Case Study:

Andre whistled cheerfully as he slipped his screwdriver back into his tool belt. The shower valves were now fixed and the water running fine. He picked up the phone and put Room 933 back into service. It had been a busy da, with extra pressure to get all open guestroom orders completed.

The 400-room hotel was gearing up for the start of a convention being held at the property for the first time ever. The thirty-year-old hotel was at 100 percent occupancy and the maintenance staff had been working hard all day to make sure all guestrooms were in service so no one would have to be turned away.

Andres whistling stopped abruptly as he entered the unusually chaotic maintenance plant where Joshua, the engineer on duty, was in a panic. When Andre had last been down, Joshua had been reviewing bids for a long-overdue tub resurfacing project. Now hes pushed the papers aside and was banging on the side of a water tank.

Whats up? Andre asked.

One of our guestroom water heaters is down, Joshua said. This entire tank is cold and our demand is going to be incredible tonight. I just called our contractor and they cant get anyone out here until tomorrow morning.

Dont we have a backup? asked Andre.

We do, Joshua answered, but itll never provide enough hot water for this evening, much less tomorrow morning the demand will be way too high.

This could be bad, Mora, the departments administrative assistant, said. You already had to turn the thermostat on the tank up this morning from 120 degrees to 130 because of all the complaints we were getting about cold water.

Have you called Marty yet? one of the other engineers asked, referring to the director of engineering who had left the day before to go on a two-week honeymoon.

I cant call him on his honeymoon, Joshua said. He left me in charge; Ive got to figure out a way to solve this. Man, I told him we needed to fix it.

If they hadnt deleted it from the capital plan in favor of new art for the hotel lobby, we wouldnt be in this fix, said Mora.

Andre scratched the back of his head and looked over at the heater. Say, I bet we could do a temporary fix. Its only a couple feet away from the water heater for the laundry. With a little bit of piping, we could connect the two, open up a valve and start moving the water over. The laundry will be closed tonight and they wont need any of the water.

Now thats some creative thinking! Joshua said. And the laundry tank is set at 160 degrees. That should be hot enough to cover any extra demand we get tonight.

Ill go get the piping and start working on it, Andre said. I should be able to get that fixed up in less than a half hour.

Joshua smiled and slapped Andre on the back. Youre a lifesaver. Its easy to see why you were named our departments employee of the month three times running.

By the way, Mora said, housekeeping just turned in a work order on the room you just left. Apparently the room attendant noticed that the grab bar was loose.

Really? said Andre as he left the room, I didnt notice. It probably wasnt too bad Ill get on it tomorrow.

Elsewhere in the hotel, Solomon Alvi signed his credit card slip at the front desk, raising his eyebrows slightly as he listened to the two front desk representatives discussing all the complaints theyd been receiving about cold water in the guestrooms. He made a mental note to be sure to use more hot than cold water in his shower.

The bell attendant appeared promptly at his side and accompanied him to room 933, an executive suite where a gift basket sat on the desk thanking Solomon for bringing the conventions business to the hotel. Solomon plugged in his laptop and spent a few hours making final preparations for his opening speech the next morning. Finally, in need of a break, he decided to take a relaxing, hot shower before calling room service for his dinner.

Solomon began running the water, letting it heat up while he prepared for his shower. He was pleasantly surprised that the water felt immediately warm, despite the grumblings hed heard at the front desk. This will be good, he thought to himself.

Murmuring lines to his speech, he stepped into the tub and began soaping up.

Back in the maintenance shop, Andre had finished the connection between the hot water heaters and Joshua threw the switch to start pushing the laundrys hot water into the system. Theres one crisis averted, Joshua said. Lets finish up our paperwork and call it a day, shall we? Ill take you out for a drink.

In room 933, Solomon was halfway through his speech when he was shocked out of his reverie by a burst of scalding hot water. He yelped, took a quick step backward, and slipped on the tub floor. He reached for the grab bar as he began to fall, but it ripped out of the wall, smacking him in the eye and spraying him with chunks of tile and drywall as he fell and hit his head on the tubs side. The scalding water continued to rain down on him.

Solomon managed to roll out of the tub and pour the half-melted ice from the ice bucket over his now-red body. He caught his breath and wrapped some ice in a washcloth and applied it to his, Great, Ill be sporting a shiner when I address our members tomorrow, he thought as he put on his robe and let the bathroom.

He picked up the phone and called the operator, requesting emergency medical care. After tossing the receiver down, Solomon Alvi, the president of the National Association of Safety Regulators, grimly began looking for his lawyers phone number.

Elsewhere in the hotel, Andre was putting on his coat to head out with Joshua for that drink. He turned to see the color drain from Joshuas face as he listened silently to a voice on the phone. Joshua hung up and swallowed hard.

I think Id better call Marty and tell him his honeymoon is over.

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss and explain the hotel factors that contributed to the condition in Room 933?