Training staff to cope with emergencies related to fire and security has become one of the hottest topics in the hospitality industry.
In a recent radio interview with local station Dubai Eye, Emirates Civil Defence Academy engineer Aiad Mushaikh credited staff at The Address Downtown Hotel for the efficient evacuation of the hotel during the fire on December 31 2015.
According to reports, while the blaze broke out by 9.30pm on the night, the hotel had been fully evacuated by approximately 10pm that evening.
In the radio interview, Mushaikh has stressed the importance hotel staff play in safely and swiftly evacuating a property in case of fire.
“We train around 500 civilians a day on how to successfully evacuate people. With big establishments such as a hotels or companies that have a large number of employees, we do a drill after the training. [For us] the most important thing is the people and their lives."
“We have daily classes in three languages: Arabic, English and Urdu. We will be adding another two languages Hindi and Tagalog to cover all the staff and people living in Dubai. While renewing your trade license it is mandatory for hotels and establishments to train part of their staff in fire safety and extinguishing.”
| Advertisement |
Hotel employees, he added, should be equipped with basic firefighting skills to put out minor fires, as many emergencies can be prevented if people know what to do in the early stages of a blaze.
Hotel security officers across the region are largely in agreement with Mushaikh’s statement on staff training. Several hoteliers have stated that staff training is the most important factor to focus on when ensuring the fire-safety of a hotel.
Discussing fire safety with Hotelier Middle East (full interview to appear in the February 2016 issue), Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay director of safety and loss prevention Wael Nahtay told us: “The most important thing to take care of is training. If you have staff that are ready in such emergencies, and can react, and respond on time, this will minimise the number of accidents, and the number of lives lost in an emergency.”
Regarding safety policies within the Rezidor Hotel Group, vice president for corporate safety and security Paul Moxness explained to Hotelier Middle East how the company’s safety programme is planned: “Our programme is built on what we call ‘Four Cornerstones’: guest safety and security, employee safety and security, fire safety and operational security. It is also the area of hotel safety and security that is most regulated in most countries so also from a legal compliance point of view it needs our extra attention.
“Our safety, security self-assessment tool which is made freely available to every hotel in the Carlson Rezidor portfolio regardless of location or affiliation is divided into the same four cornerstone sections with one section being released each quarter of the year. The fire safety section includes everything from internal and external inspections, equipment, escape routes, extinguishing, training and avoiding common ignition sources etc. By using the tool hotels can document that they are proactively reviewing, revising and improving their fire safety programmes on a regular basis."
In emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa, more detailed guidance has been developed and provided to hotels to assist them with their fire safety programmes.
The authorities are still investigating the cause, with a report due before the end of the month. Property owner Emaar has insisted it adheres to all fire safety standards and that its systems are regularly tested by third-party entities.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
