The normally closed fire door of the stairwell was damaged and could not be closed normally, and the entrance and exit of the annular fire lane were occupied...... Not long ago, a reporter from Nandu accompanied the comprehensive inspection team of the State Council Security Committee to conduct an overt and covert inspection of a number of hotels in Shanghai, and found many hidden problems.
Since the beginning of this year, cultural tourism in various places has been "out of the circle", and the hotel industry has taken the lead in recovery. During the 2024 Spring Festival holiday, hotel bookings have increased significantly, with some hotel bookings exceeding the level of the same period in 2019. At the same time, in recent years, hotel fire incidents have been frequent, and its fire safety has also attracted more and more attention.
A few days ago, the 19th group of the comprehensive inspection team of the State Council Safety Committee carried out the second quarter of the safety production inspection and secret visit work in Shanghai, and the hotel industry was one of the key points of the inspection. The comprehensive inspection team focused on the "hardware" such as fire-fighting facilities and the "software" such as the safety production responsibility system and emergency plan for all employees, and conducted "physical examinations" on some hotels.
It is worth mentioning that many of the franchised hotels inspected this time adopted the "management contract model": the franchisee signed a management contract with the brand, and the brand was responsible for the daily operation and management of the hotel. In this common franchise model, how to divide the safety production responsibilities of the two?
On-site inspections
20% of the fire doors of a hotel in Shanghai could not be closed normally, and the entrance of the fire escape was occupied
In recent years, there have been frequent incidents of hotel fires. In January 2024, a fire broke out at a hotel in Jinan, Shandong Province, killing 4 people; In February 2023, a fire in a hotel in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province killed 6 people and injured 28 people, and the potential safety hazards in the hotel industry cannot be ignored.
Generally speaking, the fire door of the stairwell of the building should be kept closed and locked, and when a fire occurs, it can prevent the spread of fire and smoke into the stairwell, so as to protect the escape route from being affected and ensure the safe evacuation of people in the building. During the inspection of the New Century Courtyard Hotel in Jinshan, Shanghai, the comprehensive inspection team found that more than 20% of the smoke-proof stairwells and fire doors in the front room of the hotel could not be closed normally.
Nandu reporter learned that the building where the hotel is located has 15 floors above ground and 1 floor underground, with a building height of 69.2 meters and a total construction area of about 22,000 square meters. Among them, the 1~7 floors are the hotel area, and the building developer is also the person in charge of the hotel; The 8~15 floors are commercial and residential buildings, and the property management of the entire building is responsible for one company.
Yang Heming, a member of the comprehensive inspection team, told reporters that this type of building belongs to "a class of high-rise public buildings" in the field of fire protection, that is, it has a large building volume and complex functional layout, and the daily management difficulty and fire risk are higher.
Nandu reporters saw on the 15th floor of the building that many residents and businesses have settled in, and some doors are stacked with multiple express boxes. The inspection found that some residents had cut windows into the stairwell wall on the floor, and the person in charge of the hotel said that the building was 4.5 meters high, and some owners opened the windows privately to increase the light in the house. In Yang Heming's view, the above practice destroys the fire separation of the stairwell, and once a fire breaks out in the resident's room, the smoke will spread to the stairwell through the private windows, affecting the escape of personnel.
Not only that, but there are also a large number of stairwells in the front room of the partition wall that have been damaged and the space is occupied. It is understood that the front room is usually set up between the evacuation walkway and the stairwell of the high-rise building and the entrance and exit of the fire elevator, when the fire occurs, it can not only block the smoke from entering the stairwell, but also as the transition space for personnel evacuation, and is also the main passage for firefighters to enter the fire site in the building.
During the inspection of the building's fire-fighting facilities, the comprehensive inspection team also found that the building's fire hydrant system was faulty, the fire pump could not be automatically started, and the basement smoke exhaust fan could not operate normally. Yang Heming introduced that the fire hydrant must maintain a certain water pressure to meet the requirements of fire extinguishing, which requires the fire pump to start the pump pressure in time according to the change of the pressure sensor of the pipe network to ensure water supply. Smoke is the main factor that spreads fire and causes casualties, and it is extremely important for smoke exhaust facilities to function normally when a fire occurs.
In addition to the above problems, the building also had problems such as blocked fire lanes and lack of emergency lighting and evacuation signs in some evacuation walkways. According to the "Method for Determining Major Fire Hazards", the comprehensive inspection team comprehensively determined that there were major fire hazards in the hotel. The person in charge of the hotel said that it would be rectified immediately as required.
Weak security awareness
The legal representative of the franchisee: he is a layman, just a funder
In the event of a fire or other emergency, "hardware" such as evacuation routes and firefighting equipment is essential, as is "software" such as fire emergency plans and safety production responsibility systems.
In order to verify whether the hotel's "security software" is in place, the comprehensive inspection team not only cross-interrogated the person in charge of the hotel and employees, checked the ledger of the hotel's fire control room, but also randomly inspected the hotel's staff to demonstrate the use of fire-fighting equipment, trigger the on-site fire alarm and inspect the hotel's response measures.
