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Professional Housekeepers Group UAE

While on assignment in the UAE earlier this month, Liz Lycette, Principal and senior consultant of Lycette & Associates had the opportunity to meet up with Housekeepers from the Professional Housekeepers Group UAE. Tatjana Ahmed is the networks President and Executive Housekeeper at the 674 and 186 apartments Grand Hyatt Hotel and recipient of the Housekeeper of the year award 2010. Tatjana was keen to hear about the successful NSW/PHAN Housekeeping Olympics and is planning a similar event for Dubai in December this year.

Liz also met with Josephine Wallis, the Executive Housekeeper of Burj Al Arab, Jennifer Moussi at the Dubai Festival City Intercontinental Complex and Una Lydon the Executive Housekeeper of Jumeirah Beach Hotel. it was great to share ideas of best practice, innovations and gain insights into housekeeping in UAE.

Tatjana Ahmed and Liz Lycette at the Grand Hyatt Dubai

PHAN organizes OHS workshop in Sydney

The Professional Housekeeping Association of NSW (PHAN) organised an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) seminar for its members and other interested parties. This workshop, held at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney is one of the many events that the PHAN organising committee puts together every year. Lycette & Associates was there to participate. Konekt, a publicly listed Australian company and the largest private sector provider of organisational health and risk management solutions ran this particular session. The company focus is on helping organizations minimise the impact of workplace injury and related workplace costs, resulting in reduced workers’ compensation premiums.

The seminar provided the attendees with an overview on safety and compliance issues in hospitality and in particular in housekeeping.

The statistics of the most common injuries in this industry group helped the participants identify potential accidents and help employers rectify these situations. The employer responsibilities, the role of the employee, and the role of the nominated health provider were explained. Housekeeping requires physically fit and able personnel; therefore it may be prudent to organise a pre-employment screen to identify potential problems before commencement of employment. A pre-employment screen will test the functional ability and fitness capacity of the potential employee.

The role of the insurer was another area described, especially some of the jargon used.

Some practical measures like how to perform a task analysis, or how to compile a Job dictionary and a suitable duties plan were all part of this workshop.

The key of course is, to prevent accidents from happening and all agreed that this would increase productivity, employee satisfaction and morale. Additionally many hotels already have specified warm ups/stretches for their housekeeping employees but for those who have not yet put this in place it comes highly recommended.

These days there is an additional challenge for the housekeeping department, an ageing work force. The physical nature of some tasks in housekeeping may require management to make adjustments to accommodate these workers.

For more information on Housekeeping training contact Liz Lycette by email liz@lycetteandassociates.com

About PHAN
PHAN is the Professional Housekeepers Association of NSW. PHAN President is Chona Ogilvie. For more information visit: www.phan.org.au To contact PHAN email info@phan.org.au

About Konekt
Konekt is the largest private sector provider of organisational health and risk management solutions in Australia. The focus is on helping organisations to keep their workforce safe, minimise the impact of workplace injury, rehabilitate or redeploy injured workers, while meeting regulatory and compliance obligations. Konekt solutions are delivered by a national team of allied health professionals, servicing all Australian capital cities and major regional centres. For more information visit: www.konekt.com.au

Success for 2nd annual Housekeeping Olympic Games 2010

Last Saturday The Professional Housekeeping Association of NSW (PHAN) organised its 2nd annual Housekeeping Olympics. The event was held at the King George V Recreation Centre in Sydney. The PHAN committee, the judges, the MC and all the volunteers did a tremendous job to make these games even more successful then last year. The president of the PHAN committee Chona Ogilvie welcomed the teams and their supporters and formally opened the Games. She handed the microphone to the MC for the afternoon, Liz Lycette who presented an excellent event.

There were 5 different races the Mop Relay, Toilet Paper Mummy Wrapping, Toilet Paper Throwing, Scrubbing Pad Discuss Throwing and the main event, Bed Making Relay.

The contest was overseen by a panel of judges, Jan Reed, Melissa Roughly, Anju Khanna, Marie Chiron, Michael Jackson, Vikki Jakus and headed by Ariane Lellmann. All are experts in housekeeping operations.

There was cheer leading and trophies for the winning team for each event, including the Best Dressed Team.

The day was sponsored by AH Beard bed makers, Aus Weaving Mills linen suppliers, Accommodation Linen suppliers, Lawrence Dry Cleaners and iPerform

Final results all events

EVENT: MOP RELAY
1st:      Win Wind Wyndham – Wyndham Resort
2nd:    The Incredibles – The Menzies
3rd:     World Tower Bombers – Meriton World Tower

EVENT: TOILET PAPER MUMMY WRAPPING
1st:      Plaza Penguins – Radisson Plaza
2nd:    Let’s Get Physical – Four Seasons Hotel
3rd:     Win Wind Wyndham – Wyndham Resort

EVENT: TOILET PAPER THROWING RELAY
1st:      The Blues, Blue Hotel Sydney
2nd:    Ibis Rocks – Ibis King Street Wharf
3rd:     Mercure Eagles – Mercure Sydney Airport

EVENT: SCRUBBING PAD DISCUS THROWING RELAY EVENT:
1st:      Fraser Team – Fraser Suites
2nd:    The Irresistibles – Mercure Sydney
3rd:     Super Green – Holiday Inn Potts Point

EVENT: BED MAKING RELAY
1st:      Plaza Penguins Radisson Plaza
2nd:    Marriot Magic – Sydney Harbour Marriott
3rd:     World Tower Bombers – Meriton World Tower

The First prize was $800!

