Scenario: Mr. Jones is a corporate traveler on an expense account. Upon arrival after a long trip from Tokyo, Japan, he gets out of the airport shuttle. While walking towards the entrance to the hotel Mr. Jones trips over a pile of fresh cut branches near the front door that the grounds maintenance crew just trimmed. After picking himself up from the outside fall, jet lagged, and disgruntled, he walks into the front lobby and does not see the wet floor - he slips and lands hard on his back.

The front desk clerk, Sarah, rushes over and says, "Are you alright?" Mr. Jones says: "I appreciate that everyone is busy doing their jobs, but I've already fallen twice and I haven't even checked in yet." The front desk agent realizes the seriousness of this incident, and upgrades the guest to a suite. Just as Mr. Jones is going to his room, the front desk agent sees the bellman fall on the same wet floor. She goes over to him and asks if he is okay. Bellman: "I'm fine" and he limps away.

The front agent then calls the General Manager (GM) to report the incidents. Once in his suite, Mr. Jones enters his room, hungry and tired from his long journey. He discovers that the mini bar has not been restocked. He attempts to soak in the tub because he is hurting all over, but there is no soap or towels in the room.

He calls down to the front desk and asks for the items to be delivered and orders room service. Mr. Jones then waits in his room for housekeeping and for room service personnel to deliver the requested items. Meanwhile the GM is on the 22nd floor when he receives the call from the front desk agent.

As he takes the elevator to the lobby to meet with the front desk agent, he begins to think about the incidents briefly described to him over the phone. He suddenly realizes that this is the 3rd accident concerning one of his employees in the last month, not to mention the two accidents that have occurred to the same guest in one day.

Questions:

1.  Discuss what went wrong in this scenario.

2.  What should have been done to comply with OSHA regulations?

3.  How should the GM address all aspects of the situation?

Address: a) The employee incident;

b) The guest incidents and the way it was handled, and

c) The customer service and training issues.