ENTRANCE
- Security employees must have been trained on COVID-19
- Temperature checks at the entrance of the hotel should be mandatory and if possible, disinfect walk-through gate be placed at the main entrance.
- Guests running a temperature of more than 98.6° F should be politely requested to return or guided to the nearest hospital/medical facility.
- Arrangements to be made for indicating social distancing, e.g. by marking the ground with adhesive tape and drawing lines in areas such as the reception desk or areas where crowds can be expected. Information brochures and notes are readily available to guests at the first touchpoint in order to familiarize themselves with the measures taken and practices adopted regarding health and hygiene in the hotel.
- Keep sanitizer for guests to use at the main entrance of the hotel.
- Provide a mask if a guest is not wearing one.
- Disinfect and clean guest luggage after informing the guests.
RECEPTION
- Prepare a mechanism for maintaining the record of guests and their health conditions.
- If the guest is arriving from restricted countries or regions, ensure that you have detailed information from the guest upfront before arrival or at the time of making the reservation.
- For all pre-booked guests, all check-in formalities should be completed online to reduce contact and time at the front desk.
- Give safety, hygiene, and other instructions to the guests as per the new SOPs.
- Ensure markings on the floor at reception to maintain Social Distancing.
- Ensure staff members are wearing masks & gloves at all times.
- Keep sanitizer for guests to use at the reception counter.
- Keep paper, envelopes and all equipment sanitized.
- Keep swabs that Guests can use with sanitizer to clean their phone or credit cards.
- If dealing with cash money, ensure both employee and guest use hand sanitizer after each transaction.
GUEST ROOMS
- Due to Social Distancing norms, allocate alternate rooms or leave one room vacant in between, based on occupancy levels. If possible occupancy level may be kept at 75% or less.
- Guests’ instructions given at the reception should include instructions on how the rooms are sanitized at regular intervals.
- Place a tent card or post to say the room & other touchpoints have been sanitized.
- Ensure Housekeeping staff is wearing safety gear.
- Keep sanitizer at regular intervals in the corridors and small dispensers in the rooms.
- Laundry, room service instructions should be available in the room for the new SOPs being implemented.
- Room linen to be changed once in two days or ONLY on request; no turndown.
- Services to facilitate minimal contact.
ELEVATORS (WHERE APPLICABLE)
· Ensure that safety instructions, including the number of guests allowed at one time, are placed
inside the elevator and are easily visible; apologize for the delay and inconvenience caused to the guests due to the new safety norms.
· Ensure elevator floor buttons are regularly sanitized by the Housekeeping Associates.
· Keep floor & other areas of the elevators that can be touched sanitized.
· Install hand sanitizer dispensers in the elevators.
POOL AND GYM ETC. (WHERE APPLICABLE)
- Keep these areas closed till advised to open, as per government norms.
- Suggest alternate options/ drop open parks or walks which may be safer.
- Include Yoga sessions or health channels on in-house TV network for guests to follow
RESTAURANTS
- Reduce the number of tables to maintain Social Distancing norms.
- Seating for the tables to be reduced to half of capacity.
- Arrival instructions should explain to guests that they should come down to the restaurants only when a table is available to avoid crowding.
- Staff must be trained for minimal contact/communication during service.
- Ensure staff is wearing protective equipment like masks, gloves, and hairnets.
- Use disposable napkins which are pre-packed or individually packed serviettes.
- Keep sanitizer for guests and staff use on the reception counter.
- Keep swabs that guests can use with sanitizer to clean their cell phones or credit cards etc.
- The “Open Buffet arrangement” should have social distancing measures been taken to prevent hygiene and contamination.
- Disinfect each desk, equipment, and work area after the guest has moved out.
BUSINESS CENTERS (WHERE APPLICABLE)
- Keep enough space between work desks.
- Limit the number of guests in the area based on the maximum allowed.
- Disinfect each desk, equipment, and work area after the guest has moved out.
MEETINGS (WHERE APPLICABLE)
- In case guests require a meeting area, keep enough space between tables & chairs.
- Limit the number of guests in the area based on the maximum allowed.
- Disinfect each desk, equipment, and work area after the guest has moved out.
CHECK-OUT
- Create a separate check-out area if you think it’s getting overcrowded.
