You spend all day on a flight to finally arrive at your hotel for the night. You check in, walk through the door, and notice your room is fairly clean, cozy and well-maintained. Finally, you take a deep breath out and climb into a clean, nicely-folded bed for a good rest.
Most of us go through these motions without thinking about the person who prepared the room for us right before we arrived. Housekeepers must be quick at their job. Making beds, restocking linens, vacuuming, tidying rooms and halls are all duties that housekeepers are expected to perform under pressure. Many hotels and motels are cutting back on cleaning staff, forcing heavy work loads on their remaining housekeepers. These individuals are expected to clean at least 15 rooms a day, performing tasks requiring awkward postures and cleaning with chemicals that put them at a high risk of injury.
Hotel and motel workers have a nonfatal injury and illness rate of 5.4, significantly higher than the combined rate of all other industries – 3.5, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS). Manual labor such as pushing cleaning carts, dusting, replacing linens, making beds, vacuuming and scrubbing bathrooms jeopardize the health and safety of housekeepers.
Common hotel and motel injuries reported by the CDC include:
- Slip and fall injuries
- Musculoskeletal disorder
- Respiratory diseases from cleaning with chemicals containing irritants such as aerosols and bleach
- Skin allergies
Housekeepers who sustain a serious injury on the job should contact Parvey & Cavenago for us to investigate if there is grounds for a lawsuit. We strongly believe that businesses are responsible for protecting their employees, and we will work to do all we can to restore your peace of mind.
