Hospitality brings three working worlds together in one building: the kitchen, the dining room (front of house) and housekeeping or cleaning. Each has its own dangers. This course goes through them one by one. It is a complement to the basic occupational health and safety course, which explains the general concepts. They are not repeated here.
The legal basis
Ley 31/1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention (the Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Act) is the reference law. Its key ideas for this sector:
- The employer must assess the risks of every job (article 16) and plan measures to control them.
- It must inform workers about those risks (article 18) and give theoretical and practical training focused on the job (article 19), when hiring and when duties or equipment change.
- It must supply the protective equipment that is needed and provide health surveillance, which is voluntary except in certain cases (article 22).
- Workers must use properly machines and products, not disable protections and report immediately to their superior any dangerous situation (article 29).
If there is a serious and imminent risk, the worker may stop work and, if necessary, leave the workplace (article 21).
Rules that affect hospitality
Besides the law, several royal decrees (Reales Decretos, government regulations) apply every day in a restaurant or a hotel:
- Real Decreto 486/1997: workplaces. Floors, exits, temperature, tidiness and cleanliness.
- Real Decreto 487/1997: manual handling of loads.
- Real Decreto 374/2001: chemical agents, such as cleaning products.
- Real Decreto 773/1997: personal protective equipment (gloves, footwear, aprons).
- Real Decreto 1215/1997: work equipment, that is, machines such as the meat slicer or the mixer.
What usually happens in the sector
The INSST (Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work) points to the same groups of risk again and again in its material on hospitality and tourism:
- Burns and cuts in the kitchen.
- Falls on the same level and from a height.
- Overexertion when moving loads, crates, barrels and trolleys.
- Cleaning chemicals that irritate the skin and airways.
- Heat in the kitchen and cold in cold rooms.
- Pressure of pace, split shifts and dealing with customers.
The map of a premises
Before you start work, look around and find these things:
- Exits and the evacuation route.
- Fire extinguishers, the fire blanket and the main gas valve.
- The first-aid kit and the person who can give first aid.
- The safety data sheets of the cleaning products.
- The name of the person to tell about a danger.
How risks are assessed in a job
The assessment looks at the real task, not at the paper. For a kitchen, for example, it examines the floor, ventilation, machines, gas, heat, loads and work pace. For housekeeping, it examines the beds, postures, products and time per room. If the work changes, the assessment is reviewed.
You can help: when you see a task being done in a hurry and in a dangerous way, say so. That information is one of the best sources for the assessment.
Types of contract and seasons
Hospitality has a lot of temporary hiring and a lot of staff turnover in the high season. The law makes no distinction: a person on a two-month contract has the same rights to information and training as a permanent employee. Training comes before the work starts, not after something has already happened.
What this lesson does not change
This course does not replace your employer's training or the knowledge that comes from your risk assessment. What follows helps you understand better what your employer must explain to you and ask useful questions.