If you serve alcohol in your establishment you’re bound to run into booze-related woes – whether they be legal or safety related. But there are some easy practices and standards you can keep up with that’ll help you avoid any trouble. The most important thing to do is educate all of your employees. Dig:

• Train your staff in the “do’s” and “don’t’s” of serving alcohol in your establishment. This doesn’t just include bartenders, EVERY one of your employees, managers, busboys, etc. should be trained in this and provided with essential knowledge in keeping your customers and employees safe.

• Teach them how to recognize intoxication and how to keep track of how many drinks a customer has had and how to communicate this info to other employees.

• Establish and maintain a consistent method for checking IDs.

• Teach your employees about what foods will encourage the absorption of alcohol – like starch-heavy foods, for instance.

• Train your employees how to cut off a customer from drinking more alcohol. Customers can sometimes get insulted and angry at being cut off, so make sure your employees have back up if needed!

• Keep the phone numbers of taxi services handy in case a customer is too inebriated to drive.

• You may want to think about establishing a “designated driver incentive” program that provides free soft drinks, appetizers, desserts, etc. to customers who are designated drivers.

Be smart and consistent with your policies and standards and you can easily avoid legal action and fines out the wazoo. But more importantly, this practices will keep your employees and customers safe from harm.

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