Chemical and Back Risks for Hotel Room Attendants

Room attendant safety starts with a room cycle

A room attendant’s shift is a repetition of the same cycle: open the door, strip the dirty sheets, make the bed, clean the bathroom, collect the rubbish, restock and push the trolley to the next room. The most common mistake in room attendant safety is to treat this cycle as a single “cleaning job”. In reality, each step has its own load, and these loads are repeated dozens of times in a shift.

Housekeeping risks fall into three groups: physical load on the back, shoulders and knees; exposure to cleaning chemicals by inhalation and through the skin; and encountering sharps and body fluids left by guests. We covered the hotel’s general OHS arrangements, that is the kitchen, technical services and emergencies in a building with guests, in our article on OHS in hotels. In this article we focus only on housekeeping.

Bed-making: where does the back and shoulder load come from?

Bed-making loads the back for two reasons: bending the trunk forward, and lifting the edge of the mattress in that bent posture. Lifting the mattress to tuck the sheet under it, reaching to the far side of the bed and holding the arms above shoulder height while putting on the duvet cover are the movements that cause the most complaints. Folding and carrying extra beds and periodically turning mattresses are tasks done less often, but they bring the heaviest load in a single go.

Art. 4 of the Regulation on Manual Handling defines manual handling not only as lifting but also as lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and supporting. Art. 5 requires the employer first to organise the work so that it does not require manual handling and, where this is not possible, to provide methods that reduce the risk. In housekeeping, this principle translates into the following arrangements:

• Walk instead of reaching. The far side of the bed is reached not by stretching the trunk but by walking round to the other side. For this, a clearance should be left between the bed and the wall or furniture.
• Kneeling work. Tucking under the mattress is done with one knee on the floor and the mattress edge lifted only a few centimetres. Providing knee pads makes this posture sustainable.
• Materials that reduce lifting. Fitted bottom sheets with elasticated corners reduce the need to lift the mattress. This effect should also be considered in purchasing decisions.
• Two-person tasks. Turning mattresses and carrying extra beds are not left to one person; the housekeeping supervisor has these tasks done in a planned way by two people.
• Room load. The number of rooms to be cleaned in a shift is balanced according to the ratio of departure rooms to stay-over rooms. In a departure room the bed is fully stripped, so there is far more lifting and bending.

For the basic movements that can be used in lifting training, see our article on manual handling and lifting technique.

Bathroom cleaning: knees, reaching and slippery floors

The bathroom is where the room attendant bends most and uses the most chemicals. Reaching from the outer edge of the bath to its inner wall, kneeling to wipe behind the toilet and wiping the shower screen right to the top are sources of repetitive strain. Because the same area is wet, the slip risk is also here.

Practical measures:

1. Use long-handled brushes and sponges so that cleaning can be done without climbing into the bath or stretching the trunk to the far wall.
2. For high surfaces, a suitable step is used, not a chair or the edge of the bath.
3. Knee pads are used for kneeling tasks, and the time spent kneeling on the floor is kept short.
4. Shoes with non-slip soles are worn on wet floors; the floor is dried by working backwards towards the door.
5. The bathroom ventilation is kept running during cleaning; work is not done with the door closed.

The housekeeping trolley: pushing, pulling and loading

The housekeeping trolley is a heavy load pushed and pulled all day along carpeted corridors, over thresholds and into lifts. At the start of the shift the trolley is at its heaviest with clean towels and sheets; as the day goes on, the dirty laundry bag becomes heavy instead. A bag full of wet towels is much heavier than it looks.

Points to check on the housekeeping trolley:

• Wheels: Wheels of sufficient diameter that turn easily on carpet are chosen. Wheels that jam or squeak are put on the maintenance list; a faulty wheel noticeably increases the pushing force.
• Loading plan: Heavy items, such as boxes of shampoo and water bottles, are placed on the shelf at waist height. The top and bottom shelves are kept for light items.
• Visibility: Items are not piled on top of the trolley so high that they block the view. The trolley is pushed with a view of the way ahead; except for tight turns, it is not pulled while walking backwards.
• Dirty laundry: The bag is changed at a set fill level; an overfull bag is not pressed down and compacted when lifted.
• Floor pantry: In the floor pantry where the trolley is loaded each morning, shelves are arranged between waist and shoulder height.

