Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Hotel housekeepers are more prone to workplace injuries

On behalf of Godwin and Rubin posted in Workplace Injuries on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

Summer time is a time of family vacation and fun in California. Vacation frequently means staying in a hotel. Hotel stays are a welcome part of the vacation in that part of the experience is enjoying a break from such mundane tasks as making the bed and cleaning the bathroom. The hotel staffs take care of that task not just for one family, but for all families staying in the hotel. Unfortunately, hotel housekeepers are more prone to workplace injuries than other workers in the hospitality industry.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) together with the state of California are attempting to establish a new safety standard nationwide for hotel housekeepers. The program is called the Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program (MIPP). Its aim is to address the hazards of housekeeping.

The MIPP addresses injuries caused by repetitive tasks repeated many times a day by hotel housekeeping staff. These injuries can be caused by such tasks as pushing heavy carts, picking up laundry and lifting heavy mattresses. The program will take effect Oct. 1, 2018.

While this program may help to reduce workplace injuries suffered by hotel housekeepers in California, it will not prevent all of them nor erase what has already happened. A person in the hotel housekeeping industry who has suffered such an injury may wish to seek some form of compensation. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney may be able to guide a person in the best legal path to pursue in order to obtain any benefits that the worker may be entitled to.