In the event of an emergency such as a fire, the hotel safety management personnel or other managers generally activate the emergency plan and direct the on-site division of labor, such as guiding or authorizing relevant personnel to use fire-fighting facilities to extinguish the fire point in the early stage of the fire, guiding personnel to evacuate quickly, and communicating and coordinating with external rescue forces such as the fire department.
The comprehensive inspection team came to the Ji Hotel (North Bund Waibaidu Bridge Branch). Previous inspections have found that the hotel has not established a safety production responsibility system for all employees, lack of employee safety education and training, and accident emergency rescue drills and drills.
The hotel is registered as Shanghai Junjue Hotel Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Junjue Company"), which joined the "All Seasons" brand of Huazhu Group in September 2019 and entrusted the hotel management company of Huazhu Group to operate and manage, and the manager is appointed by Huazhu Group to be responsible for the management of daily affairs.
Wang Chunxuan, a member of the comprehensive inspection team, asked the legal representative of Junjue Company on the spot: "Do you know what provisions are in the Safety Production Law on the responsibilities of the main person in charge of the enterprise?" The other party couldn't answer, saying that he was a layman, just a funder, and the hotel was entrusted to Huazhu Group to manage.
The newly revised "Work Safety Law" in 2021 clarifies that the main person in charge of the production and business operation unit is responsible for the safety production work of the unit: "establish, improve and implement the safety production responsibility system for all employees of the unit, and strengthen the standardization of safety production; Organize the formulation and implementation of the unit's safety production rules and regulations and operating procedures; Organize the formulation and implementation of the unit's safety production education and training plan".
The comprehensive inspection team believes that whether it is the legal representative of the hotel or the actual person in charge of the daily operation and management of the hotel, there must be a relevant person in charge to undertake the legal obligation to rectify the hidden dangers and ensure safe production.
As a well-known mid-to-high-end chain hotel brand in China, the situation of the all-season hotel caused the comprehensive inspection team to think, and after the discussion of all members of the comprehensive inspection team that night, it was decided to continue to spot check other all-season franchised hotels to further understand the establishment of a safety production responsibility system for all employees of such hotels.
The next day, the comprehensive inspection team randomly inspected the two all-season hotels in Yangpu District, Shanghai Jiangwan Town Subway Station Store and Baoshan District Dahua Hucheng Store, and found that the manager of one of the hotels also did not understand the safety responsibilities he should undertake in terms of fire protection and other aspects, and did not establish a safety production responsibility system for all employees, lacked relevant safety management systems, and the hotel electrician did not obtain the special operation certificate issued by the emergency management department, which did not meet the requirements of laws and regulations on safety production. In another hotel, the miniature fire station team members are not familiar with the initial fire disposal procedures, and the emergency linkage mechanism between the property and the hotel is not perfect.
Accountability
Who is responsible for the responsibility of safety production in the entrusted management mode of the franchised hotel?
"All Seasons" is a mid-range franchised hotel brand under Huazhu Group, which opened the first all-season hotel in Shanghai in 2010, and has developed rapidly across the country since then. In recent years, the global hotel chain rate has also entered a stage of rapid growth, and the development speed of mid-to-high-end hotels is particularly prominent. According to the "2024 China Hotel Industry Development Report", by the end of 2023, the hotel chain rate will increase from 38.75% in the previous year to 40.95%, of which the chain rate of mid-range and luxury hotels will exceed 55%. There is a view in the industry that the chain rate of hotels will be further improved in the future, and the market dominance of the head group will become more and more prominent.
According to public information, in order to manage the franchise model, Huazhu Group signed a management contract with the franchisee, authorized the franchisee to use the hotel brand, and Huazhu Group was responsible for the design and maintenance of the hotel, and the general manager would also be stationed to be fully responsible for the operation and management of the hotel.
In this franchise model of entrusted management, who is the first person responsible for the implementation of hotel safety? It is understood that Article 5 of the newly revised "Work Safety Law" stipulates that the main person in charge of the production and business operation unit is the first person responsible for the safety production of the unit, and is fully responsible for the safety production work of the unit.
Nandu reporters noted that in response to the question of "who is the main person in charge of the enterprise", in 2021, the "Interpretation of the People's Republic of China Safety Production Law" jointly prepared by the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the Ministry of Emergency Management gave a detailed explanation: the main person in charge must be the main decision-maker of the production and business operation unit to carry out production and business activities; Must be the actual leader and direct of the daily activities of production and operation of the decision-maker; It must be a decision-maker who can assume the overall leadership responsibility for the safety production of the production and business operation unit.
In order to further discuss the division of safety production responsibilities and obligations between the brand and the franchisee under the entrusted management model, and urge the enterprise to fulfill the corresponding responsibilities, the comprehensive inspection team went to the headquarters of Shanghai Huazhu Group to communicate with the representatives of the enterprise.
