In a venture estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars for tens of thousands employees, on Thursday the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and major hotel companies announced an initiative to improve employee safety and security.
Leaders from Marriott International, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham and Hyatt were on hand to launch the 5-Star Promise, a pledge to provide hotel employees across the U.S. with employee safety devices (ESDs) and commit to enhanced policies, trainings and resources that together are aimed at enhancing hotel safety, including preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault. (Click here to view individual hotel brand commitments.)
Deployment of ESDs is already underway. Hotel companies in several markets, including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Seattle, already provide ESDs to employees, and they are piloting devices in many other markets. Thursday’s announcement broadens this commitment to hotels across the country, with the goal of broad implementation by 2020.
Participating brands or properties will determine the best security devices based on the property’s layout and features, with a range of options including devices with loud noise-emitting features or emergency GPS tracking at the push of a handheld button. AHLA has convened a sourcing task force to assist companies in identifying the appropriate technology for their respective properties.
AHLA stated it will continue providing industry-wide training and materials on safety and security matters, and retain expert guidance, such as Tina Tchen, a partner at Buckley Sandler LLP and co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, to work with AHLA and its members on workplace diversity and safety matters.
“We are testing and deploying associate alert devices to enable hotel associates to press a button to summon help if they encounter a threatening situation,” said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International. “We are working toward deployment of the devices at both managed and franchised hotels in the United States and Canada through 2020 and we continue to explore safety technology solutions globally.”