Three Ways To Avoid Premises Liability In Your Hotel Elevators

Every hotel manager needs to be cognizant of his or her guests' safety from the minute they arrive until they leave the premises. Not only do you want to keep your guests happy so that they can continue to frequent your hotel and post favorable reviews online, but you also want to avoid any personal injury suits. It's advantageous to think about different areas of your hotel in which injuries could occur, and then determine solutions for each potential item on this list. Your elevators are one area on which you should focus. Here are three ways to prevent premises liability injuries in the elevators.

Require Key Card Access

In some situations, you may have heard about unwanted individuals getting into commercial buildings in your area and assaulting or robbing people in elevators. You don't want such an issue to occur in your hotel, as you could almost certainly expect lawsuits from the victims. One simple way to keep unwanted people out of the elevators is to set them up so that they require key card access. In other words, the elevator won't open until the user swipes his or her room key. This will prevent any trespasses to your building from trying this ploy.

Improve The Flooring

Slip-and-fall injuries can also potentially occur in elevators, especially if you have a swimming pool in your hotel. After swimming, wet guests may ride the elevator back up to their rooms, leaving puddles on the floor. Because the elevator doesn't get much fresh air, these puddles can take a long time to dry. An unwitting guest could step into the elevator and slip on a puddle, resulting in a fall and an injury. Covering the elevator floors with absorbent mats or using a gritty paint or tile covering can lower this risk. Additionally, your maintenance department should frequently check on the condition of the elevators and clean up any water.

Monitor Security Footage

Every elevator in your hotel should be equipped with a security camera inside it, and you should routinely check to ensure that these cameras are in proper working order. It's a good idea to monitor this footage — perhaps you have a security officer on site who can look after this duty — and react quickly should anything appear suspicious. By taking these steps, your attorney will be able to argue against premises liability should someone sustain an injury and pursue legal action against your hotel.

For legal help, talk to a firm like The Bregman Law Firm, P.C.


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