The kitchen is located in a flat-roofed extension that was added during the hotel conversion. A bakery is located in an old, converted barn. There has not been any major work on the kitchen or the bakery since the conversion. The bakery produces all the bread, biscuits and pastries for the hotel, and also supplies local shops and restaurants.
A year ago, the hotel employed a new managing director (MD). The new MD wanted to offer the hotel as a wedding venue. Three months ago, to progress their plans, the MD hired a banqueting manager (BM), who they knew from a previous place of work. Since they started, the BM has been key in preparing the hotel to host weddings, and this has included the erection of a large, permanent marquee on one of the grassed areas behind the hotel. The marquee can hold 120 seated guests, or 200 guests when standing. The hotel has its first wedding booked for this weekend. There are weddings booked for every weekend for the next nine weeks over the warmer months, so everyone working at the hotel is very busy.
The new BM will join the head chef, head baker, restaurant manager, and the MD as the senior leadership team for the hotel. The restaurant manager is responsible for the smooth running of the restaurant, including managing the waiting staff. All workers, including the temporary workers, are provided with a branded, black uniform made of a synthetic fibre to make it hard-wearing and last longer. All workers are expected to keep their uniform clean and ironed, and must always wear it at work.
The restaurant will be closed because of the wedding, so the restaurant manager has been given the task of managing all of the workers who will be serving the food at this first wedding. The restaurant manager was responsible for arranging the 10 temporary workers from Thinkwell for this event.
These workers will be helping to set up the marquee, serving food and clearing the tables, taking drink orders, and clearing up after the wedding. If they do a good job, there will be other opportunities at future weddings to gain further work experience.
Hedge cutting work
The week before the wedding, the MD wants to make sure that all of the gardens around the hotel look neat and tidy. While walking around the gardens they notice that the two, large, identical hedges on either side of the hotel driveway need cutting. They return to their office and call the head gardener (HG), who works at the hotel for two or three days each week. The MD asks if they can come to the hotel the following day to cut both of the hedges before the wedding at the weekend.
The HG, eager to please the MD, says that they should be able to.
The following morning it is already warm. The HG arrives early and collects the old petrol-powered hedge trimmer and the recently-purchased leaf blower from the storage shed, along with some petrol. The HG has worked at the hotel for over 20 years. The hotel recently recruited an assistant gardener who is still being trained and is not yet authorised to use some of the tools, such as the hedge trimmer. The assistant gardener is 19 years old and attends college two mornings a week, including this morning, so the HG will have to start the work on the hedges alone.
The hedge cutting is usually done during the warmer months, so it has been a while since the hedge trimmer was last used. However, the leaf blower gets used all year. The HG is pleased that today the weather is dry for the hedge cutting. They remember that last time these hedges were cut, it was a cold, wet day. The HG decides that there is time to smoke a cigarette before making a start on cutting the two, large, identical hedges.
As the HG is working on their own this morning, they decide to use the hedge trimmer for about half an hour and then swap to the leaf blower to clear up the cuttings from that section of the hedge.
They will then go back to using the hedge trimmer on the next section of the hedge. This pattern of work is continued throughout the morning. By lunchtime the HG is feeling quite tired but pleased, as they have managed to cut all of the hedge on one side of the driveway and tidy up. They have used the hedge trimmer for about two and a half hours, and the leaf blower for about 50 minutes, with a 15-minute break for a drink and another cigarette.
The assistant gardener arrives at the hotel from college during the lunch break, and is very excited to tell the HG what they have learnt that morning about vibration exposure. The HG is eager to get on with the afternoon’s work, which is to cut the identical hedge on the other side of the driveway. The HG will do all of the afternoon’s hedge cutting; they expect this will take the same amount of time as the morning’s work. The assistant gardener will do all of the clearing up using the leaf blower; they are not as fast as the HG and the clearing up with the leaf blower takes them about an hour and ten minutes.
Meanwhile, the BM is co-ordinating the set-up of the furniture in the marquee for the wedding. For the reception everyone will be seated on wooden chairs, with the wedding party at a long top table, and 110 guests seated around 11 large round tables. The stackable chairs, each weighing 3kg, are stored in a large shipping container that is situated away from the hotel, out of sight of the guests.
For an event like a wedding, the chairs will be loaded onto a flatbed truck the day before. On the day of the wedding, the truck will be driven across the site and parked as close as possible to the side of the marquee.
The day of the wedding
Bakery
The head baker, three bakery assistants, and a trainee baker, have all been at work in the bakery kitchen since 04:00. This is an earlier start than usual because of the wedding. There is usually a fourth bakery assistant (Worker A), but they are absent. Worker A has recently been feeling breathless and frequently coughing, so the head baker had suggested that they see someone at Wellsphere Occupational Solutions.