EVENT: BEST DRESSED TEAMS
1st: Star City Superstars
2nd: Plaza Penguins Radisson Plaza
3rd: The Irresistibles – Mercure Sydney

The games were closed in the late afternoon with a pledge to return in 2011! A fantastic event, looking forward to next year!

More information about the judges
Ariane Lellmann – Executive Housekeeper , L&A colleague
Melissa Roughley – Academic Liaison Officer, International College of Management, Manly
Vicky Jakus – Executive Housekeeper, Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School
Anju Khanna – TAFE Lecturer, Teacher of hospitality at TAFE
Jan Read – Lecturer Rooms Division Management, International College of Management, Manly
Marie Chiron – Retired Executive Housekeeper, Retired Housekeeper now in Real Estate
Michael Jackson – Operations Manager, IPerform

RULES OF THE GAMES
Toilet Roll Throwing Relay -  4 in a team
To throw an intact toilet paper roll through a toilet seat positioned on a box 5 metres from the throw line. The most toilet rolls to go through the toilet seat in a one minute period is the winner. Team of 4 with 3 toilet rolls each.

Toilet Paper Mummy wrapping – 2 in a team
To use 1 toilet paper roll completely to wrap one person from head to toe, covering all skin and body. Points awarded for the first to finish, points deducted for each time the toilet paper breaks. Points added for final presentation. Mummy must not move or assist in anyway during the competition.

Mop Relay – 4 in a team
Relay teams to push a dry mop through an obstacle course (wet floor signs)  with 4 team changes, quickest team wins. Points deducted if dry mop leaves the floor surface.

Scrubbing Pad discus throwing relay – 4 in a team
To throw 40 cm scrubbing pads into a wheelie bin 7 metres from the throw line. The most pads in the bin in a 1 minute period will win. Team of 4 to alternate in throwing pads.

Bed making Competition -4 in a team
3 beds per heat, Bed to be made in relay:
1. Mattress protector and bottom sheet (tucked in 4 corners),
2. 2nd sheet and blanket,
3. top sheet
4. 1 pillow in a pillowcase. Judged on final time, process and finished look

Bed making rules
Teams of 4 participants per team
Bed is to be made in relay, with all team members starting off at the starting line.
As soon as one member has completed his/her task they need to run back to the starting line and tap their next member before that one can run to do his/her task
Task sharing as follows
1st member: Mattress protector and 1st sheet (bottom sheet)
2nd member: 2nd sheet and blanket
3rd member: 3rd sheet, fold over and tuck in
4th member: pillow and pillow case and overall presentation
All team members to stand at foot of bed once last contestant has finished, to indicate they are finished as a team.
Points are awarded for each task correctly completed and speed

Bed making Score Card

Best dressed team
Whole hotel team of maximum 18 and minimum of 4A prize for the most original and outstanding team uniforms

For more information about PHAN visit www.phan.org.au

New committee for PHAN

The Professional Housekeepers Association of NSW (PHAN) has chosen their new committee for this year. The AGM was held earlier this month. The committee members are as follows:

The PHAN committee meeting was held on 7th May at the Sydney Harbour Marriott. Also present at the meeting were Liz Lycette as Public Officer and Josselyne Henin, visiting President of the Sister Housekeepers Association of French speaking part of Switzerland. Welcome to the 2010 PHAN committee!

Back row: left to right: Liz Lycette, Zarife Melick, Tina Tian, Lalini de Silva, Rachel Bonham (invited guest) Maureen Jolowicz, Grace Esogon. Seated left to right : Nela Neves, Chona Ogilvie, Josselyne Henin, Kamila Smirski

PHAN Innovations Day focusing on trends in green and environmentally friendly products

The day was sponsored by Purerooms, Optii Solutions,Vitric Flooring and Innerscent and held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel on the 8th September 2009

Innovative Products :

• Purerooms- Introduction to allergy friendly rooms and the best way to achieve them.

• Optii Keeper- delivering the Housekeeping Department into the 21st century.

• Vitric – Floor Restoration and Maintenance – Achieve a shiny floor and be environmentally friendly.

• Innerscent –Giving your guests a great nights sleep – The original Innerscent Aromatherapy mattress and pillow underlay range

Presentations by each company were followed by cocktails. This event was attended by 31 PHAN members. MC was Liz Lycette, Public Officer of PHAN and from L&A.

Housekeeping Olympics

In January 2009 Liz was the MC for the inaugural PHAN NSW Housekeeping Olympics. Held on 17th January 2009 at the Recreation Centre, King George Vth Centre in Cumberland Street, the Rocks, Sydney. PDF of Exec Housekeeper Magazine articleThe first ever Housekeeping Olympics were a great success as deemed by all those who attended. With 19 teams competing and over 200 attending the afternoon event, an exciting and competitive spirit was shared by all. With 5 events, several heats were run before a final in each of the events of toilet paper throwing, mop relay, toilet paper mummy wrapping, scrubbing pad discus throwing and the final exciting event, the bed relay. Winning teams were awarded with medals and a trophy, runner ups came away with certificates and ribbons. Special thanks to the judges, officials and helpers. Also thanks go to the suppliers and Hotels who lent equipment. The next Housekeeping Olympics will be held in the winter of 2010 (May/June next year) and with the great success of this event, we hope to attract more hotels and even welcome participation from inter-state!
The judges prepare	Eager spectators
Toilet paper throwing	Mop relay
Blue Hotel Scrubbing pad discus throwing winners	Toilet paper mummy wrapping and channel 9 filming
Winners of the toilet paper mummy wrapping	Scrubbing pad discus throwing
Lucky winners on TV!	The pressure is on, the bed making relay