September October 2017

www.calodging.com September/October 2017 11 EVERY LODGING ESTABLISHMENT IS A MULTI-FACETED OPERATION, involving such functions as marketing and reservations, rooms division, HR, security, accounting, and housekeeping, among others. Two additional key functions are maintenance and engineering, without which no hotel can operate successfully. In large hotels, engineering and maintenance are often two separate functions with their own departments and personnel, while in smaller properties, these two functions are joined together and may involve only one or two individuals. For purposes of this article, we will refer to the engineering and maintenance functions collectively as “Engineering.” In smaller properties, Engineering may include the security function and be assigned to the same employee(s). Some properties assign other responsibilities to Engineering, such as compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some of the important tasks and responsibilities of Engineering are the following: • Engineering plays an important role in the security of a property. In coordination with the hotel’s security function—which in smaller properties may be one and the same and involve the same employee— engineering maintains the security devices and systems on the property. For example, regular elevator inspections and maintenance must be performed for continued licensed operation. Fire alarms and sprinklers will also require periodic testing and portable extinguishers will require recharging. Often, work of this type (e.g., elevator and fire system inspection/maintenance,) is “outsourced” to third party contractors. When this is done, hotels must remember the hotel is ultimately responsible for the successful performance of this work: if the third party contractors don’t do their work properly and someone is injured, the hotel is liable. It is therefore very important that hotels have contracts with these entities that include, among other things, appropriate language that obligates the third party to indemnify the hotel in such situations. Engineering should give high priority to any security or life-safety system or device in need of repair, maintenance, or replacement. In hotels where work orders are issued, the overprint “SECURITY PRIORITY” in red ink or security work orders printed on colored paper can be used to highlight urgency. Whenever a failure in the security systems or devices is detected, a work order form should be completed and immediately sent to the proper person for authorization and action. A copy of the work order form should also be provided to the security office (if there is one) for follow-up. • Engineering personnel may be called upon to react to various emergencies endangering the safety or security of a property’s guests or employees (e.g., bombs and bomb threats, fires, hurricanes and typhoons, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, blackouts, robberies, medical and dental emergencies, and terrorism.) The development of an emergency management program is key, and this includes proper implementation continues on page 12  