In brief
A hotel works like several different workplaces under one roof. Back strain and chemicals in housekeeping, burns, cuts and gas in the kitchen, hot surfaces and entrapment in the laundry, chlorine at the pool, and electrical and height risks in technical services stand out. The emergency plan must cover not only employees but also guests in the building; the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire requires emergency lighting in hotels and two exits on every floor above a certain size, and a drill is carried out at least once a year.
Hotel workplace safety: several workplaces in one building
A hotel’s housekeeping works like a cleaning business, its kitchen like a catering business, its laundry like a small textile business and its technical service like a maintenance workshop. On top of this, all of them are in the same building as guests who do not know the building and who sleep there at night. Hotel workplace safety is therefore managed with a department-by-department risk assessment and an emergency plan that also takes guests into account.
In Bursa, city hotels operate all year round, while facilities in coastal districts such as Mudanya operate with seasonal peaks. Periods when seasonal and inexperienced staff start work at short notice are periods when the risk of induction training and pre-employment examinations slipping is high. The table below summarises hotel employee risks by department:
| Department | Main risks | Priority measures |
|---|---|---|
| Housekeeping | Bending and back strain in bed-making and bathroom cleaning, cleaning chemicals, needles and broken glass, slipping on wet floors | Suitable cleaning trolley, chemical dilution instructions, sharps container, non-slip shoes |
| Kitchen | Hot oil and steam burns, knives and slicers, gas leaks, slipping | Machine guards, gas detection and shut-off valve, suitable extinguisher, non-slip floor |
| Laundry | Hot surfaces of irons and calenders, hands caught in rollers, hot and humid environment, chemical dosing, carrying loads | Guards and emergency stop, ventilation, automatic dosing, trolleys |
| Pool | Gas release when chlorine and acid mix, chemical storage, slipping | Separate and labelled storage, dosing pump, ventilated plant room |
| Technical services | Electricity, work at height, boilers and pressure vessels, lift and roof work | Energy isolation and lockout, permit to work, periodic inspection |
Housekeeping: back, chemicals and sharps
A room attendant makes many beds and cleans many bathrooms in a shift; bending, reaching and lifting mattresses accumulate in the back and shoulders. The height of the cleaning trolley, arranging for heavy beds to be handled by two people or with raisable bed bases, and planning the number of rooms according to the workload are the first preventive steps.
The rule for chemicals is simple: bleach (hypochlorite) and acidic cleaners are never mixed, because the mixture releases toxic chlorine gas. Products are kept in their original, labelled packaging, the dilution ratio is written on the wall, and gloves and, where necessary, eye protection are used. A puncture-proof sharps container is provided for needles, razor blades and broken glass found in guest rooms; we explained what to do after a needlestick injury in our article on sharps injuries.
Housekeeping also has a direct effect on fire safety. Art. 50 of the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire requires the doors of hotel bedrooms opening onto an internal corridor to be fire-resistant for at least 30 minutes and fitted with self-closing devices. Wedging the room door open during cleaning removes this protection; when cleaning is finished, it should be checked that the door closes by itself.
Kitchen and laundry
In a hotel kitchen, burns, cuts and slips are the main hazards. Guards removed from mincers, slicers and dough machines for hygiene reasons lead to serious hand injuries; we covered this topic in our article on safety of food machinery. In kitchens using natural gas or LPG, gas detection, an automatic shut-off valve and hood maintenance are planned together. Water is not used on a hot oil fire; you can find which extinguisher suits which fire in our article on types of fire extinguisher, and extinguisher maintenance in our article on fire extinguisher inspection and refill intervals.
Hygiene training is also mandatory for kitchen, service and housekeeping staff: hotels, motels, guesthouses and lodging houses are explicitly within the scope of the Regulation on Hygiene Training, and a person without a certificate may not be employed in these workplaces. For details, see our article on the hygiene training certificate.
In the laundry, ironing presses and calender rollers carry the risk of hot surfaces and hands being caught; the basic rules are that guards are in place, the emergency stop is accessible and jammed laundry is not pulled out without stopping the machine. In laundries using a steam boiler, pay attention to the boiler’s periodic inspection: under the Work Equipment Regulation, periodic inspections of steam boilers will be carried out by equipment inspection bodies from 1 January 2027. For pressure vessels, see our article on pressure vessels and compressor tanks.
Pool and hotel technical services
In the pool plant room, the most serious risk is chlorinated products mixing with acid. Chemicals are stored in separate, labelled and ventilated areas; transfer and dosing are done by pump wherever possible, and only authorised and trained staff enter the plant room. Flooring and warning signs against slipping at the poolside should also be included in the risk assessment.
The hotel technical service team works with almost all of the building’s sources of hazard:
- Electricity: For work on panels and lighting, the rules of isolation, lockout and verifying the absence of voltage are applied; our article on the 5 safety rules in electrical work explains these steps.
