Hotel Industry Employee Injury Risk Management: Housekeepers File “Multicity Injury Complaint” That Demands Hotel Management Use “Fitted Sheets”, “Long-Handled Mops And Dusters” And Lower Room Quotas To Reduce Injuries

The complaints recommend the hotels:

• use fitted sheets to reduce the number of times that women must lift 100-plus pound mattresses;
• long-handled mops and dusters, so workers do not have to get down on their hands and knees to clean the floors or climb bathtubs to reach high surfaces;
• and what the union considers to be “reasonable” room quotas.

Housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa joined with their mainland counterparts to file the first multicity injury complaint against the hotel operator with the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In addition to Honolulu, complaints were filed by workers at a dozen Hyatt properties in San Antonio; Chicago; San Francisco; Santa Clara, Calif.; Los Angeles; Long Beach, Calif.; and Indianapolis. Those properties employ more than 3,500 workers, according to Unite Here Local 5, the hotel workers union.

Some Hyatt properties require room attendants to clean as many as 30 rooms a day, nearly double the industry standard, according to the union. Housekeeping duties include heavy lifting of beds, linens and other work that can strain the body.

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