Introduction
The Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of service hotels and resorts that is under the flagship of the Hilton Worldwide. The company has over 530 Hilton branded hotels in close to 78 countries in six continents. The Hilton Hotels has been an industry leader in the hotel industry and continues to enjoy a huge market advantage in all countries that the hotels are in operation. The company is known for its quality service and its high-end customers. The chain of hotels has heavily invested in its premises and its staff to ensure that they offer quality service to their clientele and continue to attract more customers to their business. However, like any other business, the chain of hotels is always under the threat of certain risks and security vulnerabilities that may result in losses for the company, injuries to the employees and customers and other structural damages. All hotels, regardless of their size, are subject to basic security vulnerabilities that may impact the business negatively (Blumenkrantz, 4). The damage of security vulnerabilities is always measurable in terms of the financial costs, and the probability of different attacks can be estimated based on the history of the previous attacks. The hotel industry grapples with a number of security vulnerabilities that include: terrorism, natural disasters (fire, earthquake, and power cuts), robbery by organized crime, theft of staff property, fraud, invasion of guest privacy and disputes between guests and staff which may lead to violence among many others (Blumenkrantz, 6). This paper aims to carry out a risk assessment for the Hilton Hotels using the three-step approach that involves the following steps: loss prevention survey, identifying vulnerabilities and determining the probability.
Loss Prevention Survey
The first step in security risk assessment is to identify the critical assets of the Hilton Hotels so as to know how to prevent losses (Brooksbank, 5). This step will involve the identifying of all those assets that require prevention to avoid losses in the event of threat/hazard. An asset can be defined as a resource that requires protection, which can either be tangible or intangible. Tangible assets for the Hilton Hotels include buildings, facilities, equipment, personnel, customers, operations and information. The intangible assets of the Hotels include the various processes and the company’s reputation. In order to achieve the greatest loss prevention at least cost, it is important to identify and prioritize a business’ critical assets. People are the greatest assets to the Hilton Hotels. These include the customers, staff and other personnel that include the security details and sub-ordinate members. All prevention measures should mainly be focused in protection of this critical asset because it is the backbone of the business. Since the Hilton Hotels are in the service industry, more efforts should be focused at securing the lives of both the customers and the staff. The failure to protect lives may lead to losses to the company and may also damage its great reputation. The Hotel’s key infrastructure is another key component that would require the utmost protection. Hilton Hotels invest heavily in their infrastructure that includes the information systems, security equipment, kitchen equipment and all the other equipment they use to serve their customers with.
The protection of key assets plays an important role in the prevention and protection strategies that address the critical building systems and equipment, fire protection and electrical safety among many other things (Brooksbank, 10). Fire protection and prevention strategies may go a long way in protecting the various assets from the event of a fire explosion. The putting in place the various loss prevention strategies to a number of vulnerabilities would minimize the financial costs incurred by the Hotels in the event of a threat or a hazard.
Identifying Vulnerabilities
The second after carrying out a loss prevention survey is to identify the various vulnerabilities existent in the Hilton Hotels. The hotel industry grapples with a number of vulnerabilities that may greatly cripple the business and may lead to huge financial costs or even at worst the loss of lives (Landoll, 7). The identification of the vulnerabilities and carrying out a vulnerability assessment would go a long way in providing a basis for the determination the mitigation measures. The security survey process is usually carried out to identify the primary vulnerabilities in any given organization. The security survey process includes the following steps: planning and coordination, information collection, conduction of the survey, technical, procedural, and the production and dissemination of reports. The planning and coordination step identified the characteristics of the organization, inherent threats, and risk assessment. It is the phase that established the nature of the business, the critical assets and the various measures that have been put in place to secure the critical business assets. Information collection gathered information about the site details, geographical descriptions and the carious policies and plans that the Hilton Hotels have put in place to tackle the problem of security threats/risks.
The survey in itself identifies the various vulnerabilities in terms of the hotel equipment (lighting, buildings and fences among others) (Landoll, 13). This is the step that includes the sub-steps of the technical and procedural surveys. Under the technical step, information gathered related to the various systems put in place to secure the premises like for example protection from natural hazards and fire prevention. The procedural step, on the other hand, identified information related security management, information security, personnel security and access control. The last step of the survey process identifies the primary vulnerabilities present in the Hilton Hotels. A number of primary vulnerabilities were identified that included among their assaults, terrorism and fire among others; most of which would be discussed in detail below.
