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Hotel Housekeepers to wear panic buttons.

What is the likelihood of a hotel housekeeper being sexually harassed at work? More common than most people realise say job hazard advocates! That is why from July 2018 all housekeepers in the Chicago area are being issues with panic buttons.

The portable buttons, mandated in an ordinance that won unanimous City Council approval in October, allow employees to instantly summon help if they are sexually assaulted or harassed by a guest.

The state hotel association has requested an extension of the deadline, concerned that implementation is proving more costly and complicated than anticipated. But some local hoteliers have embraced the responsibility. Sadie the cleaning lady

EMC2, a 195-room hotel in Streeterville, rolled out a panic button system when it opened a year ago. Anyone whose job requires entering guest rooms alone — not only housekeepers, but also engineering and room service staff — receives a button fob at the start of their shift to wear around their neck on a lanyard, plus an iPod that interacts with the hotel’s existing communication system to track their location.

Chicago is the second city in the United States, after Seattle, to enact a law requiring hotels to distribute panic buttons, though unionized hotels in New York City have had the requirement in their contracts since 2013.

Marriott is working on a pilot of technology that could be used across its varied properties, which range from sprawling resorts to urban towers to standard suburban hotels, and is collecting employee feedback on the design. The company may introduce the distress system chain-wide, even in markets where it is not mandated.

Chicago Tribune June 2018

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