Bachelor of Applied Management Facilities Management Case Study

This case study examines a hotel's facilities management, focusing on a guest injury caused by hot water. The analysis identifies lapses in employee communication and negligence regarding safety protocols, particularly concerning hot water temperature and grab bar maintenance. The study emphasizes the importance of bathroom design features like grab bars, non-slip surfaces, and proper lighting to prevent injuries. Furthermore, it explores managerial practices within the maintenance department that complement good facility design, including observation, investment in safety improvements, and consistent maintenance with supervision. The case study highlights the need for proactive measures to enhance guest safety and satisfaction, emphasizing the role of both design and management in creating a secure and positive guest experience.

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CASE STUDY 1
SCENARIO: WE ARE IN HOT WATER NOW!

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What do you think were the lapse(s) on the part of the employees that
brought about this injury (situation) to the guest?
The first and foremost lapse on the part of the employees has been lack of communication
about the issue regarding availability of hot water in the guest room 933. The employees had
no clear information about what was going on and they discussed vaguely in front of a guest
on the front desk, the crisis should have been communicated within the employees or staffs at
the first place and then it should have also been informed to the guest who was allotted the
room (Hjalmarson, 2014). The second lapse was the carelessness of the staffs about the issue
which already generated many complaints before the mishap took place as per the case study.
The repeated complaints on lack of hot water availability made one of the employees to
increase the thermostat from 120 to 130 degree. He should have been more careful about the
requirement and apply practical knowledge in his action. It was required for Andre to
communicate his solution to everyone and ask the other staffs to take care of the guest on this
matter. Until he gave signal of successful attaching of the pipes and that was tested or
verified no guest should have been allowed to use the hot water service at all. He also failed
to notice the loose grab bar that made the situation worse when the incident took place (Afifi,
Al-Hussein & Bouferguene, 2015).
What are the bathroom facility design features that can help to
prevent this type of injuries? Explain
In order to make the bathroom facilities of increasing safety and satisfaction, it is important to
put attention on its design and keep in mind the following features:
Installation of Grab Bars: It is essential component helping one to move in or move out of
the tub in wet condition. It is very much needed for the elderly and old people. It helps one to
save himself from falling or hold it when falling and save from injuries. A safe bathroom
design mandatorily have grab bars installed and obviously of good quality. Moreover it
should be kept under supervision whether it has loosened or not. Quick fixing is required in
such situation (Capodaglio, 2014).

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Prevention of Hot water burns: Prevention of hot water burn is important for elderly and
old people who has thin skin, poor vision and delayed sense to understand the temperature of
the water (visitingangels.com, 2018). It is important to clearly label the hot water tap and
maintain a maximum temperature of 120 degree. It is important to keep attendants ready to
help the guests
Installation of non-slippery surfaces: It is important to keep the floors of bathroom
completely dry as it helps in reducing the risk of falling or slipping. Matte tiles need to be
installed in bathroom floor (healthmonitor.com, 2018). Anti slippery decals are needed to be
applied on the floor. The floor should be cleaned of soap, scattered rugs, water in order to
avoid tripping or falling.
Removal of obstacles: In order to reduce injuries in bathroom and evoke safety is very
important to design the furniture and keep minute attention in their installation or placements.
Lesser the congestion of things higher is the chance that no injury takes place (Zhou, Ye,
Pearce & Wu, 2014).
Reduction of over-exertion risk: As per the study made by CDC, overexertion is the second
most important reason causing bathroom injuries and in order to promote safe design this
needs to be addressed seriously. Installation of bathing seat which is secure and raised can
help one avoid the problems of over exertion (Capodaglio, 2014).
Improvement of accessibility: It is important to keep necessary items like shampoo, soap,
conditioner, towel etc within reach of people when the place is more prone to fall or slip. For
example these things need to be kept in shelf beside bath tub so that one can avoid teh risk of
falling in order to get them.
Improvement of visibility: A good feature of safe and secure bathroom is doing proper
lighting inside it (Junior, Cardoso & Neto, 2013). . This clears the vision of the people and
allow them to act properly even during night time and avoid fall, injury etc.

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What are some (at least three) of the managerial practices within the
Maintenance department which can complement a good facility
design discussed above, to create a high level of safety for guests in a
hotel
In order to make these facilities materialised in form of properly designed risk averse
bathroom, the management has to be alert and aware of the problems as well as the benefits
of it.
Observation and Identification: The management has to make close observation in order to
detect the problems in existing set up. This would also help in assessing the gap between
what should be the expected design and what is the present condition. This allow the manager
to find the need gap and take appropriate strategies to fix the problem immediately. Better
feature of bathroom would not only reduce risk of injuries but also would increase the
customer satisfaction ultimately boosting the review for the hotel.
Investment: Allocating funds for installing better and advanced bathroom facilities is
important step to materialise such set up. The management needs to keep handy good amount
of money in order to invest (Ireland, Kirkpatrick, Boblin & Robertson, 2013). Even if this
may seem in increased cost over revenue but over the period of time this would pay off as
less risk of injury, accidental events. It is important to plan for good features; facilities within
bathroom and make proper invest to install most advanced systems.
Maintenance and Supervision: It is very important for the management to maintain the
quality of the installed systems. Not only high investment and installation is enough. For that
regular supervision, cleaning is important so that good quality of service scan be delivered to
the guests. Moreover it is also important to keep assistance ready to fix any problem or
provide support in the time of emergency (Hjalmarson, 2014). A team of tech support needs
to be maintained by the management for such contingent period.

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Reference
(healthmonitor.com, (2018) 10 Top Tips for Bathroom Safety | Healthmonitor. Retrieved
from http://www.healthmonitor.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/basics-treatment/written-article/10-
top-tips-bathroom-safety Retrieved on 10 December 2018
Afifi, M., Al-Hussein, M., & Bouferguene, A. (2015). Geriatric bathroom design to minimize
risk of falling for older adults–a systematic review. European Geriatric
Medicine, 6(6), 598-603.
Capodaglio, E. M. (2014). Hospital bathroom ergonomics: Safety, usability and accessibility
issues. Clinical Nursing Studies, 2(4), 1.
Hjalmarson, J. (2014). Ergonomics at Home: Design for Safe Living and Home
Care (Doctoral dissertation, KTH Royal Institute of Technology).
Ireland, S., Kirkpatrick, H., Boblin, S., & Robertson, K. (2013). The real world journey of
implementing fall prevention best practices in three acute care hospitals: a case
study. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 10(2), 95-103.
Junior, V. H., Cardoso, J. L. C., & Neto, D. G. (2013). Injuries by marine and freshwater
stingrays: history, clinical aspects of the envenomations and current status of a
neglected problem in Brazil. Journal of venomous animals and toxins including
tropical diseases, 19(1), 16.
visitingangels.com, (2018) 7 Bathroom Safety Tips to Prevent Falls and Injuries.Retrieved
from https://www.visitingangels.com/knowledge-center/preparing-loved-ones/7-
bathroom-safety-tips-to-prevent-falls-and-injuries/106 Retrieved on 10 December
2018
Zhou, L., Ye, S., Pearce, P. L., & Wu, M. Y. (2014). Refreshing hotel satisfaction studies by
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38, 1-10.