Cleaning a hotel room is as difficult as construction work? That's what an Ergonomics professor says as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
As hotels invest more in luxurious extras to attract guests, hotel hospitality workers are feeling the strain of heavier comforters, state-of-the-art mattresses and fluffier pillows.
Ergonomics professor William Marras from Ohio State University patented a device that, when worn by a worker, measures the twists, turns, exertions and other factors that lead to back and shoulder injuries.
Last year, Marras began to run tests on housekeepers, who in the Philadelphia area start out at an hourly wage of $7 to $13. What he found so astounded him that he ran the tests again. "I said: 'This can't be right.' "
By his calculations, a hotel housekeeper, changing sheets and wiping down showers in an air-conditioned, carpeted hotel room, is as much at risk for a back injury as a construction worker, lifting boards and hauling concrete.
"When I saw how many exertions per day they were exposed to, it made sense," he said.
"When you are making a bed, you are lifting the head or foot of the bed with lateral, twisting motions," he said. "When you do it quickly, that's where the problems are. There are good biomechanical reasons why it hurts."
UNITE HERE's Hotel Workers Rising campaign is working to improve conditions for hospitality workers.
In some hotels, the union [has] managed to negotiate changes to help the workers, chiefly reducing the number of rooms to be cleaned. Mops can replace hands-and-knees scrubbing, and long-handled dusters can reduce reaching.
