Assessing the Awareness of Safety Rules in the Hospitality Industry in Ghana: A Case of Some Selected Hotels in the Accra Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The study sought to assess the awareness of safety rules in the hospitality industry in Ghana, with the search light on the operations of some ten Hotels in the Accra Metropolitan Area as well as the head office of the Ghana Tourist Authority. Among other objectives the study assessed the knowledge of management and employees concerning health and safety in the hotels, explored the existing rules and regulations regarding health and safety by management to protect employees, and examined the existing national policies on Health and safety in the hotel industry. In conducting the study, the researcher employed the purposive sampling technique to approach officials of the Ghana Tourist Authority as well as management members of the ten hotels for their views on health and safety. Random sampling technique was used to select respondents from the employees of the hotel. The questionnaire technique was adopted as the research instrument while Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to facilitate the analysis of the information captured on the field. Findings of the study indicated that management members of hotels are aware of the laws on health and safety practices that should be maintained in their hotels, such information has not been readily made available to the employees. The employees however are aware of their obligation to ensure that their places of work are healthy and safe. The study also discovered that the hotel has emergency exist, fire extinguishers, first aid box etc., which are used as strategies to combat eventualities such as fire outbreaks. It is recommended that owing to the challenges tourist board faces in sanctioning hotels that default in health and safety standards as a result of political interference, highly place politicians must be educated on the need to allow formalities to prevail so as to instill discipline in the hospitality industry. Ghana Tourist Authority was also advised to organise compulsory sensitization workshop on health and safety standards for hotel employees so as to step up their awareness in modern standards for running the hotel industry. The study concluded that although hotel managers and operators are mindful of the health and safety standards required of them, they hardly disseminate such information into their employees thereby keeping them in the dark about modern standards and the national policy on hotel safety standards.

Keywords: Health and safety rules, hotels, Ghana Tourist Authority, purposive and random sampling technique.