Tag: tam card

A Reminder on Responsible Beverage Service: California Restaurant’s Liquor License Revoked for Selling to Minors

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Closed_RestaurantOver 200,000 hospitality and service workers are employed in Clark County, most of who are required, by state law, to receive alcohol awareness training and carry an alcohol education card. How many of them work for you? Are you confident that your staff was properly trained to spot minors using fake I.D. and to take the risk seriously?

A recent news story out of California details the dangers of lax beverage service policies. The Camino Real Restaurant in Bakersfield had its liquor license suspended in 2011 for 20 days after employees served alcohol to a minor who later died in a DUI crash. This week the California Alcoholic Beverage Control has revoked the restaurant’s liquor license for serving alcohol to minors in a decoy operation; this happened while the restaurant was still on probation for the original 2011 offense.

California isn’t the only state to get tough on liquor laws. Nevada law enforcement agencies are working to strictly enforce state and local laws, and are performing routine decoy operations and sobriety checkpoints. In Nevada, hospitality workers who are caught serving minors may be charged with a misdemeanor which can result in up to 6 months in jail and up to a $1000 fine. Owners and managers of businesses that are caught selling alcohol to minors can also be issued citations and could face the revocation of their business licenses.

Every establishment needs policies and procedures to prevent underage persons from obtaining alcohol, and to protect themselves from liability, and the public from harm. Additionally, losing a liquor license means a loss of liquor revenue which can cripple an establishment’s profits. Decoy operations are not just used to catch those selling alcohol to minors, they can also be used to check the validity of your alcohol education card and whether it is expired. Make sure your TAM® training is up-to-date or sign up today for one of our alcohol awareness classes.

Don’t put yourself or your business at risk. Always ask for identification, and get educated on effective ways to help stop teen drinking.

Resources

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

NTSB Recommends Lowering Legal Limit on Drunk Driving from .08 to .05

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drunk-drivingDrunk driving continues to be a serious problem that results in over 10,000 deaths each year on U.S. roads; that accounts for one-third of all traffic-related fatalities (CDC). In fact, The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department reported that drinking and driving arrests were up 18% in 2012 over 2011. That works out to approximately 30 DUI arrests every day in Las Vegas. Police, beverage service professionals, and community agencies work together each year to combat the problem through a mix of education, safe beverage service, sobriety checkpoints, decoy operations and more. But, could more be done to keep impaired drivers off of the road?

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board made a recommendation that states lower the legal blood alcohol concentration limit from .08 to .05 for driving a vehicle in an effort to further reduce crashes (Las Vegas Sun). In 2000, Congress passed a measure that required states to lower the legal limit to .08 by 2003 to avoid losing a portion of their federal highway construction funding. The legal limit for intoxication in Nevada has been set at .08 since 2003.

The new NTSB recommendation is drawing mixed reviews from various groups and individuals across Nevada (Action News 13) but it does get people talking about the issue and draws attention to the dangers of buzzed and drunk driving. Arguments have also been made that the focus should instead be placed on tougher restrictions for repeat DUI offenders and those with BAC’s of .10 or higher.

No matter where you stand on the issue of a change to the legal BAC limit for driving a vehicle, it is important to always practice the Techniques of Alcohol Management®. Do your part to serve responsibly and monitor your patrons closely for signs of intoxication. For more tips on how to help prevent impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel, check out our blog post “Are You Doing All You Can to Prevent Drunk Driving?”

Do you think a lower legal BAC limit would help to reduce drunken driving-related crashes? What tips would you give someone else to help prevent intoxicated individuals from getting behind the wheel of a car?

Resources

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Meet Our Instructors: Mike Barden

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mikebardenWelcome back for the next in our “Meet Our Instructors” series of blog posts. Before we profile another one of our instructors, we’d like to give a warm welcome to the newest TAM® of Nevada employee, Manuel. Manuel will be working at our front desk, so make sure to say “hello” when you come in for your alcohol awareness class or proctored exam. This week, let’s meet another one of our instructors, a true beverage industry expert, Mr. Mike Barden.

Before becoming a certified TAM® Instructor, Mike worked at Nevada Beverage Co. for nearly 28 years, holding many roles, including merchandiser, salesman, supervisor of P.O.S department and sales supervisor. For 12 years, Mike was head of training at Nevada Beverage Co., with the responsibility of training everyone in the sales and merchandising department for their positions and making sure existing employees stayed current with company training.

Now, Mike brings his real-world experience to students at the TAM of Nevada office.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a TAM Card holder?

Mike: Remember to ID everyone under the age of 30 and watch for fake ID’s.

What originally attracted you to work in the hospitality industry?

Mike: Interesting people, and the knowledge they have of gaming and hotels.

What’s your favorite thing about living and working in Las Vegas?

Mike: I love the climate, and get to play golf more often. I also love the variety of people here in Vegas; it’s truly a 24-hour town.

If you’d like to attend a TAM® Class taught by Mike, register for a class on our website. Mike’s teaching schedule varies by week, but you can normally find him teaching students on Mondays and Wednesdays. Or, visit us for one of our regularly scheduled classes with any of our talented instructors.

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Announcing Our Quarterly Customer Satisfaction Survey Winner

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Have you recently completed a TAM® class with us? Let us know about it! We are always happy to hear from our customers about their experiences with our alcohol awareness training program. If you’ve completed your alcohol awareness training with us in the past, you know that at the conclusion of the course we invite students to complete a short survey about their experience with TAM® of Nevada. And, as a token of thanks for their participation, we enter survey respondents into a drawing for a $100 Amazon.com gift card prize.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our students for their survey comments and feedback. We’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mari S., the most recent winner of our quarterly drawing. If you’ve recently completed your TAM® course and haven’t yet completed the customer satisfaction survey, we invite you to visit us on Facebook to access the survey and submit your responses. While you are there, write on our Wall! Let us know your favorite part of the training, what you learned, or ask us any questions you might have.

Our customer satisfaction survey is available to both online and classroom students. Thank you again to all of our customers for your patronage and helpful responses. Remember to visit us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada