Where industry experts agree is that training staff to cope with fire is a hotel’s best route to prevent and control outbreak.
In the case of The Address fire, Dubai Civil Defence were already present in Downtown Dubai from 2pm the same day, due to the fireworks scheduled at midnight. This may have saved time and lives. Not all misfortunes can be so fortuitously timed. The point made by security experts is: staff must be trained to conduct rapid evacuation themselves.
“If you have staff ready in such emergencies, and can react, and respond in time, this will minimise the number of accidents, and the number of lives lost in an emergency,” explained Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay director of safety and loss prevention Wael Nahtay.
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Both Nahtay, and Kempinski Ajman director of security Essam Samadoney confirmed that hotels ought to conduct full fire drills twice a year, where all staff and all hotel guests are evacuated.
Some hotels, Nahtay added, want to avoid the disruption this may be deemed to cause guests. Both Nahtay and Samadoney are firm that this is counter-productive in terms of guest confidence in the hotel. “In cases where the hotel is busy all year, sometimes the management will decide to do a drill only once a year,” said Nahtay.
He added: “One time is not enough. Guests appreciate participating in a drill. It means guests know, this hotel is safe and they need to stay in this hotel.”
At Kempinski properties worldwide, Samadoney added, the hotel group responds to events such as The Address fire, not by changing safety policies, but by making sure all staff are refreshed on current procedures. “Just to confirm that all the team members and all the departments know important safety procedures, and take the training seriously.”
Additional measures include having up to 25% of staff trained in first aid and CPR. Also flagged is the necessity of civil defence training for 25% of staff. For example, the new Westin Doha Hotel & Spa has created its own ‘fire brigade’, comprised of hotel staff members from across departments. “We hold regular training for all associates of the hotel. These processes allow us to ensure everyone always knows what to do in case of an emergency,” the hotel’s director of engineering Pedro Cristino told Hotelier Middle East.
Considering reports of faulty sprinklers (since refuted by an Emaar spokesperson), is fire-fighting equipment in hotels maintained and kept up to date?
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