| dc.description.abstract | In Kenya, the hospitality industry is one of the main contributors to the nation’s economy. However, there is a lack of information available on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks in this industry. The main objective of this study was to carry out a risk assessment of the Sarova Stanley Hotel located in Nairobi, Kenya. The study sought to find out whether the Hotel had an effective Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS); to identify and map OHS hazards in the Hotel’s Kitchen, Food & Beverage (F&B) service, Housekeeping, Health Club; and Front Office Departments; and to carry out a risk assessment of these Front of House Departments. Stratified random sampling was used to collect data from 125 employees from the Kitchen (36), F&B (36), Housekeeping (30), Health Club (5) and Front Office (18) Departments using a semi-structured questionnaire. Hazards were identified and categorized using checklists from similar businesses, and the sample employees were asked to classify their frequency of occurrence as never, rarely, occasionally, frequently or very frequently. OHS risk types were classified into mild, moderate and major risks, and were assessed as low, medium, high or extreme level risks depending on their frequency of occurrence as per the employee survey. Direct observations of OHS processes and outcomes in the various Departments were made using a checklist. Key informant interviews were conducted with the Hotel General Manager, Hotel Nurse, members of the safety and health committee, Hotel Deputy Engineer, departmental managers, and human resources associates. Institutional documents which included clinical data on employee sick-offs, injuries and illnesses, and accident/incident reports were examined to complement the research findings. The study found out that the hotel had a safety and health policy statement, a newly formed safety and health committee, had carried out annual safety and health audits, had an emergency planning and preparedness system, and an accident/incident management system. Results from the employee survey revealed that the most frequently identified OHS hazards by Department as perceived by the employees were as follows: working overtime in the Kitchen (97%); extreme temperature in F&B service (92%); cleaning agents in Housekeeping (96%); bodily fluids in the Health Club (100%); and extreme temperature in the Front Office (89%). The risks that caused most concern to the respective employees by Department were: fatigue in the Kitchen (38% perceived it as high risk); dizziness in F&B service (33% perceived it as low risk); skin dermatitis in Housekeeping (55% perceived it as medium risk); infections in the Health Club (60% perceived it as medium risk); and fainting in the Front Office (29% perceived it as low risk). A Kruskal Wallis H test found that there were significant differences in the types of physical risks experienced amongst the 5 Departments (H(23.890)>Critical Value(9.488)). However no significant differences were found in the types of psychosocial risks experienced amongst them (H(6.391)<Critical Value(9.488)).
The study concluded that both physical and psychosocial hazards and associated risks are experienced in the 5 Front of House Departments; therefore hotels such as the one studied should not be regarded as ‘low-risk’ work environments. In spite of an OSHMS at the Hotel, the numbers of annual accidents and incidences have remained on average the same. This may be due to inadequate implementation of the OSHMS and DOSHS audit recommendations, such as training and awareness creation of the employees regarding OHS. There is therefore need for the Hotel to strengthen its OSHMS to reduce the number of hazards and associated risks identified in this study, as it is clear that OHS is regarded as a non-core business issue in spite of the international trends and best practices. Therefore, to improve effectiveness, the study recommends the Sarova Stanley Hotel develop more effective monitoring and evaluation of their OSHMS by fully operationalizing its safety and health committee; and carrying out periodic risk assessments of the entire hotel operations and implementing recommendations thereof | en_US |