The trainee baker started working at the bakery three months ago, and now, in the absence of Worker A, is spending most of their time making the batches of dough for the many different types of bread rolls the bakery produces. There are two, large, floor-standing dough mixers, each able to mix ingredients that produce up to 20kg of dough. These mixers are located in the corner of the bakery near to the door that leads to the courtyard. In the bakery there is also a large dough-handling table where dough is shaped into bread products, a large proofing cabinet (cabinet with controlled temperature and humidity so that dough can rise properly), and two ovens.
When making a batch of dough, the trainee baker weighs out 10kg of flour from a 25kg sack using a scoop, before tipping this into the dough mixer. When the bag is almost empty the remaining flour is tipped directly into the mixer, before they squash the bag into the waste bin. Other powdered ingredients and water are then added to the mixer. The mixer is switched on at its highest speed. There is always some flour spilled onto the floor after the weighing, tipping, and mixing is finished.
Meanwhile, the other bakery workers are shaping dough into bread rolls and loaves. They frequently pick up a handful of flour and sprinkle it onto the table to prevent the dough from sticking. Once all of the dough required for the day has been prepared, it is the responsibility of the trainee baker to clean down the dough-handling table. This is done initially using a scraper to loosen the dough that is stuck to the table, and then it is wiped down with a dry paper towel and the floor is swept.
Setting up the chairs in the marquee
At 08:30 on the day of the wedding it is bright and sunny. The BM is eager to get ahead with setting up the marquee. Two of their team, Workers X and Y have arrived early, but the remaining workers will start at 09:30. The flatbed truck, filled with chairs, has also arrived next to the marquee, so the BM asks Workers X and Y, to start unloading the chairs and carrying them inside the marquee.
Worker X will unload the stacks of six chairs from the truck, and Worker Y will carry each stack of chairs into the marquee.
To unload the chairs from the flatbed truck, Worker X first releases the drop-down-side of the truck closest to the marquee. There is only just enough space to drop the side of the truck down, as it is parked so close to the marquee. Worker X stands as close to the truck as they can, and reaches as far as they can, to get hold of the first stack of six chairs. The flatbed of the truck is level with their chest. They grab hold of the stack by the back legs of the bottom chair. The stack is a bit unstable, but Worker X manages to steady it and lifts it off the truck. They place the stack of chairs onto the ground to their left, from where Worker Y collects the chairs and carries them inside the marquee.
Worker X continues with this unloading task, gradually working their way along the length of the flatbed truck, towards its cab. By 09:30, when the rest of the team arrives, the chairs are all unloaded and inside the marquee.
Working in the kitchen
Food preparation for the wedding is underway. In the kitchen there are three, large, electric ovens and a gas stove with eight burners. For a large event like this wedding, all of these cooking facilities will be needed. Even at the start of the day, half of the burners and two of the ovens are already in use. Later in the day all of the burners will be on, particularly when some of the workers need to make sauces, as well as cook vegetables. In addition, the kitchen has two large fridges, a large freezer, and two large dishwashers. Above the gas stove is an extraction hood; it is old and workers often complain that it is not very effective.
The head chef manages a team of 12 workers, including two senior cooks who have worked at the hotel for 10 years, and a trainee cook who only started work three months ago. Each senior cook has a team of four kitchen assistants. Two of the kitchen assistants are school leavers and have only been at the hotel for two weeks. One team is always responsible for the cold and chilled food, and the other team works on the hot main course. Finally, there is a kitchen porter, who helps wherever needed; they regularly empty the dishwasher and carefully avoid the clouds of steam that escape when the dishwasher door is opened at the end of the cycle.
The kitchen workers started work at 08:00 and it is now 10:00. Outside the sun is shining, and the day is warming up. In the kitchen the temperature is already around 25°C (approximately 77°F). The back door is propped open with a fire extinguisher, as this is the only way to allow some air to flow into the kitchen. Today will be busier than normal, as the wedding has generated a lot of extra work for the kitchen. Everything is time-critical as the wedding banquet must be served on time. One of the new kitchen assistants is standing up peeling a second batch of potatoes. They have a headache and feel light-headed. A senior cook tells them to get a glass of water and take a five- minute break to get some fresh air. The senior cook also says “Don’t be long. We don’t really have time for breaks today”. The kitchen assistant takes off their apron and protective gloves and goes outside.
Everyone at the hotel hopes that this first wedding will be successful, and all of the arrangements will become easier over the next nine weeks of future weddings.
