Premise Hygiene and Cleanliness
Customers may be unable to avoid dropping foods and spilling drinks on the floors, keeping in mind that clubs are drinking sprees. Food droppings and drink spillage combined with other dirt make floors slippery and unsafe for clients and bar stewards (South Holland District Council, 2011). Dirty and slippery floors in nightclubs can be risky as they can potentially cause physical body injuries to consumers and bar workers and in some cases may cause fatalities when slip-offs are detrimental (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). The risk involved in dirty and slippery floors and walls is that nightclub or bar workers and customers may lose their balance and footing, thus leading to physical injuries such as cuts and other bodily injuries.
Physical injuries from slips, trips, and falls are controllable. Premise cleanliness is an important safety and risk management precaution strategy that reduces the chances of physical injuries resulting from bar trip-offs (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Since spills from drinks and food are common in nightclubs and bar premises, cleanliness is fundamental. Bar cleaners and attendants should ensure that bar walls, floors, and even tables and chairs are clean and dry. Cleaners and attendants should immediately clean up spillages and dirty during low foot traffic, and leave floors dry and clean (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). The management should provide safe cleaning measures and equipment to avoid risks through careless cleaning.
Premise Security
The most detrimental risk to the safety of consumers and nightclubs or bar workers is comprised of security from criminals, gunmen, terrorists, robbers, and gangsters. Invasion or attack from gunmen and criminals may lead to physical injuries, psychological trauma, and even fatalities to the staff and public (South Holland District Council, 2011). Staff and the public may incur sprains, fractures, cuts, bullet shots, trips, and other physical injuries following a brutal confrontation with criminals in nightclub premises (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). To avert such problems, proper lighting systems help staff to avoid ergonomics and lighted areas keep criminals scared. Properly lighted bar premises, security lights, emergency lights, and lights along the entrances enhance security within bars and nightclubs.
An effective modern security support tool is Closed-circuit television (CCTV), and having them integrated is equally important to reinforce security systems. Premise security must involve a security workforce (South Holland District Council, 2011). A bar or nightclub must have a security system and workforce with professional expertise. A bar or nightclub premise must have a highly trained and experienced security workforce, able to communicate well with an external security system such as a police department, and highly suave in handling security apparatus (South Holland District Council, 2011). The security personnel must be competent in carrying out entrance security checks, electronic frisking, observing CCTV systems, and handling internal aggression. The security staff should have the proper training to spot possible troubles and neutralize internal tense situations.
Health and Safety Policies
Bar workers and clients may be unaware of the dangers involved with the nightclub and bar settings and providing health and safety measures may adequately be paramount for risk management (South Holland District Council, 2011). Poor understanding of risks associated with bar premises and nightclub environment is a potential cause of unforeseen injuries and fatalities within drinking sprees. A nightclub or bar premise must have health and safety policies that act as safety guides for stewards or bar attendants while undertaking workplace operations (South Holland District Council, 2011). Policies concerning beer handling and serving, protective measures concerning bar operations, ways of dealing with risks, and means of avoiding risks are important for proper employee operations in the bars.
Health and policy framework helps bar stewards and attendants to understand the consequences associated with causing harm to clients, possible risks associated with bar workplaces, ways of strengthening individual risk assessment (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Staff must be aware of the rules and regulations governing workplace safety and precautions and the way they relate to national common laws. Bar management should consider training attendants and stewards of health and safety to have basic knowledge about potential bar and nightclub risks, ways to avert risky situations, and the national legal principles governing workplace malpractices (South Holland District Council, 2011). Proper understanding of health and safety policies enhances the effectiveness and competence of bar management and its workers on matters about risk management and bar safety measures.
Bar Staff Training
The best way to ensure one is free from risk is first understanding the risk itself, possible causes of that risk, and ways of averting the risk. Risk management begins with an individual understanding of forms of risks and potential remedies. Most of the bar attendants and stewards normally have little professional expertise in food and beverage safety (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Globally, there are no institutions offering training on bar and nightclub stewardship, and little knowledge of most workers associated with bar operations and associated risks is a potential cause of elevated hazards in bars and nightclubs. Unprofessional steward practices, little knowledge about potential nightclub risks, poor knowledge about bar service procedures, and low awareness about personal workplace responsibilities are potential causes of unintended bar hazards.
Workers are potential supporters of bar operations and are frequently around during the occurrence of hazards. Workplace training is an endless process that enhances the effectiveness of workers in their professional undertakings. Bar and nightclub management should understand the importance of training bar stewards and attendants on risk management, workplace safety, proper work practices, and the importance of promoting good practices. Bar staff should receive proper training concerning their operational responsibilities to elevate their proficiency in bar operations and good workplace activities (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Through proper training on professional responsibilities, inclusive of training on workplace safety and health precautions, bar premises, and nightclubs, remain professionally equipped to manage and avert risks.
Proper Premise Layout
A significant cause of bar risks is its equipment arrangement. The arrangement or layout of bars and nightclubs can be a probable cause of unintended accidents and fatalities to consumers and workers (South Holland District Council, 2011). Misplaced stools, chairs, tables, beer bottles, and other bar equipment are potential causes of risks associated with nightclubs and bar zones. Improper bar arrangement or layout may potentially cause physical fractures, falls, and sprains since they cause overcrowding and affect consumer footing (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Some bar apparatus and decoration equipment may be flammable, tables may have sharp edges, stools/chairs may be broken, and wooden stairs may be weak. The Bar risk management team and supervisors should engage in assisting workers to arrange the premises orderly, spaciously, and in accordance with ergonomics principles.
