WORKPLACE SAFETY

Chicago Hotels to Roll Out Panic Buttons for Employees to Combat Sexual Harassment

The city is pushing to get devices distributed by July 1.

Chicago hotels are now rolling out “panic buttons” for hotel staff to address the threat of workers being “sexually assaulted or harassed by guests,” The Chicago Tribune reports. An ordinance approving the buttons was passed in October, and now the city is pushing to get the devices distributed by the July 1 deadline, ahead of the busy tourist season. When pressed, the buttons would send a message that “instantaneously goes to the cellphones of supervisors” that would include the “device number, the name of the employee in distress, and room number where she is located.” Las Vegas hotel unions have asked for the implementation of similar panic buttons in their own workplaces.