Report - Protecting workers in hotels, restaurants and catering

Chapters in this Publication

1 Introduction

The aim of this report is to make available information relating to occupational health and safety in HORECA and to provide an overview of good practices at both the policy and workplace levels. The hotels, restaurants and catering sector employs more than 7.8 million people in the EU and is characterised by high job demands (in particular due to direct contacts with clients) and high physical workload. Non-permanent employment patterns, in particular seasonal work, are prevalent. The sector also employs a high proportion of female workers, young workers and migrant workers. This sector covers a wide range of workplaces, more than just hotels and restaurants. Many persons are employed in catering in other workplaces such as schools and hospitals. Read more...

2 Sector characteristics

This section includes a brief description of the key issues relating to the HORECA sector, together with relevant statistics. It provides an overview of the state of occupational health and safety in the sector and of working conditions. Restaurant chains and fast-food restaurants, in particular, have experienced considerable growth. In 2004, hotels and restaurants provided jobs for nearly 7.8 million people or 4 % of total employment in the EU-25 (Bovagnet, 2005). In recent years, the sector has grown strongly, and hence plays an important role as a job creator in both the whole economy and the service sector in many EU Member States (Schmidt, 2003). Whereas the employment growth rate in 2003/04 was just 0.6 % in the overall EU economy, it was 4.0 % in the HORECA sector (Bovagnet, 2005). Read more...

3 Hazards and risks

The hotels and restaurant sector includes a wide range of tasks and jobs which pose different risks. The complexity of the sector makes it difficult to present an exhaustive view of the situation. Much attention goes towards working in kitchens and to a lesser extent, to waiting staff. Supporting activities such as cleaning jobs, goods supply, etc. are randomly represented in scientific literature. Read more...

4 European and national policies by topic

The aim of this section is to examine policy initiatives undertaken to reduce the risk to workers’ health and safety at European, national, regional, local and sector levels, providing a representative coverage of activities across the EU and identifying success factors. These also include guides, actions and strategies, including action taken by social partners (e.g. through voluntary agreements). Read more...

5 Examples of good practices

This part of the report focuses on the prevention of risks to workers in this sector. It provides descriptions of practical actions at workplace level and their background, including groups who are targeted, and ways of identifying and assessing results, side effects, success factors, and problems. Read more...

6 Conclusions

The conclusions bring together all aspects covered in the report and summarise: the policy approaches taken within the EU at all levels to minimise occupational risks in the sector; success factors in workplace actions to prevent risks; and the current state of research on the prevention of risks in this sector. Read more...