Health and safety deficiencies in hotels and restaurants

Inspections carried out in 2007 by the National Labour Inspectorate revealed shortcomings in occupational safety and health in Slovakian hotels and restaurants, mainly concerning technical equipment, the provision of personal protective tools, training and safety management systems. Deficiencies were also found regarding employment contracts, remuneration, and working time and rest periods. In general, however, the situation has improved in the past two to three years.

Introduction

In 2007, the National Labour Inspectorate (Národný inšpektorát práce, NIP) implemented nationwide checks of working conditions in hotels, restaurants and catering facilities. The inspections were partly motivated by a recommendation from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) that greater attention should be paid to this economic sector. The organisations monitored have common characteristics such as: a high level of migrant labour, a high representation of women and juveniles, low qualification levels among the labour force, the potential occurrence of undeclared work – mainly involving seasonal operations – a lack of social dialogue, insufficient legal awareness among employers and employees, and a generally lower level of occupational safety and health (OSH).

A total of 44 labour inspectors carried out the checks in 119 facilities and detected 1,210 shortcomings. Inspections were performed according to a standard procedure designed by NIP. The procedure involved inspecting areas such as performance of overtime work, observance of the rest periods specified for shift works, the use of personal protective equipment, manual material handling and risk assessment systems. The facilities selected for inspection evenly covered the various types of premises – hotels, restaurants and catering facilities – as well as the regions of the country.

The quality of employment and working conditions was monitored from two perspectives: fulfilment of OSH requirements, for example the provision of personal protective equipment, and adherence to the legal labour and wage regulations. The objective of the inspections was not only to detect violations in the areas examined but also to provide assistance through the labour inspectorate’s free of charge counselling services. Weaknesses were more often detected in facilities with seasonal operations and a relatively poor financial performance.

Observance of OSH rules

Overall, 87.9% out of the total 1,210 shortcomings detected concerned breaches of OSH regulations. Some 31.2% of those OSH violations were found in the operation of specific technical equipment relating to electricity, lifting, pressure or gas. These mainly comprised the following:

• regular checks and tests were not performed within the defined deadlines;

• deficiencies found during checks and tests were not eliminated in time;

• operational documents were missing, such as manuals for machine operators.

The most common breaches concerning technical conditions were detected in electrical equipment. In some cases, technical equipment did not have instructions for use, and technical or mechanical protection against the unintentional insertion of hands into dangerous areas was missing. Another frequent problem was that the provision of personal protective working tools was inadequate, as either they had not been provided on the basis of an objective risk assessment, or they were not registered, or the employer did not pay sufficient attention to their protective function. Initial and regular training had not been implemented in some cases, or the obligatory knowledge check had not been conducted.

Out of the 1,210 shortcomings found, 375 (40.1%) were detected in the area of OSH management systems. The main problem was that the basic management documents were missing – these included documents on OSH policy, the organisational structure of OSH, the risk management system, procedures in case of occupational accident, and smoking bans at certain workplaces.

Adherence to labour and wage regulations

In the course of the inspection of adherence to legal labour regulations and methods of remuneration, 147 breaches were detected, representing 12.2% of the total number of detected shortcomings. Concerning the content of employment contracts and agreements, the following violations were detected:

• they did not include obligatory paragraphs required by the Labour Code;

• wage categories were not allocated to individual jobs;

• minimum wage requirements were improperly defined.

With regard to work organisation, the inspectors found deficiencies in the area of adherence to the legally defined rest breaks between two shifts and respect of the principles governing overtime work. Random checks had also been carried out in this area in individual facilities in previous years. However, in 2007 systematic checks were carried out at national level. A positive development was that breaches of the Act on undeclared work and undeclared employment have substantially declined, in comparison with previous years.

Commentary

Despite the various shortcomings revealed during the inspections, the overall OSH level and working conditions in hotels, restaurants and catering facilities have improved in the last two to three years. A competitive business environment demands the updating of technical equipment and facilities, which also means a better OSH level for employees. The existence of labour risk factors, physical strain and monotonous work has thus declined. The expansion of external professional services in the area of OSH, used mainly by smaller organisations, has contributed to this positive development.

Hatina Teodor, Institute for Labour and Family Research