Case Study or Lodgian for John Liner Review

Introduction
by Peter Johnson

Managing risk in a company with multiple locations is a nearly impossible task. Keeping track of 50, 100, even a thousand locations, can be overwhelming. Insuring that workers are properly trained, communicating with those responsible for safety at remote locations, monitoring federal and state regulations, and analyzing reports and claims are just a few of the responsibilities of the risk manager.

While working as an insurance broker for Aon Risk Services, our department observed that for companies with multiple locations, the same loss control issues arose from company to company, regardless of the industry. Managing risk and safety became more complicated as the number of remote sites increased. When we'd visit risk managers at their corporate headquarters, everything was in place. They had all the proper safety manuals, training materials, videos, the latest computer software programs, etc. However, when we visited their companies' remote locations, it was usually a different story. In companies with numerous small-to-medium sized locations, such as in the food service and hospitality industries, the person coordinating the safety effort at the location was rarely a professional safety manager. Making sure the workplace was safe for employees and customers was just one of the myriad duties added on to his or her primary job. With so many federal, state, and municipal requirements, the safety coordinator was often unsure of exactly what was required to comply with all safety regulations.

Documentation was another problem. In many cases, there were no standardized forms for documenting meetings, inspections or actions needed to resolve issues. Each site did things its own way and paperwork would get lost in the shuffle between remote locations and the risk managers at headquarters.

In the traditional risk management solution, the typical approach is to hire a risk manager who will travel to each location, inspect the site and make recommendations to the local manager regarding changes that must be made to bring the site into compliance with safety regulations. This, however, creates a number of problems. First, it's very expensive to send someone to hundreds of locations nationwide or worldwide. Second, there's a large gap of time-possibly a year- between one visit and the next. Third, after recommendations are made, it's difficult to track whether those recommendations are actually implemented.

Another problem with the traditional risk management model is the timing of data analysis. Most risk managers, when considering where to allocate resources in the coming year, look to past loss reports from the previous year or quarter to see where problems existed. Time and money are then allocated to correct the situation and to prevent recurrence in the future. The problem with this method is that hazardous situations exist-or grow-in the time between discovery and correction. By the time a risk manager reviews loss reports, a hazardous situation may have resulted in numerous accidents and code citations. Risk managers were making decisions using dated information.

We saw a need for a tool that would allow risk managers to bring safety management into the present tense, something that would allow them to get an accurate picture of their company and its many satellite locations as they exist right now, not last quarter or last year.

The following case study looks at a company that uses the Internet-based risk management tool Safetylogic to solve many of the most common challenges faced by those who manage risks for organizations burdened with safety responsibilities at multiple locations.

CASE STUDY: LODGIAN

The Challenge of Multiple-Location Risk Management
Jeff Shearman is the director of risk management and safety for Lodgian, a hotel management company based in Atlanta that owns and operates 127 properties-mainly Holiday Inn and Marriott hotels-in 32 states. He and one assistant oversee the company's safety program, insurance placement, claims resolution and a multitude of other duties to mitigate risks throughout the company. His challenge: to coordinate safety programs in multiple locations, training and communicating with safety leaders at each, documenting and analyzing information and, of course, keeping track of "who's doing what by when." Add to this challenge the fact that he's on the road 90 percent of the time visiting hotel properties from Florida to Alaska.

Using Technology to Meet the Challenge
To meet this challenge, Shearman and his supervisors at Lodgian decide to make use of the latest technology.

After using the system for two years, Shearman has found it saves time and money. It frees him to devote more time to managing risks and less time juggling paperwork. The system helps him with all the major tasks of risk management: preparing safety training materials, conducting audits, creating and tracking action items, monitoring safety bulletins and running reports. Since Safetylogic is Internet-based, he can access the system 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the world.

And because it's Internet based, there are no compatibility problems with remote sites using different computer software or operating systems. This was especially helpful during a recent merger when Lodgian added a group of new properties that were using a different email system. "We were up and running while the email system was still being straightened out," Shearman said.

Safety Training
One of the primary functions of any risk manager is to make sure workers are properly trained to avoid accidents and to properly respond to hazards. Shearman says that using the Internet-based service has simplified the safety training process and saves a considerable amount of time.

