Safety of customers and staff must be guaranteed in the restaurant sector

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the hotel and restaurant sector and the commercial sector are already among the fields where the prevalence of violence and the potential for violence are above the average level. Factors increasing the likelihood of violence include working with inebriated customers and working alone, in particular during the evening and at night. Women are almost twice as likely as men to face violence at work.

PAM’s 2015 member survey revealed that half of all employees in the hotel and restaurant sector had experienced sexual harassment at work, while two out of three knew of a workmate who had been harassed.

‘This is already the situation. There’s a clear risk of making it worse when provisions are relaxed in terms of the possibility of allowing licensed establishments to extend their night-time opening hours, among other things,’ Järvi points out.

The risk has been taken into account in the Government’s draft bill: the Government proposes that establishments with a licence for extended hours (from 1:30 am to 4:00 am) should have 2 bouncers for every 200 customer seats. These bouncers should specifically be security stewards as defined in legislation governing security services, with the sole duty of maintaining public order, safety and security. In other words, this work could not be carried out in addition to any other duties.

The draft bill would give the Regional State Administrative Agencies the authority to approve higher or lower staffing levels than those specified in the provision. According to the Rationale section of the Government Proposal, this is because the need to maintain public order may vary: there are establishments where customers consume alcohol with food while taking in entertainment, on the one hand, and those with a business concept focused on serving alcoholic beverages through to 4:00 am, on the other.

‘It is very good that the law defines the work duties of bouncers in sufficient detail. Clear definition of work duties is endorsed by employees working both in security services and in the restaurant sector. Many hazards can, indeed, be reduced with professional and sufficiently resourced maintenance of public order. Professional order maintenance also supports the work of the authorities, such as the police,’ Järvi explains.

She says that, in PAM’s opinion, sufficient attention must also be paid to the safety and security of licensed establishments at other times besides at night and they must have enough competent staff.

‘Security steward patrols are not enough to guarantee the safety and security of employees and customers and we also don’t consider this type of activity to be preventive. In addition, the monitoring resources of the authorities must be improved.’

Read more: Järjestyksenvalvonta selkenee uuden lain mukana (‘Public order maintenance clarified with new law’, in Finnish)