Serving Alcohol in Texas is a Privilege and Should be Done Safely
There was a time when being a bartender and knowing how to serve customers properly meant being up-to-date with the local craft beer, mixing a drink like Tom Cruise in Cocktail, or even just advising on what wine to pair with what meal.
Well, the bar (so to speak) has been raised higher: it’s time we talk about safe serving and why it’s a good idea.
Overserving your customers is something that bars, restaurants, and nightclubs are very wary of doing. “Dram shop” laws mean that a venue can be held liable if a customer gets drunk at their premises and then causes an accident later on that evening.
In the insurance world, this is called ‘third party liability.’ The way venue owners get around running their business with a heightened sense of risk that one of their customers is going to run the risk of being indirectly sued because of, say, a drunk driving accident is by meeting the requirements of the ‘Safe Harbor Defense.’
Having bar staff – or anyone involved in the sale of liquor – trained on how to serve customers properly is the cornerstone of safe serving and why it’s a good idea.
Being trained in how to serve customers properly has, at its core, the values of what it means nowadays to look after a customer. It’s about creating a safe environment for patrons at your venue, as well as ensuring that they keep returning as happy customers.
There are many aspects to safe serving and why it’s a good idea. You get taught how to check for fake IDs and when someone is showing signs of inebriation. This is because most of your patrons don’t want to be mixing with underage drinkers or people who have had “a few too many.”
Chaos created in your watering hole can spill out onto the roads. This is when it becomes a bigger problem for all Texans. Serving alcohol in Texas is a privilege and should be done safely.
Having a liquor license in Texas is like having a driver’s license. It comes with the acknowledgment of a social responsibility that we are all in this together. If we all abide by the rules, we can all have a good time.
Knowing how to serve customers properly with the right safe server training will also mean that you are way more employable as a person working in the alcohol industry.
It’s awesome knowing how to make The Love Potion Cocktail or The Texas Buck. With safe server training as an added string to your bow, you’ll also learn how to serve customers properly – and where the buck stops.
With the passing of Texas House Bill 1518 (which allows the sale of beer and wine before noon on a Sunday) as well as the beer-to-go bill (which allows for the sale of ‘takeaway’ alcohol), the stakes are higher than ever—that all the right people are fully on board with the concept of safe serving and why it’s a good idea.
With great freedom comes greater responsibility, as the saying goes. Please help spread the word amongst citizens of the Lonestar State that are involved in the sale of alcohol that safe serving is surely the way to go.