Hotel cleaning chemicals: dosing, sprays and skin

Hotel cleaning chemicals are usually bought as concentrates and diluted in the floor pantry. The moment of highest risk is when the concentrated product is transferred in an open container. When diluted products are used as sprays in small, enclosed bathrooms, exposure by inhalation increases.

Art. 7 of the Regulation on Health and Safety Measures for Work with Chemical Substances requires the number of employees working with hazardous chemicals and the quantity used to be kept to a minimum, and substitution with a less hazardous product where possible. The practical equivalents in housekeeping are these:

• Where possible, concentrated products are diluted from a fixed dosing unit; manual measuring and transfer are reduced.
• Every spray bottle is labelled with the name of the product it contains; an unlabelled bottle is not put on the trolley.
• If the product can be applied to the cloth rather than sprayed onto the surface, this method is preferred; the amount that becomes airborne is reduced.
• If bleach and an acidic descaler are to be used in the same bathroom, the second product is not used until the first has been rinsed off. We have set out in a table which mixtures release gas in our article on the risks for cleaning staff.

The main problem on the skin side is “wet work”: hands in contact with water and detergent all day become dry, cracked and irritated. Gloves are selected according to the product’s safety data sheet; if sweating inside the gloves lasts a long time, cotton liner gloves are considered. Keeping hand cream in the floor pantry is a simple but effective measure. For symptoms and the physician’s assessment, see our article on occupational dermatitis.

Sharps and body fluids: the risk inside the sheets

A room attendant’s needlestick injury usually comes from an object they cannot see: an insulin pen needle left between the sheets, a razor blade in the bin or a piece of broken glass. For this reason, the rules should be built on the principle of “do not put your hand where you cannot see”:

• Dirty sheets and towels are collected by holding the corners, not by gathering them in the arms, and are not shaken out.
• The bin is not compacted by pressing down with the hand; the bag is held by its neck and carried away from the body.
• The housekeeping trolley carries a small puncture-resistant sharps container. Needles or razor blades are placed in the container with a suitable tool, not by hand.
• Textiles contaminated with blood or vomit are collected in a separate bag and sent to the laundry marked.

We explained what to do in the event of a needlestick or cut in our article on sharps injuries. Events that do not result in injury, such as finding a needle in the sheets, should also be recorded as near misses; if they recur on the same floor, measures such as placing sharps containers in rooms for guests are considered.

Risk assessment table for housekeeping

The table below can be used as a starting point when preparing a risk assessment for the housekeeping department. Scoring and prioritisation are done according to the business’s own conditions.

The table becomes meaningful together with the workplace physician’s health surveillance. If musculoskeletal complaints and hand dermatitis are noticed early under the workplace physician service, a small change in task allocation or material choice can prevent a situation that would otherwise end in incapacity for work. At Bursa Sistemer OSGB, we plan housekeeping observation, risk assessment and employee training together for accommodation businesses in Bursa and the surrounding provinces; the general framework for service businesses is on our office and retail sector page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the maximum weight a room attendant can lift?

The legislation has no single kilogram limit that applies to every job. The Regulation on Manual Handling requires the weight of the load, the frequency of lifting, posture and the environment to be assessed together. For the calculation method, see our article on how many kilos can be lifted.

What personal protective equipment should room attendants be given?

The basic set is gloves suited to the safety data sheet of the chemical used, shoes with non-slip soles and knee pads for kneeling tasks. Eye protection is also kept in the floor pantry where concentrated products are handled. Selection is based on the risk assessment.

What should be done if a needle or razor blade is found in a room?

The object is not touched with bare hands; it is placed in the puncture-proof container on the trolley with a suitable tool, the incident is reported to the housekeeping supervisor and recorded. If there has been a needlestick, the wound is washed under running water and the workplace physician or a healthcare facility is consulted without delay.

How often are periodic examinations carried out for room attendants?

An examination is carried out on starting work. Periodic examinations are repeated according to the workplace’s hazard class: at least every 5 years in less hazardous workplaces, at least every 3 years in hazardous workplaces and every year in very hazardous workplaces. The workplace physician may shorten this interval according to complaints and exposure.