Bar and nightclub premises should have comfortable chairs and tables properly arranged, risky equipment safely stored, well-designed doors and entrances to minimize injuries associated with poor premise arrangement. The arrangement of tables and chairs should take into consideration the foot traffic areas to avoid causing trips and slips among bartenders and consumers. Placing precautions on broken or damaged facilities before removing them is an important strategy to avert risks associated with the improper premise arrangement (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Adequate ventilation, emergency doors, temperature regulators, first aid kits, carpets, and emergency control equipment should be an inconvenient arrangement to reduce the severance of hazards resulting from the poor physical layout of a bar or nightclub. Consumers and workers must be aware of the equipment that are essential for their safety.
Structural Control Measures
Bar and nightclub buildings can be safe or unsafe depending on a number of structural factors that contribute to the occurrence of hazards. The safety of a bar premise largely depends on its location and structural arrangement. Bar staff and customers may incur injuries due to complete collapse or a partial crumple of building structures that may cause detrimental injuries and fatalities (South Holland District Council, 2011). Malfunctioning structures may propel the occurrence of tension and insecurity among clients and workers. During the development, designing, and construction of bar premises, the management team should consider engaging competent engineers and constructors, with adequate experience in interior designing and commercial building construction (South Holland District Council, 2011). Strong stairs, floors, and walls provide safety against unforeseen physical injuries and fatalities to clients and workers.
Nightclubs and bars are lucrative businesses and frequently undergo regular redesigning and restructuring of premises to maintain their attractiveness to the quality demanding clients. Nightclubs and bars undergo reconstruction of accommodation places, dance floors, and food preparation areas to maintain a good reputation from clients (South Holland District Council, 2011). During repairs and structural redesigning, constructors should be aware of the risks associated with mishandling equipment and always keep precaution notices to keep consumers and staff aware of the construction progress (South Holland District Council, 2011). Bar owners must be aware of the changes underway, the number of places involves in the changes, and the redesigning process to avert risks associated with unintended injuries resulting from premise construction practices.
Regular Premise Monitoring Practices
Risks are normally recurring and as long as bar operational activities involve human activities that cause or trigger the occurrence of hazards, regular monitoring, and evaluation of bar and nightclub premises is imperative (South Holland District Council, 2011). Leisure places such as drinking sprees must always be safe as hazards scare away consumers. Persistent occurrences of hazards normally ruin the reputation of bars as leisure places. Managers may and risk management systems and managers may be too busy to counter all risk management issues and set up an independent security appraisal team may be important (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Employees in busy recreational places such as bars and nightclubs normally commit workers with their assigned responsibilities.
Managers with different responsibilities may be incapable to oversee all bar or nightclub operations, including issues concerning nightclub safety, and hence setting up an independent security appraisal team may be appropriate (South Holland District Council, 2011). An appraisal team responsible for monitoring and assessing the condition of the security apparatus, security systems, the effectiveness of the security workforce, risky zones in the premises, would effectively manage risks. An effective independent risk appraisal team increases the effectiveness of risk management strategies and reduces the chances of occurrence of risks around bar premises (South Holland District Council, 2011). Early detection of the risk factors helps bar management to provide the most effective remedies.
Safety Support Tools
An important facet of security is a safety material that helps to minimize the possibilities of occurrence of risks to bar workers and even customers. Lack of safety tools leverages the intensity of the risks and possibilities of risk occurrence. Managers and bar owners should consider providing bar stewards and attendants with protective equipment to help them handle risky material in the workplace. Safe garments, appropriate shoes, and other safety wear may help to reduce chances of risk occurrence. To prevent cases of harm from fire breakout from electricity and other fire-related problems, it is important for management to integrate fire extinguishers and protective materials for use during fire hazards.
With modern technology, walkie-talkie information sharing systems, electric security alarms, eclectic detectors, and security grills fitted on windows and doors, are some of the most effective tools that risk management teams have identified as effective security enhancers (South Holland District Council, 2011). Tools that support security systems assist in maintaining the safety of the nightclubs and bar premises as they help in sending alerts to security personnel to respond to risky situations or assist in reducing the impact of an experienced risk (South Holland District Council, 2011). Manuals for handling apparatus, written guidelines for operating and equipment, and documented instructions for exercising a certain workplace duty such as beer line cleaning should be available to assist bartenders in their operations.
Premise Insurance Coverage
Risks are inevitable and sometimes not easily avertable depending on the factors and the nature of the hazard. They reappear with adverse effects to businesses and sometimes result in damages beyond recovering (South Holland District Council, 2011). Keeping in mind that bars and nightclubs are risky leisure places, with alcohol being a causative agent of hazard, it is important for bar owners to reconsider the importance of business insurance covers (South Holland District Council, 2011). The best way to reduce the impact of a detrimental risk to an individual owner that may lead to a complete loss of a lucrative business venture such as bars and nightclubs is through risk-sharing, which risk insurance companies frequently guarantee.
Insured businesses are able to recover even after huge losses on their property or even finance, as insurance companies are capable of compensating business owners. Insurance coverage to a business normally alleviates owners from the loss impact and burden associated with a destructive hazard (South Holland District Council, 2011). So long the bar owners practice legitimate operations that have no association with the occurrence of a certain risk of a business, business owners are capable of recovering their businesses. More importantly, is that owners must be aware of the appropriate insurance companies and the right coverage for their business to ensure successful compensation.
References
Health and Safety Executive (2008). Example risk assessment for a nightclub. Web.
South Holland District Council (2011). Health and Safety in Public Houses. Web.