Celia Alvarez, who was in Houston for the recent OSHA conference, described overwhelming pain in her hands, shoulders, back and knees as she pulled and tugged to change sheets, pillowcases and 
bedcovers during her 19-year career as a hotel housekeeper in Long Beach, Calif. She’s already had knee and shoulder surgery and has operations scheduled on her lower back and hands.
OSHA has had several discussions with hotel housekeepers about their injuries and is looking closely at ergonomics enforcement. The agency also has been studying companies trying to prevent ergonomic hazards, he said.
The hospitality industry is also paying attention.
Since the study came out last year, hotel companies have been working on new ways to reduce injuries, said Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association in Washington. Some have added extra employees so housekeepers don’t have to do heavy lifting.
Celia Alvarez, who was in Houston for the recent OSHA conference, described overwhelming pain in her hands, shoulders, back and knees as she pulled and tugged to change sheets, pillowcases and bedcovers during her 19-year career as a hotel housekeeper in Long Beach, Calif. She’s already had knee and shoulder surgery and has operations scheduled on her lower back and hands.
Alvarez, who cleaned 25 to 30 rooms a day before becoming permanently disabled, said that for years she was not given a mop to clean bathroom floors, so she’d throw down towels and move her leg around, using it as if it were a mop handle.
Alvarez said she received little training in how to avoid repetitive stress injuries. If someone was injured, the housekeepers would be led in group warm-up exercises before a shift began, but that would usually last just for a few days, she said.
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