Liu Xinxin, president of Huazhu Group, said that when selecting franchisees, the group requires them to pass various business compliance approvals and obtain business licenses and other necessary documents. In the actual operation of the franchised hotel, although the manager appointed by the group is fully responsible for the hotel management on behalf of the group, the responsibility for the safety production of the hotel still belongs to the legal representative of the hotel. In the event of a production safety accident, the Group will assume the corresponding management responsibility, and at the same time, the legal representative shall bear the corresponding legal responsibility in accordance with the law.
Liu Xinxin believes that at present, the division of safety production responsibilities between the group and franchised hotels may still be in a vague area at the legal level, and if the relevant laws need to be improved in the future, the participation and promotion of the entire industry is needed.
The comprehensive inspection team believes that under this franchise model, although the brand and the franchisee ostensibly sign an entrusted management contract, in terms of some provisions in the contract, such as the hotel implements the store manager responsibility system under the leadership of the brand party, and the brand party is fully responsible for the operation and management of the hotel, the relationship between the two parties is more in line with the contract and contracting relationship of production and operation projects in the Work Safety Law. Therefore, whether it is from the perspective that the contractor is directly engaged in hotel operation and is directly responsible for the safety of the hotel operation, or from the perspective of the management unit as the entrusted party and in accordance with the principle of "safety must be managed in production and operation", Huazhu Group should incorporate safety as the main content into the daily operation scope of the hotel, and on the basis of paying attention to the construction of fire protection, security and other hardware, it should pay attention to the establishment of a safety production responsibility system for all employees in the operating stores, the formulation and revision of emergency plans, and the establishment and revision of emergency plans. Strengthen the soft power construction of safety skills training and emergency drills, and strengthen the formulation of corresponding standards and supervision and assessment.
After the meeting, the comprehensive inspection team also made suggestions to the Shanghai Municipal Safety Committee to carry out extensive research and strengthen publicity from the effective implementation of the statutory responsibilities of all parties in the franchise management mode, strengthen publicity, help all parties clarify their respective responsibilities for safety production, eliminate blind spots and misunderstandings of responsibility, keep the bottom line of safety, draw inferences from one another, promote the standardization of safety production of such franchise enterprises, and help enterprises develop safely and healthily.
Expert opinion
The hotel manager under the franchise model is a "directly responsible supervisor" under the law
In response to the situation of this type of franchised hotel, Liu Chaojie, a professor of law at China University of Mining and Technology and director of the China Work Safety Law and Policy Research Center, said that the management relationship of the case is indeed special, but its safety production obligations can be analyzed from both the unit and individual levels.
He told the reporter that from the unit level, if the hotel management right is entrusted to the hotel management company, there will be two main bodies of safety production obligations, one is to join the hotel, and the other is the actual management, that is, the hotel management company. This kind of entrusted management is similar to the outsourcing of business projects. According to the relevant provisions of the Work Safety Law, the employer and the contractor shall bear different obligations for the management of work safety.
As far as the employer is concerned, firstly, it needs to be responsible for the safety production of the hotel; secondly, it is directly responsible for the safety production of the uncontracted business; Third, sign a special safety production management agreement with the contractor for the business project to be contracted, or stipulate their respective safety production management responsibilities in the contract, and "coordinate and manage the safety production work in a unified manner, conduct regular safety inspections, and promptly supervise and rectify safety problems if they are found".
Liu Chaojie said that as far as the contractor is concerned, it needs to fulfill the safety production obligations in the process of contracting and operation in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and at the same time accept the supervision of the employer in terms of safety production.
From a personal perspective, Liu Chaojie believes that, generally speaking, the legal representative of a hotel is the main person in charge of the hotel, who should perform the safety production duties of the main person in charge as stipulated in the Work Safety Law, and have the right to supervise the safety production of the contractor of the business project. This is a statutory authority, and even if the entrusted management agreement makes the relevant provisions of "no interference", it cannot hinder the right of the hotel's legal representative to intervene in production safety.
He argued that although the manager of the hotel management company was responsible for the daily operation and management of the hotel, he was the representative of the hotel management company, not the representative of the hotel investor, and was not the main person in charge of the hotel as stipulated in the Work Safety Law, but the person in charge of the project contracted by the hotel management company, and should perform the contractor's safety production obligations, and was a "directly responsible person in charge" as stipulated in the Work Safety Law.
sound
The comprehensive inspection team believes that whether it is from the perspective that the contractor is directly engaged in hotel operation and is directly responsible for the safety of the hotel operation, or from the perspective of the management unit as the entrusted party and in accordance with the principle of "safety must be managed in production and operation", Huazhu Group should incorporate safety as the main content into the daily operation scope of the hotel. Strengthen the soft power construction of safety skills training and emergency drills, and strengthen the formulation of corresponding standards and supervision and assessment.
Writing/Photography: Nandu reporter Guo Ruomei from Shanghai