- Work at height: Lobby lighting, facade and roof work require suitable platforms, scaffolding and fall arrest systems; see our article on work at height.
- Boiler room: Under Art. 54 of the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire (BYKHY), at least one 6 kg multi-purpose dry chemical powder extinguisher is kept in the boiler room, and in large boiler rooms a fire hose cabinet is also provided.
- Periodic inspections: Electrical installations and earthing, generators, fire installations, ventilation and air-conditioning installations, and boilers and pressure vessels are inspected once a year under Annex III unless the standard specifies a shorter period. Lifts are inspected under separate legislation.
The hotel emergency plan in a building with guests
The Regulation on Emergencies in Workplaces requires that, when determining the number of emergency teams, other persons present at the workplace be taken into account along with the number of employees, and that persons such as customers and visitors be informed about emergencies. In a hotel, these “other persons” are guests who do not know the building and whose number can be several times that of the employees. The hotel emergency plan should therefore answer the following questions:
- Who is there at night? Will a night-shift team limited to reception, security and the technical duty officer be enough to evacuate the floors? Assign support staff according to the shift pattern.
- How are guests alerted? In what order will the alarm, floor announcements and room telephones be used; in which languages will announcements be made?
- Who counts whom? How will the up-to-date occupancy list be obtained from reception for the head count at the assembly area?
- Which guests need help? Guests with reduced mobility, visual or hearing impairments are recorded at check-in, and who will help them during evacuation is decided in advance.
- How are power and gas cut off? The locations and responsible persons for the kitchen gas valve, the boiler room and the main electrical switch are written in the plan.
The BYKHY also sets some structural requirements specific to hotels: hotels with more than 20 beds in total or more than two storeys have at least 2 exits on every floor (Art. 50); emergency lighting is mandatory in hotels and must work for at least 60 minutes when normal lighting fails (Art. 72); and in hotels with a total enclosed area exceeding 10,000 m², fire evacuation drawings are kept at the building entrance where the fire brigade can easily reach them (Art. 7). The evacuation layout prepared as part of the emergency plan is also posted in places inside the building where it can easily be seen.
How is a hotel fire drill planned?
Under Art. 13 of the Regulation on Emergencies, a drill is carried out at least once a year; the date of the drill, the shortcomings observed and the arrangements to be made are recorded in a report, and the plan is updated according to these results. Ways to carry out a hotel fire drill without disturbing guest comfort are as follows:
- Plan the full evacuation drill for a low-occupancy period and inform guests in advance.
- In the high season, carry out department-based drills: a kitchen fire, the laundry, the boiler room and so on.
- Carry out a separate drill, or at least a tabletop exercise, for the night shift.
- Introduce staff starting at the beginning of the season to their emergency duties in the induction training of at least 2 hours delivered before they start work.
- In the post-drill report, record the time taken, the head count result and the problems; follow up corrective measures with an owner and a date. You can plan drill, periodic inspection and training dates around the start of the season by entering them into the OHS calendar tool.
For details of drill scenarios, see our articles on the emergency drill, the emergency plan guide for the sections of the plan, and earthquakes at work for the earthquake scenario. At Bursa Sistemer OSGB, we prepare department-based risk assessments for hotels under our occupational safety specialist service, and a plan and drill suited to a building with guests under our emergency plan service; for practical extinguishing training for staff, see our fire training page. Notes specific to service and retail businesses are on our office and retail page, and for businesses in Mudanya on our Mudanya OSGB page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the emergency plan in hotels also cover guests?
Yes. The Regulation on Emergencies requires other persons present at the workplace to be taken into account when determining teams, and customers and visitors to be informed about emergencies. In a hotel, this means alerting, evacuating and counting guests.
How often is a hotel fire drill carried out?
At least once a year. The drill is documented in a report and the plan is updated according to the shortcomings observed. Additional drills for the night shift and seasonal staff show that the plan also works under these conditions.
Is hygiene training mandatory for hotel employees?
Yes. The Regulation on Hygiene Training covers hotels, motels, guesthouses and lodging houses and states that persons without a certificate may not be employed in these workplaces. This training is an obligation separate from OHS training.
Which hotel departments are priority risk areas?
The kitchen (burns, cuts, gas), housekeeping (back strain, chemicals, sharps), the laundry (hot surfaces, entrapment), the pool plant room (chlorine gas) and technical services (electricity, work at height) are the priority areas. Each should be treated as a separate section in the risk assessment.
A certified specialist matched to your hazard class: site inspections, approved logbook, training plan, annual plan and report follow-up.
Bursa SİSTEMER OSGB Technical Team — written from the field experience of our OHS specialists and workplace physicians. Legal information is valid as of the publication/update date; contact us for an assessment specific to your business.