When you walk into your vacation or business trip oasis, more commonly known as your hotel or resort, you’ll likely comment on the decor, the amenities, the quality fo the bed, and the cleanliness of the place. Being happy with your hotel or resort choice is extremely refreshing because you never really what you’re walking into unless you’ve been a guest at the location before.
While all hotels, motels, and resorts are not five-star, that doesn’t mean they don’t take pride in the quality and cleanliness of their hotel property. In fact, the employees who keep it clean face more on-the-job hazards than most Americans may realize.
Hotel worker workplace hazards
Workplace safety should be paramount in all industries. While many hotels and resorts have policies to keep their employees safe, housekeepers still face daily hazards, including:
Slips and falls: cleaning room floors, hallway floors, or the bottom of a bathroom create slick surfaces that could result in a slip and fall injury.
Long-term respiratory issues: Housekeepers use chemically induced cleaning products daily. Consistent exposure can lead to chronic respiratory ailments.
Infectious disease: Hotels host an array of different individuals every day. Thus, some of the people that stay in their respective hotels are going to be sick. Some ailments are very infectious and can infect the housekeepers or other hotel staff. If these hotel employees encounter broken glass or a clogged toilet, that only adds to the number of pathogens they encounter.
Daily stress: Being a hotel housekeeper is stressful work considering how many rooms you’re supposed to clean each day, and many of them work long hours.
Overuse injuries: Being a housekeeper requires you to do the same repetitive movements (vacuuming, wiping, dusting, scrubbing, replacing bedding) dozens of times each day, leading to muscle strains, tears, and even chronic back problems.
Lastly, since hotel guests come from all walks of life and have differing personalities, a hotel employee could be assaulted or harassed by a guest or unwelcomed loiterer at the hotel property.
If you get injured on the job, workers’ compensation and attorneys who fight for your rights are there for you. There is no need to tough it out.