A new survey has this month revealed that nearly 25 percent of staff that work or have worked in the hospitality industry have suffered an injury as a result of a toppled serving tray.
Of those people questioned, 23 percent admitted they had burned or cut themselves while trying to serve drinks or food from a serving tray, with 71 percent saying they didn’t believe managers appreciated how hard it is to use trays despite training.
The survey, conducted by Iris Worldwide and commissioned by Safetray Products Ltd, also found that restaurants, bars, and hotels are taking the hit when it comes to broken glasses, spilled drinks, and cleaning bills. Nearly one third (31 percent ) of staff said the accident incurred a cost of more than $60, with 43 percent saying they had ruined a customer’s clothing with spilled drinks or food.
With one fifth of people admitting these accidents happen on a regular basis, these are additional costs that no business wants to shoulder in the current economic climate.
Whilst accidents of this nature are often seen as commonplace within the industry, the consequences highlight the difficulty staff have in using serving trays. Furthermore, with today’s heightened expectation of excellent service, businesses cannot afford to let mistakes like this happen and risk alienating their customers.
Alison Grieve, creator of Safetray, a revolutionary and proven serving tray solution, was not surprised by the results.
“Unfortunately these types of accident are all too familiar, with more than 90 percent of those surveyed saying they had seen someone else fall foul of a serving tray,” she says. “When I thought about the huge amount of wastage businesses are faced with as a result of these accidents, I began looking for a solution and Safetray was born.”
Safetray is an adapted service tray that provides improved stability and functionality, therefore reducing the incidence of accidents, providing cost savings to a margin sensitive industry and improved health and safety.
Safetray’s success is down to a unique adaptation to the underside of trays: a retractable clip slips between the middle fingers of waiting/service staff to offer stability through downward and horizontal traction. The use of these adapted trays provides far greater balance and stability and eradicates instances of the trays becoming unbalanced and/or tipping.
The Safetray is just one of many products Grieve is bringing to the global hospitality industry to help provide solutions for serving staff.
Patrick Robineau of the Four Seasons Las Vegas describes Safetray as “an awesome new product,” while Alex Cotterill of the Park Hyatt Sydney described it as “an excellent example of innovation within the hospitality industry.”
Other key players agree and Alison has enjoyed orders rolling in from companies such as Compass Group and Sodexo. In addition, the U.K.’s No. 1 catering equipment distributor, Bunzl Lockharts, voted Safetray its Most Innovative Product and is now stocking them for clients.