Assaults
All hotels face the multifaceted and extreme acute problem of assaults to hotel staff and customers. Hilton Hotels are no exemption. The vulnerability of the assaults can be viewed in terms of simple assault or aggravated assaults. Simple assault involves the threatening of assault or threatening to cause injury or harm while aggravated assault is the actual infliction of serious injury or harm. Assault can take place inside the hotel premises or on outside locations. Assaults may range from simple threats to more serious assaults such as rape. The most serious assaults which require the involvement of the police account for the majority of cases in the hotel where a security issue is concerned. Customers are particularly at a higher risk of assault due to their perceived high status in society and their accessibility. The staffs are not spared either as they are always victims of assault mainly from disgruntled customers who threaten employees with the word or at time's harm them. Assault may also include sexual assaults to the employees. Other areas within the hotels such as facility grounds, parking lots and streets surrounding the hotels offer potentially for assaults to occur. It is common in many of such hotels to recruit staff for the night shift because of the increased of assault. The night offers a precious time for assault on employees and late night customers. It is common for organizations to offer more patrol services and another measure that are put in place to ensure the security of both the customers and employee.
Terrorism
Terrorism is an issue of global concern given the rising number of terrorist groups (Brooksbank, 14). Countries that are at the risk of terrorist attacks also also pose pose risks to the customers and hotel staff. Hotels are at a higher risk of terrorist attacks because of the high number of people they hold at one time and the simple fact of the amount of money that exchanges hand in those hotels. Terrorist usually have different motives when carrying out the attacks. The vulnerability of terrorist attacks is real and would lead to damage of the hotels’ premises and loss/injury of lives. The actions of securing the hotels should be based on planning and the nature of information that is being disseminated regarding the terrorist attacks.
Robbery/Burglary
The Hilton Hotels stand in the threat of robberies by organized crime and burglaries. These tow security vulnerabilities may lead to loss of by the hotels, staff and employees. Cases of burglary and robbery have been reported all over the world. Hotels are prime targets for robbery and burglary given the high number of clients they serve and the perceived high social status of the clients. There are numerous targets for robberies such as the bars, lodges and different offices such as the accounts department or sales. Robbery and burglary mainly target money, computer equipment and other expensive materials that the robbers may lay their answers. Any place in the whole hotels where cash is store, whether in large amounts or small amounts, is vulnerable to robbery/burglary. Some of the areas of the hotels that may be targeted by robbers and buglers are the store rooms, different offices, work areas, lodges and different offices.
Fire/Explosion
Fire is common security vulnerability in most hotels. Given the activities taking place in the hotel such as the cooking activities, there is always a high risk of fire that may not only bring property damage but may also cause human suffering, injury and in worst cases death. Arson can also occur as a case of disgruntled employees or ex-employees who display their anger with the hospital management through such acts. Many rooms could be targets for arson attacks and could greatly be affected by fire. Firefighting equipment should be installed to ensure that the premises are secured and ready for any natural occurrence.
Theft
The theft or pilferage of supplies, equipment and personal property for both the personnel and staff is a reality for many businesses in the hospitality industry. The Hilton Hotels are particularly vulnerable to theft because of their prime locations in the most developed cities in the countries that they operate in. Theft may be done by both outsiders and the employees of the organization as part of an inside job. The hotel equipment and personal property stand the high risk of theft. Technological gadgets and equipment such as computers, security cameras and personal properties such as phones have become prime targets for thieves over the recent years. It has become a recent trend that most of the theft cases reported is being carried out by employees of the organization given the measures that have been instituted to tackle the threat of outsiders. The employee thieves work every day hence creating a constant drain of the valuable hotel resources as opposed to the outsiders who may carry out the action as a one-time thing. A single employee can lead to a substantial loss in the organization, but the biggest magnitude of the losses comes from a number of employees who steal with only a slight chance of being caught. Institution of crime prevention measures such as the installation of the CCTV cameras can offer measures to curb with the increasing threat of theft.
Disturbances
Disturbances and disorderly conducts continue to be a security vulnerability to hotels. Hilton Hotels are secured in places that are at the risk of frequent disturbances and disorderly conducts from people that may disrupt the privacy of customers or may distract their activities that may require silence. Disturbances can involve either the employees, customers or outsiders. Disturbances and disorderly conducts can occur either within the premises or on outside facilities such as the parking lots, work areas, rest rooms, employee locker rooms, kitchens and bar areas among many other places. The bar areas are especially vulnerable to such incidents due to the presence of drunk patrons. Confrontations or disagreement may occur and may lead to disturbances that may become a security vulnerability for the hotels.
