Grievance mechanisms and the right to refuse unsafe work in tourism

Tourism Grievance Mechanisms and the Right to Refuse Unsafe Work

Learn how tourism employers can build trusted grievance channels, respond to serious hazards and protect workers who stop or leave unsafe work.

Introduction

Tourism work is mobile, customer-facing and often organised through shifts, contractors and seasonal teams. A room attendant may notice a damaged trolley before an incident. A guide may see that weather has made an excursion unsafe. A driver may know that a vehicle should not leave the depot. The control system works only when these workers can speak up without losing income, status or future shifts.

Vietnam’s Law on Occupational Safety and Health recognises workers’ rights to safe working conditions and to complain, denounce or bring legal action. It also recognises the right to refuse or leave a workplace when a worker clearly sees a serious risk of an occupational accident threatening life or health, with an obligation to report promptly to the responsible person.  Employers should verify the current Vietnamese text and implementing instruments before applying this rule to a specific case.

What the two controls mean

A grievance mechanism is an operational route to remedy

A workplace grievance mechanism gives workers a known way to raise a concern, obtain a timely response and seek remedy. It should cover health and safety, wages and scheduling, harassment or violence, discrimination, contractor conduct and retaliation. It may accept an oral report, a form, a phone call or a digital submission. Accessibility matters more than a sophisticated platform.

The mechanism is not the same as a court, inspectorate, union process or administrative complaint. It should not require workers to give up those rights. Vietnam’s Law on Complaints sets rules for complaints concerning administrative decisions and acts, including direct or written forms and procedural rights; labour and OSH cases must also be checked against sector-specific instruments.

Refusing unsafe work is not a general refusal of management

The relevant threshold is serious and apparent danger to life or health, not ordinary inconvenience or disagreement over a task. A worker should move to safety and notify a responsible person. The employer should prevent further exposure, assess the facts and provide a safe alternative where possible.

ILO Convention No. 155 is an international reference for protection from undue consequences when workers have reasonable justification to believe that work presents an imminent and serious danger to life or health. This international principle should inform training and management conduct, but it does not replace Vietnamese law or create a one-size-fits-all test for every workplace dispute.

Risks in hotels, attractions and tours

Hotels commonly face falls, electricity, heat, knives, cleaning chemicals, manual handling, pool operations, violence from guests and fatigue. Tour operators add road safety, water activities, weather, terrain, remote locations, supplier controls and emergency communications. Psychological violence and harassment also belong in the risk picture. A channel that accepts only “physical accidents” is incomplete.

Contractors, guides, drivers, casual workers and agency staff may hesitate to report because they fear losing the next assignment. The mechanism should explain whether and how the business can protect them, and contracts should require suppliers to communicate the same reporting and safety expectations.

A practical implementation process

1. Commit publicly

Publish a short policy: workers may raise concerns, serious hazards require immediate protection, retaliation is prohibited, reports are free, confidentiality is handled carefully and the company will communicate outcomes. Translate it into languages workers understand and place it where shifts actually start.

2. Provide safe routes

Offer a supervisor route, an HR or safety focal point, a confidential channel and an escalation route when the supervisor is involved. A night-shift number and an emergency procedure are important in hotels and transport operations. Workers should not have to enter an unsafe area to make a report.

3. Triage before investigating

Ask whether the danger is still present, whether anyone is injured and what temporary control is needed. Stop, isolate, evacuate or substitute work when required. Record the time, location, hazard, people exposed and immediate action.

4. Investigate fairly

Use a person without a conflict of interest. Interview workers privately and review maintenance logs, rosters, training, PPE, supplier records and relevant footage. Look for system causes such as production pressure, inadequate staffing or unrealistic itineraries rather than treating the reporter as the problem.

5. Remedy and follow up

Give the reporter an acknowledgement and an appropriate update. Assign each corrective action an owner and due date. Follow up after the incident to test whether the hazard is controlled and whether the worker experienced schedule changes, wage loss, threats or other retaliation.

6. Learn and measure

Review closure time, repeated hazards, overdue actions, access by contractors and signs of retaliation. A low number of complaints can mean either low risk or low trust. Survey workers and conduct exercises so they know what to do before a real event occurs.

Roles and evidence

Senior leaders set the tone and resources. Supervisors stop unsafe work and escalate. HR protects confidentiality and checks for retaliation. Safety leads assess hazards and verify corrective actions. Worker representatives support participation. Procurement and supplier managers extend requirements to transport, cleaning, activities and staffing agencies.

Useful evidence includes the policy, communication records, focal-point list, training attendance, risk assessments, inspection and maintenance records, grievance logs, triage decisions, investigation notes, corrective-action tracking and post-case checks. Keep personal data limited and access controlled. Travelife’s public certification page describes staged participation, independent assessment and periodic reassessment; the applicable Travelife checklist should be consulted for the exact tourism or accommodation requirements.

Example

A rafting guide reports that water levels and weather have changed beyond the company’s operating limits. The supervisor pauses departure, checks the operational risk assessment, informs customers and arranges a safe alternative. The guide is not penalised for delaying the programme. The company later reviews the weather trigger, supplier communication and customer-service script. The report has prevented harm and improved the system.

Frequently asked questions

Can a worker refuse any task they consider uncomfortable?

Not automatically. The Vietnamese statutory right concerns a clearly perceived, serious threat to life or health. The worker should report promptly and follow emergency and safety procedures. The employer should investigate rather than retaliate first.

Must a company guarantee complete anonymity?

Not necessarily. A company should protect confidentiality as far as practical and lawful, explain when information must be shared, and offer an alternative route where the alleged respondent is the line manager. Anonymous reporting can be useful but still requires enough facts to investigate.

Is Travelife the same as Vietnamese law?

No. Travelife is a sustainability certification programme. Its assessment requirements are voluntary programme requirements; statutory duties remain governed by Vietnamese law and competent authorities.

Does ECPAT’s The Code define worker safety?

No. The Code is a voluntary tourism initiative focused on preventing the sexual exploitation of children. Its six criteria concern policy, training, contractual commitments, traveller information, stakeholder cooperation and reporting.

What should employers do when legal guidance has changed?

Pause assumptions, check the latest official legal text and implementing documents, confirm the competent authority, and update internal procedures and training. Keep the date and version of the legal review in the compliance file.

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