The Fire Door and the Stacked Trays
It is 11:15 pm and you are closing the dining room after a banquet for 90 guests. Two colleagues are stacking dirty trays on the floor in front of the rear fire exit because the dish-return bench is full. A trolley has been left in the service corridor, narrowing it to about 50 cm. The floor near the pass is wet from a spilled pitcher, and there is no wet-floor sign. One colleague is carrying a stack of plates high enough that she cannot see her feet. The supervisor has gone to the office to do the paperwork.
1. Identify the hazards and state the order in which you would address them, with reasoning.
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Hazards present:
- Blocked fire exit - trays stacked in front of the rear exit.
- Obstructed escape route - trolley narrowing the service corridor.
- Slip hazard - wet floor with no signage.
- Manual-handling/carrying hazard - a load that blocks the carrier's view.
Order of action - life safety first, then injury prevention:
- Clear the fire exit and corridor immediately. A blocked exit is a life-safety issue: if a fire occurred now, 90 guests plus staff would be routed into an obstruction. Move the trays to a safe holding area and move the trolley. This is not optional and does not wait for the supervisor.
- Deal with the wet floor next. It is an active slip risk in a room full of people and staff carrying loads. Either clean it up or barricade and sign it, and warn people nearby.
- Stop the unsafe carry. Tell your colleague to split the stack or use a trolley - a blind carry on a wet floor is how people get hurt.
- Report to the supervisor when she returns, and record it if your venue has a hazard log.
Reasoning: fire exits and escape routes are absolute; a slip that causes a fall with hot or sharp items can be serious; the carrying hazard is real but lower immediate risk than a blocked exit.
2. A colleague says 'everyone does it, we're nearly done, don't make a thing of it.' How do you respond professionally?
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Be firm, brief, and non-judgemental - then act.
- Don't debate at length. Say something like: 'I get it, we're all tired, but we can't block the fire exit. Let's just move them to the end of the bench and finish.'
- Don't accept 'everyone does it' as a standard. Common practice is not the same as safe practice. A blocked exit is a legal and life-safety failure regardless of how many people do it.
- Lead by doing. Start moving the trays yourself; people usually join in rather than argue while you work.
- Don't publicly shame the colleague in front of others - that creates resistance and damages teamwork.
- Report it. Tell the supervisor what happened and why, factually, not as a complaint about a person: 'Trays were stacked in front of the rear exit at close; I moved them and wanted you to know.'
- If it recurs, ask for a better system - more dish-return capacity, a marked holding area, a closing checklist - because the underlying cause is a full bench, not laziness.
Your obligation is to the safety of guests and colleagues, and it does not switch off because the supervisor is in the office.