Are Your Hotels Prepared to Meet Panic Button Deadlines?

Hotel employees working in guest rooms are often required to work alone and are often isolated from the rest of their teams, as a result they are vulnerable to harassment and assaults.  A recent study found that 58% of women working within the Hospitality Industry were victims of sexual harassment or assault while at work.  As a response, states and local municipalities have passed hotel panic button laws that require hotel employees to be provided with safety devices/panic buttons as a safety measure.

New Jersey, Washington, and Illinois have successfully passed hotel panic button legislation that require hotels within the states to provide employees with safety devices.  And ten cities, including Miami Beach and Los Angeles have also passed similar hotel panic button laws for hotels within their cities.  Other cities have also established panic button requirements as part of their union contract requirements and states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have pending legislation that is expected to become effective in 2023.  Hotels need to pay close attention to the panic button laws affecting their location, as each city and state has specific requirements and deadlines by which hotels are required to become complaint.

Major hotel brands like Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott International have also established panic button brand standard requirements as a part of the AHLA’s 5-Star promise.  These hotel brands have set deadlines for their properties to become compliant with hotel panic button requirements by 2023.  Hotels must act quickly in order to meet fast-approaching deadlines to adhere to panic button requirements.

What Should Hotels Look for In Panic Button Devices?

The right panic button technology can ensure that hotels meet all requirements, while providing a safer work environment for employees.  So, what should hotels look for when it comes to panic button technology?

Reliable Connectivity
Panic button signals should be detectable in all locations, reliable connectivity and complete coverage is essential in locating employees in distress.  There are hotel panic button solutions that combine Bluetooth, GPS, cellular LTE, and Wi-Fi to ensure reliable connectivity and prevent loss of signal in dead zone areas.

Wearable
Panic button devices should be wearable and easily accessible.  Panic buttons can be worn around the neck, they can be attached to belts or worn anywhere on the employee’s clothing that allows for easy access in the event of an emergency.

Battery Life
The battery life of hotel panic buttons is crucial, as employees will wear devices every day for the entirety of their shifts.  Panic buttons can be powered by rechargeable batteries, non-rechargeable batteries, or swappable devices.  Some panic button devices offer a battery life of 2 years and other solutions are rechargeable and don’t require batteries to be replaced.

Security
Hotels also need to ensure that there is no disruption of the signal to and from panic button devices.  Therefore, the hotel network must be secure, employee safety devices offer encryption on each device, as well as within the hotel network.  Panic button systems also have the ability to track specific computer IDs and can identify suspicious activities.

Alert Controls
Hotels need an easily managed panic button system that centralizes distress calls and allow security personnel to be immediately notified during emergencies.  Once panic button devices are activated, a widespread emergency alert should be sent out to the dispatch center in the hotel.  Hotel panic buttons can also be configured to send emergency alerts to predetermined emergency contacts or to local authorities.  All information and updates should be relayed in real time and should be updated if the employee in distress changes location.

Admin Portal
The admin portal monitors the connectivity status of every panic button device, their battery levels, the employees they are assigned to and also records a history log of all incidences.  A panic button system that allows hotels to efficiently manage all aspects of the employee safety system is important, especially for hotel brands with multiple locations and large amounts of employees.  There are hotel panic button systems that allow access to the admin portal from tablets and mobile devices, allowing for efficient management of all devices.