Lodgian personnel responsible for safety at each location can select from hundreds of safety topics within the Safetylogic site or assign employees to individually complete online safety training courses. Bob Nolte, chief engineer for Holiday Inn Phoenix West, a Lodgian property, is responsible for safety and security at the hotel as well as general maintenance. He's been using the Safetylogic system for two years.

"It saves me a good 20 hours a month," he said. "With 144 rooms, a restaurant, a kitchen and a bar, I have to save every second I can."

Nolte uses the system to help him prepare for his monthly safety meetings. Lodgian requires that each property have a safety committee that meets once a month. Nolte is in charge of the safety committee at his hotel and he conducts the monthly meeting. His committee consists of 12 employees, one or two from each department-housekeeping, food & beverage, maintenance, etc.-who bring the information back to other employees in the department.

For Nolte, one of the most useful parts of Safetylogic has been its extensive training library. "Instead of spending a whole day preparing for my safety meeting, I can do it in a half hour," he said. In the past, Nolte said he researched topics at the library or would have OSHA send him materials to be used at safety committee meetings.

"This month, my topic is first aid," he said. "I can pull up 12 different library items on first aid and basically it prepares my meeting for me. All I have to do is print it off and take it to the meeting."

Documenting Safety Committee Meetings
The system also has helped in streamlining the process of documenting safety committee meetings after they've been completed. In the past, Nolte would take notes during the meeting, then go back to his workshop and type up the information on a typewriter. He created a form in which he noted attendance, when the meeting was held, the training materials used and new action items to be followed up on. He would then give the form to the general manager of the hotel, who would put it in a packet that was sent to headquarters each month.

Now, using Safetylogic, Nolte logs onto the Internet and enters meeting minutes directly into Lodgian's password-protected site. To note attendance, he simply places a check mark next to the names of committee members who attended.

Safety meeting minutes are instantly accessible to Shearman at headquarters or wherever else he accesses the site. When he travels from property to property he carries a laptop, so he can access Safetylogic via modem from his hotel room or through any office computer with Internet access. In the past, it could take two or three months before all 127 sets of safety committee minutes were received by Shearman and manually logged into the computer. "Now we can read the minutes as soon as they're entered," he said. "And we can track which location-and which employees at each location-have completed the training."

Storing the information online has reduced paperwork too. "Already this year we've saved half a filing cabinet because our safety meeting minutes are being maintained electronically," he said.

Targeting Safety Training by Region and Function
Because safety training isn't one-size-fits-all, training materials delivered via Safetylogic can be targeted to certain properties or to different employees at the same property. Shearman said the system works great for covering time-of-year hazards, which differ by region. For example, he recently suggested to the safety committee leaders at Lodgian's coastal hotels in the East and South that they conduct a session on hurricane preparedness. "Instead of us having to research the topic, compile it, copy it and send it to the properties, they can just pull it up in the system," he said. While those properties are covering hurricane preparedness, other locations can cover topics more appropriate to their region, such as heatstroke prevention for properties located in warm climates.

Shearman also stresses the importance of having training materials that are appropriate to job function. For example, in Safetylogic maintenance crews receive welding safety while the kitchen crews train for treatment of burns and cuts.

Audits and Inspections
Another major task for safety personnel that can be managed online in Safetylogic is conducting audits and self-inspections. Nolte uses the system's self-inspection forms to guide him when he conducts inspections around the hotel.

"If I want to inspect my pool area, I can go into the self-inspection section and pull down a check list that covers every aspect of pool safety and maintenance," he said. Although Nolte is a certified pool operator, he said the system would be great for persons less experienced. "If someone didn't know a darn thing about pool safety, they could print out the self-inspection sheet, inspect their pool, and if they repaired everything on the list they could be confident that it's up to OSHA standards." There's also an area in the system for recording the pool's chemical logs, such as chlorine, pH and water levels.

Nolte, who has worked in the hotel maintenance industry for more than 10 years, said that without guidance from a system like Safetylogic, hotels would have to rely on the experience of one of the maintenance people to correctly inspect the pool, or wait for a health inspector to come through to find things for them. "Sometimes the pool manufacturer might have a check list and the health department might have a check list, but they're all different-and you'd have to track them down first," he said.

