good," Abigail said. "What about you, Brianna? What sort of safety information do the administrative employees need to know?" "That's a tough one, and one I've been thinking about since I was asked tel on the committee. There just aren't a lot of hazards in the office-unless vou code paper cuts," Brianna said, ending with a chuckle. "Actually, you might be surprised at the hazards an office can present," Victoria said. "Two years ago, I would have agreed with you. But there are little things that people forget about when they're in a hurry that have the potential to cause great harm. File cabinets with a lot of files need to be secured so they don't tin over. People leave drawers open and then trip over them. Worse, you see people standing on chairs with wheels to reach things on shelves. Those are just a few of the hazards that your department might have to deal with." "You're right," Brianna said, nodding thoughtfully. "Just yesterday our accounting clerk was cussing because she had tripped on a dangling mouse cord." "It's the accident investigation aspect that we're going to concentrate on today," said Joseph, the security director. "It's the duty that requires the greatest amount of observation and judgment on your part-and also the duty that can be most critical in helping prevent any accident from occurring more than once. When investigating a scene, you want to look for unsafe acts and unsafe code, tions. Unsafe conditions can be corrected by making a physical change to the cess or area, usually through the generation of a work order. Unsafe acts mu pro- corrected with additional training or by changing the way that the job is done Tony opened up his folder and handed Ryan and Brianna a blank acd investigation form. "We're going to do a miniature case study. It's one that we've put together based on an accident that actually happened a few years ago at the resort and one that is the type that could happen any day. We'll describe the accident and then discuss the sorts of questions that you should ask when you arrive at the scene You can then practice filling out the sheet based on the described scenario." "The scenario starts with you getting a call to the banquet department," began Rachel. "One of the servers from the Sea Urchin Lounge was drafted to help with a banquet after she finished her eight-hour shift at the lounge. She's fallen and is complaining of leg and back pains." Jennifer picked up the story. "You arrive on the scene. She's in a back-of-the- house hallway sitting on the floor, leaning up against the wall. One of the server assistants is picking up the dishes that fell off the tray that the server-we'll call her Jasmine-was carrying. Another employee is drying a spot of water on the floor. What sort of things are you going to look for right away? Ask questions and we'll answer according to what you see." "How many dishes was she carrying?" Brianna asked. "A lot. Without taking time to count them, you can tell that the large tray was pretty full and she was probably carrying around thirty-five pounds of dirty dishes," Jennifer responded. "Thirty-five pounds?" Ryan asked. "Was her vision obstructed?" "Probably," Jennifer said. "That's a question that you'll have to ask her directly, but you think it likely." "Should she have been carrying the tray? If she was going down a hallway, then it was probably some distance to be carrying a tray of dirty dishes. They can be awkward to carry. Shouldn't she have been using a cart of some type?" "Very good. She was carrying the tray for about 300 feet when she fell," Abi- gail said. "What else do you look for?" What about her shoes?" asked Brianna. "Are they in good shape, are they working shoes?" "Her heels are very worn-she's worked in them for a long time. You can even o the nails on her heel," Rachel said. "You also notice that there's the sheet to a pat of butter that is sticking to one of her shoes." "Should she really have been working? Did she get a rest after her eight-hour shift? Maybe she's fatigued." "What is the lighting like?" Ryan asked. Joseph responded, "The lights are on, but you notice that two of the fluorescent tubes have burned out and things are a little dimmer than they should be." "What about the surface of the floor?" Brianna asked. "Is it carpet? Tile? Is it level or is it a ramp?" "And how close to the door was she when she fell? Is there any chance that she might have been hit by the door?" The questions continued as the safety committee worked their way through the case, guiding the two new members into fully exploring the scene. Two weeks later, Ryan had just finished programming the dilution levels for the new detergent they were using for table linens. He grabbed his clipboard to record the amounts when he noticed that Morgan, a new laundry attendant, was pouring bleach into the spotter at a table in the middle of the laundry room-and that she was wearing neither gloves, goggles, nor an apron. Just as he was about to call out to her, Kyle, another laundry attendant who was pulling out a cart filled with dirty guest room towels, backed into Morgan. She stumbled forward and the bleach she was pouring splashed into her eyes.

Questions here:

1. What factors contribute to the effectiveness of the safety committee of Seven Bungalows Resort?

2. Based on the description of the laundry incident, list the observations and questions that would provide information for completing an accident investigation from.

3. What items would go on an accident report checklist?