Keeping hostel staff and guests safe
Trouble often shows warning signs before it starts. A few habits help your team see them, step in early and know exactly what to do when something goes wrong.
Working in hospitality is tiring, and some days it is also risky. Hostels and hotels welcome a steady flow of people they do not know, and now and then a situation turns tense, for guests and for staff. You cannot remove that risk completely, but you can lower it a long way. These are the measures that make the biggest difference.
Remember it can happen anywhere
Trouble does not only come from strangers, and it does not only happen in rough neighbourhoods or late at night. It can involve a regular guest as easily as a face you have never seen. Teams that accept this stay alert without becoming suspicious of everyone.
Train the team to spot the signs
Show staff how to handle situations that affect their own safety and the guests'. Teach them to step in calmly and early when they see suspicious behaviour, before it can escalate. Signs worth watching for include:
- Aggression, or a guest who sulks or loses their temper at check-in
- Open disregard for staff, house rules or authority
- Threatening or inappropriate remarks, to staff or to other guests
Decide with the team in advance who steps in, when to bring in a colleague and when to call the police. Nobody should have to make that decision alone in the moment.
Be someone your staff can talk to
Staff only report suspicious behaviour when they know it will be taken seriously. Be available, listen without brushing things off and act on what you hear. Write each incident down with the date, the time and the people involved, and leave a note on the booking so the next shift knows.
Write a safety plan
A written safety policy tells everyone what happens in a crisis, whether that is a violent person, a fire or a natural disaster. Cover who calls the emergency services, how the building is evacuated, where people gather and who checks that every guest is out. Go through it with each new team member and keep a copy at reception.
Use security cameras
Cameras at the entrances and in common areas show you what is happening around the property, and they put most people off causing trouble in the first place. Keep them out of rooms, dorms and bathrooms, tell guests they are there, and follow your local privacy rules on how long you keep the footage.
Keep quiet areas busy
Theft tends to happen where nobody is looking: an empty corridor, a back staircase, the luggage room at night. Walk those areas regularly on every shift. A thief is far less likely to take the risk in a place where staff pass by all the time.