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Ensuring safety and security in hostels

General Hostel Operations

Rucksack Brian started this discussion 10 years 11 months ago

Providing safe accommodation is the responsibility of all hostels. What steps can hostels take to ensure the safety and security of their guests and staff?

John Moriarty found this article: Hostel cleaner discharged from hospital following ‘unprovoked’ assault describing a recent incident where a housekeeper was stabbed by a guest.

The incident occurred at 11.30am yesterday at Isaacs Hostel on Frenchman’s Lane in Dublin with the man involved climbing onto the roof after the attack. Manager James Clancy said an international male guest, who is reported to have become “agitated” that morning, attacked the 35-year-old cleaner.

“The assault was unprovoked and occurred as the member of staff was cleaning dormitory accommodation,” he said today.

The housekeeper has been released from the hospital, and the attacker is still in police custody.

This kind of incident is extremely rare and beyond the control of the hostel, but it serves as a reminder of the very important issue of safety and security.

What reasonable steps can and should hostels take in order to protect their guests and staff? What kind of security measures do you have in your hostel?

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Rucksack Brian

10 years

We pay a private company that sends an emergency response team within minutes if we press a ‘panic button.’ This service could be used for anything that causes the staff to panic, from removing unwanted individuals to medical emergencies. We refer to them as the “Beat Squad” because they don’t have issues getting a little rough if needed. We’re actually required by law to contract with a company like this in the interest of safety.

Does anyone else have something like this?

We also have security cameras in our common areas. We don’t have a dedicated person to monitor them 24/7 though. In the case of an emergency they would probably be used more for verifying what happened AFTER an incident rather than responding to it unless someone happened to look at them at just the right time.

Does anyone train their staff on emergency response procedures? What is (or should be) included in that training? Is your team trained in First Aid, CPR, etc.?

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Rucksack Brian

10 years

Here is a previous post about the safety requirements of HI Ukraine: Interesting safety requirements introduced by hostels association

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greenhorn

10 years

I would install low flow fire sprinklers (so called residential)
also all materials in the room in USA
must be Fire Retardant (Window Treatments, Furniture & Decor, blinds ,curtains )

BUT HOW DO YOU REACT when facing crazy guy with knife or other weapon ?
I guess the best way is to avoid contact and evacuate and wait for trained police.

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christ1

10 years

We work to a schedule of preventive (both the cleaning staff and the duty staff have to carry out security and fire checks every hour, 24 hours per day 365 days per year, the manager/franchisee is required to check that these are carried out)and deterrent measures. (we have CCTV in all common areas including stairwells and exterior of the buildings, with a TV in the bar/common area displaying the camera footage, this is to show guests we are serious about their safety) To date we have had no major incidents and the minor issues have been resolved with the findings of our staff and the CCTV.

On a side issue, due to the humid climate here in Asia and our very strict laws on drugs, our staff also check for food being eaten in the sleeping areas(we do not want to encourage the local wild life, we also have certifications for Allergy Friendly Dormitories which would be affected or and lost) and the use of controled substances

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