Legal Aspects of Hospitality Managment - Term Paper Example

Impact of Safety Regulations on Restaurant Food industry has many potential business opportunities either as a start up venture or established businesses in all parts of the world. There are various types of food businesses ranging from food kiosks to hotels and restaurants (Vogel 64). When establishing a restaurant it is essential to explore all the requirements and ensure compliance with the safety requirements in order to achieve excellent performance. Although various food policies are passed to protect the environment, workers, employers and consumers, these regulations impact the operation and profitability of the business in a great way (Tansey and Rajotte 74). If the restaurant’s management is able to comply with all food regulations the business will be able to create customer loyalty and reduce conflicts with authority hence resulting to a better performance. The issue of safety in restaurants is of significant concern because of the consequences associated with food handling business (Barth 164). The safety of the consumer is of paramount importance because putting the health of the consumers at risk is tantamount to killing the business and the economy at large (Jha and Elgar 43). Previous studies have raised a lot of concern over the cases of increase in food borne diseases and the associated treatment cost. For example, the research has shown that in the year 2010, the one out of six Americans suffered food borne disease. In the same year, the cost of treating food borne diseases stood at $77.7 billion annually (Vogel 73). Therefore, restaurant managers should take appropriate precautions to ensure strict adherence to the safety rules in order to reduce the cost of treating food borne disease and minimize the cases of deaths associated with unsafe food. Consequently, the managers should ensure clean and safe environment and motivated employees working in the restaurant. Positive Impact Adequate implementation of safety standards in a restaurant can improve the performance of the business in a number of ways; 1. Increase customer satisfaction Safety standards require restaurant owners to handle food and food equipment in a safe and clean environment. All processes involved in handling food and food equipment are set in the safety regulations (Vogel 96). The safety regulations require the employees handling food to observe personal hygiene and use clean uniform and other attires when handling food. In addition, all food handlers are required to undergo medical check-up on a regular basis in order to minimize the spread of contagious diseases such as tuberculosis and diarrhea. The restaurant managers are required to maintain clean and safe environment and premises in order to reduce liabilities that business may incur through injuries to visitors while in the premise (Tansey and Rajotte 79). If the restaurant management complies with these safety requirements, clients will get motivated and encouraged to revisit the restaurant in the future. 2. Improved workers efficiency Safety standards require restaurant owners to ensure secure and clean environment of the business. Another requirement is better working environment for employees and the use of recommended food handling facilities (Brown 785). Regarding the safety of the workers, the law protects employees against discrimination, poor working environment, and unfair dismissal from work, inadequate pay including overtime allowances, leave and other allowances. If the business is able to comply with these requirements it will motivate employees and increase their productivity (Jha and Elgar 51). Also, employees feel motivated because of better pay, appropriate equipment and excellent working atmosphere and they are able to identify with business. 3. Reduction of unhealthy competition When establishing a restaurant the investor must ensure compliance with all legal requirements relating to safety of the customers, workers and the environment (Vogel 116). The law requires the restaurants to ensure the food is uncontaminated and safe for human consumption. The environmental safety standards require the restaurant management to take great care of the environment by ensuring proper disposal procedures for hazardous waste. Restaurant owners must ensure safe and standard food for the customers and must maintain the premises and the environment clean all the time. There is a recent policy requiring restaurant owners to establish the free-smoking environment within the business premises (Tansey and Rajotte 82). This is based on the premise that smoking in public places harm people and the environment. The global concern on the effect of no smoking zone policy on restaurant business is a potential loss of business revenue. Some people believes that implementation of this policy is detrimental to the profitability of a restaurant because most of the smokers will shun smoking restricted areas. In some cases, the restaurant owners find it hard to comply with the food safety requirements. The policies require health officers to conduct regular check of the food business to assess the compliance on the food safety regulations (Jha and Elgar 69). Since most of the businesses rarely meet the standards required, the health officers force them to close down their operations until such a time when they will be able to adhere to the set standards. When some businesses close their operations, this provides a better opportunity for others who have complied with the law to expand their operations and increase profit. 4. Reduced loss of products The safety standards regulating restaurant businesses require the restaurant owners to meet specific requirements when running the business. Some of basic requirements such as personal hygiene of the food handlers, safe and clean environment and uncontaminated food results to improvement in the food quality (Tansey and Rajotte 97). The standards further specifies the procedure required for sourcing food materials, cooking storage, record keeping and other relevant procedures. Compliance of these standards has resulted to increase in shelf life of the food stuff. Consequently, this has reduced the rate of food wastage in the restaurants because the food can stay longer without going into waste. 