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Housekeepers Cope with Persistent Pain on the Job |
NEW YORK, April 24, 2006 - A new study, "Creating Luxury, Enduring
Pain" couples new research with the stories of hotel housekeepers to paint
a dramatic picture of the work of a hotel housekeeper. Findings show that
behind the luxury and comfort that housekeepers provide for hotel guests
is a pattern of persistent pain and injury.
The report utilizes the first comprehensive analysis of employer records of worker injuries, including records of the major five hotel companies. The analysis covers seven years (1999 - 2005) and over 60 hotel properties with approximately 40,000 hotel employees. The report finds that not only are housekeepers injured more frequently than other hotel and service workers, but this problem is only getting worse as hotel companies implement room changes including heavier beds and linens and in room amenities like coffee makers and treadmills. Housekeepers endure this workplace pain and continue to work because
they value their jobs and their customers. Valessie McCaskill, a housekeeper
at the Chicago Hilton and Towers explains, "Some days my leg would swell
up and I would literally limp from room to room. When the pain was at its
worst, I would sit on the beds and cry because it hurt so much. In the
rooms, at least no one would see me."
The statistical analyses of hotel housekeeper pain and injury is based on recent work by a group of occupational medicine experts in conjunction with UNITE HERE. The results were presented at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's 2006 National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) symposium last week. Using hotel employer records of housekeeper injuries, combined with evidence from earlier surveys, the study reveals that housekeepers face prevalent pain and disproportionate rates of workplace injury. Key Findings:
The evidence strongly implicates increasingly excessive workloads in the rising rates of musculoskeletal disorders among hotel housekeepers. Hotel housekeeping workloads and the physical demands of the work have increased significantly in recent years as the hotels have upgraded and introduced new room amenities like luxury beds with heavy mattresses, triple sheeting and heavy duvets. Leticia Ceballos, a hotel housekeeper at Glendale Hilton (Los Angeles): "I have sharp pains when I bend. Putting the sheets on the beds and cleaning the toilets and bathtubs hurt the most. After the hotel put in the heavier beds and linens, the pain became more severe." Hotel workers across North America are coming together to improve working conditions through the Hotel Workers Rising campaign. In addition to improved wages and benefits, workplace pain and injury is a major concern for hotel workers, and local unions often include proposals to improve workplace safety as part of their collective bargaining agreements. Safe workloads are expected to be in issue in many cities this year as 60,000 hotel workers negotiate new contracts.
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Contact
UNITE HERE
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Also See: | Hotel Cleaning 101: Tips from Executive Housekeepers with National Trust Historic Hotels of America / March 2006 |
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