How CCTV Surveillance Protects Hotels and Hospitality Providers from Lawsuits

“Right from the time when someone enters a business premises till the time they leave, the business is held responsible for any kind of misshapen with them.” – This is not just a statement, but one of the biggest risks that all businesses have. In fact, the hotels and hospitality providers are mostly affected by this risk. If a customer or an employee gets hurt in the business premises, the business may have to go through the frustrating and lengthy litigation process.

These businesses need outdoor surveillance cameras since some cases of misshapenness are genuine while others are fake and hoax. Any business organization should be always prepared to bring out the truth, especially if it belongs to the hospitality industry. Proper evidence is required to check out the facts which can be provided by CCTV footages. This is the reason why outdoor surveillance cameras are often installed in the premises of hotels and hospitality providers.

Causes of Injury

These services are provided in different environments, such as swimming pools, fitness areas, dining halls, common areas and individual rooms. Each area has its own potential risks; for instance, guests can slip and fall near the swimming pool area if not properly maintained or they may get injured in the fitness area. Some of the most common causes of injury in these places are:

• Physical Attacks: Although the premises of hotel and hospitality providers are considered safe, in some crowded and low budget hotels, criminals may attack guests for their money. In these situations, the presence of outdoor surveillance cameras acts as an evidence against those criminals.
• Slips: Usually, the flooring is not similar in all areas of the premises. The guests being new generally do not pay much attention towards the uneven flooring and so they may slip and fall. Moreover, cracked flooring, worn-out carpets and wet floors are some of the major causes of slip and fall accidents.
• Broken Furniture: In order to save money, some hotels do in-house repair of furniture that broke down due to overuse. Because of its age and some guests’ weight, the furniture may collapse and injure the guests.

CCTV Ensures Hotels and Hospitality Providers are Protected from Lawsuits

The outdoor surveillance cameras record everything in real-time and this recording is stamped with date and time. This becomes a proof of evidence in determining whether the claims are genuine or fake. Sometimes, it happens that guests get injured by their own mistakes, such as because of being drunk or careless attitude. In such cases, the guests usually file a lawsuit against hotels and hospitality providers. Unfortunately, most of the cases result in favor of the guests because hotels do not have any evidence to defend themselves.

In cases of injuries borne on the property, CCTV ascertains whether the injury was because of misbehavior of the guest, or an accident, or the negligence of the business organization itself. Suppose a drunk guest was misbehaving with the decorations in the open area of the property and then they got injured. In such a case, they may blame the hotel authority and file a lawsuit against them. But if the hotel has CCTV recordings collected from the CCTV outdoor surveillance cameras, they can easily prove their innocence and huge compensation money can be saved this way.

There are some people who try to make some quick money by filing a fake lawsuit against hotels or hospitality providers.  It is commonly known that most slip and fall cases happen near the pool area. Over there, some guest may get injury by colliding with someone else and may complain that the injury was a result of the hotel’s negligence near the pool area. If outdoor surveillance cameras are installed in the premises, then by seeing the recording, the hotel authority can easily prove that the injury was nothing but a result of collision. But if there was no CCTV installed then a lawsuit could have swept away thousands or even millions from the hotel’s account.

CCTV cameras not only save businesses from lawsuits but also keep the guests tension-free at all times. The concerns of the guests regarding their expensive cars are automatically resolved when they see the parking area is monitored by outdoor surveillance cameras. Some businesses may not be too wealthy to appoint a security guard in every sensitive area of their premises, so going for CCTV cameras will be a good idea. It is a one-time investment that constraints the effort of opportunistic criminals.

Overall, surveillance by CCTV is a better solution for hotels and hospitality providers, as it helps in gaining the trust of people, better monitoring of premises and staying free from lawsuits.