5. Increase employee and customer awareness If there were no safety standards regulating the operation of restaurants then there would be no worry about how the restaurants are operated, the consequences of restaurants on the environment, employee’s rights or the nature of foods consumed by the clients. However, the establishment of safety standards has raised a lot of concern especially in the social media. The workers, the employees and the public are more concerned about the way a restaurant is being operated (Vogel 127). Consumers are more enlightened on the issue of food hygiene, personal safety and safety of the business premises. On the other hand, workers are demanding better pay, equal and fair treatment, safe and clean working environment, allowances, use of recommended equipments and other fair terms of work. Negative impacts of safety standards Safety standard requirements in the restaurants have imposed some limitations on the business performance hence hindering the profitability and expansion opportunities of restaurants. Increased cost of food Cleanliness is a major issue affecting the hospitality industry. Most of restaurants and other food handling businesses do not put a lot of emphasis on hygiene hence the Food Act of 2003 (NSW) (as amended) was put in place to help deal with the issues of hygiene in the hospitality industry. This Act requires food handlers to observe food safety regulations when dealing with food and beverages or drinks (Vogel 158). According to this act, it is a criminal offense for anyone to sell contaminated or adulterated food. Also, the food sellers should maintain their premises sparkling clean and the handlers themselves should be clean and health. The act empowers public health officers to enter the food premises and conduct inspection to ensure that food handlers are adhering to food safety regulations. The health officers have right conferred by the Food Safety Act (2003) to carry food samples from the restaurant and other food handlers for inspection of quality in the government laboratories (Tansey and Rajotte 114). If the health officers are not contented with the safety standards of the restaurant, the Act confers power upon them to close down that business until such a time when they will be able to observe the safety regulations completely. In addition, the Act grants public health officers mandate to issue warning to the food handlers requiring them to adjust the safety conditions of their premises within a specified times to conform with food safety requirements (OECD 49). Finally, public health officers have the power to impose fine on food handler who fails to comply with the food safety requirement. The food safety requirement has affected the establishments of restaurants by limiting the efficiency of establishing restaurant businesses. The registration process when starting a restaurant business is complicated and usually takes time before it is completed. This is because of the time lapse during the inspection for compliance with safety requirements by the authority. In addition, the safety requirements affect the profitability of the business (Jha and Elgar 76). For example, the restaurant owner has to incur a lot of cost for training the workers on safety regulations. Also, the requirements of specific food handling equipments and regular maintenance of the premises add to the expenses the restaurant owner has to meet when running the business (OECD 57). This has decreased the productivity as the industry needs to implement new procedures which are also decreasing profits. Lost business opportunities Food safety rules describe the hygiene conditions for handling food and the environment surrounding the food business. The process involved when interacting with food safety rules is usually cumbersome and cost intensive (Barth 192). For example, before a person starts a restaurant, the authority requires full registration of the business providing all details about the type of food the restaurant will be dealing with, location of the business and other details related to the business (Vogel 118). The process of registering business is generally tedious and time consuming. Furthermore, the workers spend a lot of their time interpreting the food safety rules in understand on how to apply those regulations and consequences for non-compliance. This time and financial resources spent in registering the business reduce the business resources. This implies that food safety regulations have a negative impact on the efficiency of a restaurant business because it reduces the business resources through the process of registering and interpreting those policies (Tansey and Rajotte 133). Some businesses are unable to meet the safety regulations requirements hence they opt out of business. This closure of business results to significant loss of business revenue during the closure period. 3. Hinder employment opportunities and entrepreneurship In the current economy, the level of unemployment is continuing to increase at an alarming rate. As a result, several unemployed people are opting to look for income in the informal sector or look for self-employment opportunities (Jha and Elgar 97). Restaurant is one of the most lucrative areas of employment because of relatively row start-up capital and few formalities requirement before one establishes a restaurant business. However, the introduction of safety standards in the industry has imposed restrictions on the potential investors since this has increased the cost of running the business and the processes of starting the venture (Brown 713). For example, the cost f registering the business, hiring and training workers to comply with safety regulations, cost of purchasing and installing recommended food handling equipments and the cost of mitigating the impact of business on the environment have all escalated the cost of starting and running a restaurant (Tansey and Rajotte 156). This means that only a few individuals who are already well established can manage to establish a restaurant business. Therefore, as the number of restaurants declines the employment opportunities declines as well. This renders many people jobless hence impacting the economy negatively. Conclusion The future of the restaurant business lies on the level of compliance of the business with safety regulations relating to customer, employees and the environmental protection. The safety standards have stringent requirements for the establishment and management of the restaurants. Adherence to these safety measures will promote business growth by increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Also, this will increase the efficiency of business through the use of recommended food handling equipments, protection of environment against improper waste disposal and will result to motivation of employees as a result of better terms of work. However, many potential investors may not comply with these standards hence reducing the potential for investment. In addition, the high cost of business compliance with safety regulations will reduce business revenue hence decrease employment opportunities. Works Cited Barth, Stephen, C. Hospitality Law: Managing Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry. John Wiley and Sons (2008); 146-213. Brown, Douglas, R. The Restaurant Manager's Handbook: How to Set Up, Operate, and Manage a Financially Successful Food Service Operation. Atlantic Publishing Company, (2007). 643-876 Jha, Veena and Elgar, Edward. Environmental Regulation and Food Safety: Studies of Protection and Protectionism. International Development Research Center, Ottawa (2005). 32-146 OECD. Consumer Policy Toolkit. OECD Publishing, (2010). 31-75. Tansey, Geoff and Rajotte, Tasmin. A Guide to International Negotiations and Rules on Intellectual Property, Biodiversity, and Food Security. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa (2008). 67-185 Vogel, David. Regulating Health, Safety, and Environmental Risks in Europe and U.S. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ (2012). 54-227 Read More