Hotels continue to deliver increasingly higher levels of luxury for their guests, including now providing luxurious guestroom beds that have more than doubled in weight and thickness in just the last 10 years. Unfortunately the increase in weight has led to a dramatic increase in housekeeper injuries and associated costs, which is becoming a serious and growing problem for hotel operators. According to recent studies, room attendants are now 48% more likely than other service workers to be injured on the job and 51% more likely to incur serious, disabling injuries (exceeding the risk of most manufacturing jobs). The repetitive lifting associated with bed making duties is the leading contributor to these injuries accounting for 62% of all housekeeping injuries.

Preventing these injuries is not only a safety challenge; it’s a financial challenge. Overall, insurance is the fastest growing expense for hotel operators increasing at rates 50% higher than that of labor and utility costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports injuries cost the hospitality industry $500 million in compensation claims annually, and repetitive motion injuries have the highest reported average cost per claim of $29,000 per case. The increase in injuries has also caught the attention of unions and emboldened OSHA to target ergonomic hazards in the hospitality industry. Already, several hotels have seen citations issued ranging from $14,000 to more than $50,000.

While the financial impact of an injury’s direct cost is likely dependent on a company's specific workers’ compensation program (the level of deductible, self-insurance, etc.), hotels absorb all of the indirect cost of a workplace injury. And according to a Liberty Mutual study, that can cost businesses anywhere between $2 to $5 of indirect costs for each $1 of direct costs. Indirect costs include:

• Absenteeism that costs the hospitality industry over $12 million in lost workdays every year. The average lost workdays among housekeepers is 14 days, which is twice the average of the service sector as a whole, and absences resulting from repetitive motion injuries have a median of 22 lost workdays.

• Lost productivity of employees who are impaired by and working with chronic pain. According to a study by the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), 91% of housekeepers report pain associated with their job duties, which often results in taking additional time to complete tasks, decreased quality and quantity of work, lowered capacity for peak performance, and decreased initiative and motivation. Studies indicate chronic pain reduces an employee’s performance by as much as 30% to 50%, and employees working with pain experience an average of 4.6 hours per week of lost productive time.

• Turnover costs that include: (1) replacement costs (recruiting, hiring and training newly hired housekeepers to a level of proficiency); (2) reduced service quality; and (3) poor morale and increased workload for remaining employees. The average turnover for all industries in the U.S. is about 12%. In the lodging industry, the average is more than 78%, costing the industry $140 billion annually.

What Can Be Done
Several ideas have been proposed ranging from simply reducing housekeeper workloads to the more radical idea of mandating lodging establishments to use fitted sheets instead of flat sheets. Unfortunately, most recommendations don’t wholly address or solve the issues and could pose financial hardships for an industry still recovering from the recent economic downturn.

The hospitality industry would be better served investing in sensible safety and health programs, ergonomic tools and training that minimize or eliminate stresses on the user, remove risk factors and promote safer body mechanics during the bed-making chore itself.

Of course, the success of any program is greatly dependent on management’s commitment to a sustained effort. According to Jim Stover, vice president of hospitality loss prevention for AJ Gallagher, “Our clients report a marked decrease in room attendants' soft tissue injuries caused by the repetitive, heavy lifting of bed-making duties when they are committed to effective programs and tools aimed at reducing workers’ compensation claims and lost workdays due to pain and injury.”

Companies implementing continuous safety and health improvements not only reduce the direct and indirect cost of injuries, they consistently outperform their competitors in operational efficiency, customer service and profitability. In fact, OSHA's Office of Regulatory Analysis reports that companies implementing effective safety and health programs can expect returns of $4 to $6 for every $1 invested.

Chris Montross

Chris Montross is vice president market & brand development and Bill Gonser is senior vice president of CKI Risk Solutions, which offers products and programs that solve problems and mitigate risks associated with housekeeping duties and guestroom maintenance. (888) 222-2217, www.ckisolutions.us