Although Nolte uses a desktop computer in his workshop to enter the results of his inspections, the system is also compatible with pocket PCs, so information can be electronically collected and submitted directly into the system while conducting inspections in the field.

Tracking Bulletins
Nolte also frequently uses the system for keeping track of health department bulletins and food recalls. Instead of having to search for information, the system notifies him by email of current food alerts. "We have a restaurant and a bar so we need to keep up on food recalls," he said.

When he receives a food recall bulletin, he prints it out and takes a copy to the chef and the food & beverage director. Headquarters can track which locations have received and read the safety bulletins. "In the past, I guess they'd just have to take our word that we were doing our job correctly," Nolte said. "Now they can see that on this date I received a bulletin and printed it out. It's a good way for them to keep track of what I'm doing in the safety area."

Another feature of Safetylogic that saves time for Nolte is its collection of Material Safety Data Sheets required by law for all chemicals kept on the premises. "Before, if I bought a can of WD-40 I'd have to mail off to get a copy of the MSDS. Now I can print a copy and have it here in five minutes instead of two weeks," he said.

Online OSHA Log
The system also includes an online OSHA log, a legally binding document that is maintained in the client's secure storage area. Heather Mills, human resources director at Lodgian's Raleigh Meadows Holiday Inn in Chicago, is the designated Safetylogic user at her site and is responsible for correctly maintaining the OSHA log. "If there's ever any doubt whether an incident is an OSHA recordable incident, there's information in the system that will help," she said.

In the past, Mills would keep the logs at the hotel until the end of the month, then would either fax or mail a copy to headquarters. "It reduces the paper trail. Instead of mailing or faxing forms back and forth, you just go into the computer," she said. Having the information online allows headquarters to have up-to-the minute information on any OSHA recordable incidents throughout the company.

Running Reports
One of the most valuable features of Safetylogic is its ability to run comparison reports. The system automatically calculates such things as compliance percentages at individual locations, by region or company wide. "If common issues are found at different sites, we can address those issues," Shearman said. The reports allow him to make decisions based on up-to-the-minute information.

Shearman regularly uses the report function to keep track of which locations have completed their monthly safety meetings. There's also an action item report that shows action items that need follow-up for each and every hotel. The report lists the action required, to whom it was assigned, when it was assigned and the due date. When an action is completed, the user notes how the item was resolved and when it was completed. This report allows safety managers to see at a glance any incomplete items that still need resolution.

Surveys
In the past, conducting a hazard survey at all locations was very time-intensive. With Safetylogic's survey feature, the process is simple. Rather than requiring each location to fill out and return a form, responses are entered directly into the system. Results are automatically tallied and can be viewed in a variety of formats and reporting profiles. Shearman said he recently used the system to conduct a survey of the various security features at each of Lodgian's properties. "The information was compiled for us and we saved time by not having to tabulate the results," he said.

Resource Library
The online system also contains an electronic resource library where users can access safety-related information or link to regulatory agencies such as OSHA. Clients have total control over their libraries' content and access. Companies can have proprietary information, purchased materials or Safetylogic's own developed content in the library, so they can access it at any time. Shearman said Lodgian's emergency preparedness plans are stored in its resource library. Library items can contain text, photos, posters, diagrams and PowerPoint presentations.

Training
The time required to learn how to use Safetylogic is minimal. "It's a point and click program, very user friendly," said Shearman. New Administrators are trained during an hour-long conference call with a Safetylogic instructor. Each of the system's functions is explained and users can ask questions. Mills said the system was so easy to learn, she didn't even need the training session. "I just went through all the steps on my own and figured it out," she said.

The Wave of the Future
For Shearman, quantifying the effects of using Safetylogic to help reduce accidents is difficult. One thing he does know: so far this year, accidents are down 50 percent from the previous year. "What factor Safetylogic has in that I'm not sure, but it's certainly a piece of the puzzle that helps us," he said. "It gives us capabilities with a staff of two that normally might take a staff of three."

Nolte agrees. "In order to do this, I have to be a time manager. If I didn't have things like this to save me a couple hours here and a couple hours there, I'd be working 12 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. He sees it as a wave of the future for those responsible for safety. "OSHA isn't getting any more lenient. They're always requiring more. Five years from now it's going to be so complicated that everyone will have to have something like this."