Latest news with #SafetySuite
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hotel Tech-in: The hand-scanning system fighting foodborne illness
This story was originally published on Hotel Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Hotel Dive newsletter. Hotel Tech-in is our regular feature that takes a closer look at emerging technology in the hospitality industry. There's no excuse for hotels to be wishy-washy on kitchen cleanliness. Now, technology makes it simple to ensure employees wash their hands. PathSpot Technologies offers real-time, digital kitchen hygiene management with a 'handwashing validation system' for hospitality players looking to protect against the threat and spread of foodborne illness. The New York-based company launched in 2017 but just last month partnered with Marriott International, which is integrating PathSpot technology across its global portfolio of more than 9,300 properties. With foodborne illness being a major threat to health and safety, PathSpot has clients across industries. But for hotels, the system ensures travelers have a relaxing and enjoyable stay, not a sick getaway. The tech also drives operational efficiency at Marriott properties, helping save employees time, according to Christine Schindler, PathSpot's CEO and co-founder. Marriott properties are integrating PathSpot technology, including its HandScanner and SafetySuite, in back-of-house kitchen spaces as the hotel company 'focuses on the health and safety of the millions of guests that our properties serve each day,' Stephen Toevs, vice president of culinary operations for Marriott, said in a statement. Foodborne illness impacts 48 million Americans and results in thousands of deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. PathSpot's HandScanner uses fluorescent spectral imaging to identify invisible contaminants that lead to common foodborne illnesses like norovirus, E. coli and salmonella, Schindler explained. Employees place their hands under the scanner and receive results within two seconds — a green checkmark if clean or a red 'X' if contamination is detected — which prompts workers to re-wash their hands before returning to work, she said. The scanner also displays food safety tips and trainings during the process, maximizing employees' handwashing time, Schindler added. According to PathSpot data, 75% of employees fail a handwashing scan in their first week of using the tech. After consistent training and monitored washes, 95% of handwashes scanned by PathSpot result in a noncontaminated reading, per Schindler. In addition to the HandScanner, Marriott hotels have implemented PathSpot's SafetySuite, a set of interconnected hardware and software tools that log scanning data. The tech also provides services like temperature recording in refrigerators and freezers, with alerts of any temperature-related issues that may impact food quality. Data from PathSpot's SafetySuite is automatically uploaded to the tech company's cloud infrastructure, according to Schindler. This gives Marriott employees real-time access to analytics via a centralized dashboard, email reports, API integration or text alerts. The system also tracks handwashing compliance rates and contamination trends, Schindler shared. This data 'empowers managers to identify their largest sources of risk and areas for improvement as a catalyst for corrective action and audit readiness,' she said. The SafetySuite Hub provides complete visibility into compliance rates by employee, shift or location, 'making it easy for management to identify usage patterns and address issues promptly.' The function is intended to ensure employees are actually utilizing the tech and complying with its safety recommendations. 'When employees understand that the technology protects their health, customer health and business reputation, they embrace it as an essential tool rather than an inconvenient mandate,' Schindler said. PathSpot's tech can not only keep hotel guests and employees safe from illness, but it can also create significant operational efficiencies on-property, according to Schindler. 'We support operators with significant improvements in labor optimization, audit-readiness, improved employee satisfaction and reduced food waste,' she said. PathSpot clients across the board report an average 25% decrease in employee sick days, Schindler shared. So, the tech helps 'ensure team members stay healthy while further optimizing labor efficiency,' she added. 'By digitizing traditionally manual processes like logbooks, temperature monitoring and expiration date labeling, we help businesses streamline their back-of-house operations during a time when our industry faces labor shortages and economic challenges,' Schindler said. For Marriott specifically, hotels using PathSpot reported saving two to eight hours daily on back-of-house digital monitoring and logging activities, the company shared in a release. According to Schindler, this 'frees up associates for guest-facing and culinary tasks while creating efficiencies in maintenance and engineering costs.' While Marriott is using PathSpot solely for its food and beverage operations, the HandScanner tech could be applied to other areas of a hotel's business, including housekeeping, Schindler noted. Sign in to access your portfolio
Trade Arabia
31-03-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
Marriott, PathSpot partnered on kitchen hygiene
Marriott International has partnered with PathSpot Technologies to develop a real-time hygiene management and digital kitchen system. The system, which includes a handwashing validation system and equipment monitoring technology, will be available to Marriott's portfolio of over 9,300 properties across the US, Canada, Caribbean and Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. Marriott's partnership aims to enhance the hospitality industry's innovation. 'As the world's leading global hospitality company with over 10,000 food and beverage operations, $7 billion in sales, and 53 Michelin stars across more than 30 leading brands globally, Marriott is focused on the health and safety of the millions of guests that our properties serve each day,' said Stephen Toevs, Vice President of Culinary Operations for Marriott International. 'Our collaboration with PathSpot allows Marriott to offer properties cost-effective technology that monitors food safety procedures more efficiently and effectively while empowering associates to better meet the needs of customers." Using a network of sensors plus visible, audible, and electronic cues, PathSpot's technology is engineered to immediately notify associates utilising the scanners when invisible contamination is detected, and additional handwashing is needed. By utilising PathSpot's Hand Scanner technology and logging system, Marriott properties have the ability to more efficiently adhere to strict operating procedures while streamlining handwashing record-keeping and monitoring. All Marriott properties that have installed PathSpot hand scanner technology have also implemented the PathSpot SafetySuite. The interconnected hardware and software tools are helping properties modernise, digitise, and elevate back-of-house operations to create improvements in health and safety standards, like PathSpot's real time temperature monitoring, which consistently records temperatures in refrigerators and freezers and alerts associates of any temperature-related issues that may impact food quality. Implementation of PathSpot's Hand Scanners and SafetySuite have helped properties save an estimated two to eight hours per day in back-of-house monitoring and logging, freeing up associates to focus on guest-facing efforts and allowing the properties to create efficiencies in maintenance and engineering costs as well as to reduce food waste and energy consumption. "Marriott is an industry leader in its dedication to health and safety across its portfolio,' said Christine Schindler, CEO and Co-Founder of PathSpot. 'By offering PathSpot's cost-effective food safety and operations technology to its properties, Marriott is promoting consistency, quality, efficiency, in their food and beverage operations while focusing on sustainability. We are grateful to work alongside Marriott as they take another proactive step to strengthen their rigorous safety standards. Our contamination-detection technology helps prevent foodborne illness before it can spread, ensuring a higher level of food safety for everyone they serve.'
