123 Winner’s Road
New empire Town, PA 12345
John Shaky
1234, Inn Lane
Fun city, IN 12345
Dear Mr. Shaky:
As part of my responsibilities at the inn, I have taken time to inspect the inn’s building and its compound. The U.S. Department of labor (2009) states, “ managers must have a good knowledge of the hotel operations, including safety and security measures, repair and maintenance, and personell practice (p. 2009). I would like to bring to your attention a number of safety concerns based on my observations.
The inn’s kitchen roof has an advanced degree of charring around the exhaust vent, with the tarpaper roof pulled up at a corner. Birds that have made nests on it, and there are branches resting on it. Trees have grown untended, to the extent that they may cause power lines to entangle.
Their roots have grown dangerously close to water pipes. Cracks have formed on the building’s foundation, which is aggravated by a puddle of water pushing against the wall. I have observed that the windows have gaps between them and the window frames. The dining hall manager confirmed that negligence has been part of the inn’s management philosophy.
The poor state of maintenance exposes the inn to several risks. Fire may occur if there is entanglement of power lines by tree branches during strong winds. In addition, the inn will incur high repair and reconnection fees. This is because the utility provider expects clients to trim vegetation near power supply lines within their premises. The local authority will be justified to condemn the building if the foundation deteriorates any further.
The authority may also take issue with the roofs, which can cave in at any moment. The entire framework of the roof continues to weaken due to exposure to the elements. The presence of birds on it risks attracting snakes and other predators, which may end up inside the inn.
The overgrown roots threaten to destroy water pipes while the puddle sitting against the foundation not only weakens the foundation further, but also provides a breeding ground for pests and parasites. The Inn is currently spending a lot of money on energy because our air conditioning works through out. This is as a result of the spaces between the windows and the walls.
This state of disrepair and poor maintenance exposes us to litigation by our clients should any accident occur at the inn. O’Fallon and Rutherford (2010) warned that, “The primary legal dangers in both housekeeping and maintenance are related to negligence and involve lack of inspection and repair” (p. 209).
Based on the above, I would like to propose, as an emergency measure, that we urgently cut down unnecessary trees and trim the rest. This will not cost much yet it will secure the inn’s power and water supply while mitigating the safety risks and high repair costs the inn would incur in case of an accident.
Secondly, within the next one month, there is need to drain the puddle and repair the foundation to ensure that the structural integrity of the building remains sound. In addition, the inn needs to prepare plans to repair the windows and the roof of the building within the same period.
Finally, my office will develop a long-term Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) plan for implementation by the maintenance department of the inn so that all sections of the inn get attention when it is due. Lockyer (2007) states, “the process of maintenance management in a hotel is often a shared responsibility, although it may be allocated directly to the maintenance department” (p.144).
Yours sincerely,
General Manager, The Inn
References
Lockyer, T. L. G. (2007). The international hotel industry: Sustainable management. New York: Routledge.
O’Fallon, M. J. & Rutherford, D. G. (2010). Hotel management and operation. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
U.S. Department of Labor, (2009). Occupational outlook handbook 2009. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.