- Advise the guests to inform their check-out plans in advance so that bills can be made ready.
- Put floor markers as in case of check-in.
- Provide sanitizers and other swabs on the counter in case the guest requires them.
LOGGING IN AND OUT
- Request all employees to stay at home in case they have any symptoms of flu or are not feeling well.
- Ensure temperature check for all employees upon entering the premises of the hotel.
- Staff running temperature more than 98.6° F should be asked to return home.
KITCHEN
- Operational kitchens must be sanitized at regular intervals.
- Limit the number of staff to the minimum required; staff can be organized into teams to reduce interactions between teams.
- All staff should wear disposable masks, gloves, hairnets, and all other safety gear.
- Workstations should be placed in such a way that the staff is not facing each other and can maintain appropriate Social Distance.
- Run limited menus and ramp-up in a phased manner.
- You may tweak the menus to include more options of cooked food rather than raw food.
- Ensure proper cleaning of vegetables, fruits, meats, and all other materials that are required in the kitchens; use approved sanitizing agents to disinfect.
- All supplies need to be fully sanitized before entering the stores and refrigerators.
- Employees must report any situation in case there is suspicion of Covid-19 or signs of illness to the relevant manager.
EMPLOYEE DINING
- Shifts must be staggered to avoid cafeteria crowding.
- Cafeteria hours should be extended to allow smaller groups over a longer period of time – the usage should be restricted to 33%- 50% of its capacity at any given time.
STAFF UNIFORM
- Uniforms will need to be sanitized properly; steam press or heat iron can be used.
- Associates will be given masks and gloves as part of the uniform across all departments.
- Ensure that Associates are maintaining Social Distancing during the uniform exchange.
GUEST TRANSPORT (WHERE APPLICABLE)
- Ensure the driver is wearing protective gear such as a mask, gloves, etc.
- The vehicle should be disinfected with every arrival.
- Keep sanitizer for use by driver and guests in the vehicle.
- The driver should be instructed to limit conversations to a minimum.
- Guest instructions to be placed at the back seat; the information booklet must cover all the steps being taken by the hotel for safety and sanitization along with the operational norms for restaurants, room service, housekeeping & laundry procedures.
EMPLOYEE TRANSPORT (WHERE APPLICABLE)
- Temperature checkpoint for staff before boarding the bus/van, where transport is provided.
- Ensure that staff transport is organized in case public transport is not operating in your cities or is not safe.
- You may wish to have few staff members stay in the hotel, keeping in mind the Occupancy levels.
EMPLOYEES HEALTHCARE AND TRAINING
- Ensure regular health check-ups for employees; can have a well-equipped clinic operational within the hotel premises with a health partner.
- Have proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the Safety Team in case of any requirements, train the Safety Team to handle and wear disposable PPE equipment in case they have to evacuate a potential suspected case.
- Check all employee temperatures twice a day.
- HR Department should conduct sensitization classes for staff on upgraded hygiene standards; they can also have to visit faculty to update staff on standards.
- All employees must be well-informed about all COVID-related operating SOPs.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
- Waste Management protocol to be prepared by the hotel management and these measures should be recorded and checked by the relevant manager.
- Hotel management should appoint an officer to follow the entire process of waste management.
- Sanitation items and personal protection equipment {PPE) shall be properly and safely disposed of.
- The trash can and other cleaning equipment shall be periodically disinfected.
- Necessary cleaning and disinfection processes required to be carried out in the garbage rooms periodically.
OTHER GUIDELINES
- If possible work of staff members is arranged in similar shifts.
- All indoor areas such as entrance lobbies, corridors, and staircases, escalators, elevators, security guard booths, office rooms, meeting rooms, cafeteria should be mopped with a disinfectant with 1% sodium hypochlorite or phenolic disinfectants.
- Well mounted sanitizers/disinfectants shall be available for staff and visitors at prominent places such as reception, lobby, corridors, stair walls, elevators etc.
- For metallic surfaces like door handles, security locks, keys etc. 70% alcohol can be used to wipe down surfaces where the use of bleach is not suitable.
- Masks, hand disinfection, general area disinfection and cleaning materials should have certificates.
- Measures to be clearly defined in case an event of emergency occurs.
- Once in public places, the guests are advised, to follow the guidelines set by the Government for each sector or business.