Determining Probability
The last step of the security risk assessment is to determine the probabilities of the primary vulnerabilities. Risk is the potential damage or loss of an asset and is measured based upon the value of the asset in relation to the threats and vulnerabilities that are associated with it (Watson, 3). The risk is based on the probability or the likelihood of the hazard/threat occurring and the consequences of the occurrence. A risk assessment analyses the probability of occurrence, asset value and the consequences of the occurrence to ascertain the level of risk of each asset against the applicable threat/hazard (Watson, 5).
The risk assessment method employed in this study was the identification of the asset value that needed protection then carrying out a threat assessment to identify and determine the threats and hazards that could cause harm to the hotel buildings and its inhabitants. After the assets and threats had been identified, the next step was to carry out a vulnerability assessment to determine the weaknesses that might be exploited by the threats. After identifying the assets, threats and carrying out vulnerability assessment, the level of risk was easily identified. From the risk assessment, it was identified that assault was the most probable vulnerability to the Hilton Hotels. Assaults can either be simple or aggravated. Aggravated assaults have the potential of causing serious injuries to the hotel staff or customers and destroy property worth millions. Assault is the most probable vulnerability and may occur as a result of disagreements in the hotel between customers and hotel staff, between customers or among the outsiders. Terrorism comes in second given its growing concern in the world. Although some countries where the Hilton Hotels are in operation have experienced little terrorist attacks, the threat of terrorist attacks cannot be ignored. Hilton Hotels are usually skyscrapers that could easily be targets for terrorists. The threat of the terrorists who are known to exist (e.g. Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab) is always real. The terrorists have the capabilities and history of destroying buildings, and carrying out hostile actions. The mitigation of the threat of a terrorist attack in a high occupancy building is a challenging and a daunting task, and it is often difficult to predict how, why and when the attacks may occur.
The threat of a fire explosion is third in terms of probability. Given the nature of events taking place in the hotels such as cooking, there is always a high risk of a fire explosion that may lead to substantial property losses and loss of lives or injuries. Robbery and burglary rank fourth in probability given that they are carried out by groups of people that take time to plan their actions. Organized crime can lead to property losses and damages and may also lead to injury to and loss of lives. Theft and disturbances come in at the fifth and sixth places respectively in terms of probability.
Conclusion
The above discussed vulnerabilities are the most likely to occur in Hilton Hotels. As a result, the Hotel Chain should put into place measures and organize its resources to ensure effective integrated security. As a result, we offer the following recommendations that would offer effective solutions to the vulnerabilities:
Deployment of Security Staff
Hilton Hotels should deploy maximum security personnel to curb the rising threats of assault, theft and disturbances. Having security personnel at designated places within the company premises and outside the hotels will minimize cases of assault, burglary/robbery, theft and disturbances. The hotels should deploy qualified security staff that can offer the best service possible.
Application of technology and integrated systems
Newer technologies like for example scanners and CCTV cameras can offer security solutions to a number of vulnerabilities such as terrorist attacks, robberies and the theft. These technologies have the capability of detecting aggressors and prompt the security personnel to apprehend them.
Application Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
This is a multidisciplinary approach that deters criminal behavior through environmental design (Watson, 7). This would include the physical design alteration of the premises to deter criminal behavior. Strategies that the hotels can be employed include natural surveillance and natural access control. Natural surveillance methods such as windows overlooking streets and leaving window shades open among others can increase the perception that aggressors can be seen. Natural access control systems limit the access by aggressors to enter the premises or access vulnerable areas.
Delivery of training and awareness initiatives
The Hilton Hotels should conduct trainings and awareness campaigns to their staff regarding on how to conduct themselves in the event of a threat, how to mitigate the threat and the various prevention measures. Emphasis should be placed on prevention measures. Trainings, for example, should be carried out on fire prevention and fire safety. Training should also focus on how to react in the event of an attack, evacuation measures, emergency responses and first aid measures.
Development of policies and procedures
The Hotel management should come up with elaborate policies that focus on an effective integrated security. Policies should focus on employee behavior and code of conduct, security measures, security personnel and response mechanisms. The hotels should also come up with an elaborate safety policy to curb the threats of the vulnerabilities.
Works Cited
Blumenkrantz, S. Personal and Organizational Security Handbook-P.o.s.h: State-of-the-art in the Security Field. Washington, D.C: Government Data Publications, 1985. Print.
Brooksbank, David. Security Manual. Burlington, VT: Gower, 2007. Internet resource.
Landoll, Douglas J. The Security Risk Assessment Handbook: A Complete Guide for Performing Security Risk Assessments. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications, 2006. Print.
Watson, Scott A. The Art of War for Security Managers: 10 Steps to Enhancing Organizational Effectiveness. Amsterdam: Syngress, 2007. Internet resource.
