Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries in Housekeepers Regulation
California employers in the hotel and lodging industry are required to implement an effective, written safety program to prevent work-related injuries suffered by housekeeping workers. (8 CCR § 3345). The regulation which sets this standard outlines the basic framework of the safety program. The standard requires an annual worksite evaluation, procedures to ensure safe work practices are followed, procedures to investigate musculoskeletal injuries, implementing corrective measures, and providing housekeepers with the proper tools and equipment and training. Cal/OSHA encourages covered employers to post the Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries in Housekeepers Poster as part of their musculoskeletal injury prevention programs (MIPP).
Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries in Housekeepers Poster Details
The poster covers the following:
Establishments covered by the regulation:
- Hotels
- Motels
- Resorts
- Bed and breakfast inns
- Other lodging establishments
Causes and examples of musculoskeletal injures:
A musculoskeletal injury is caused by a single traumatic event or by repeated exposure over weeks, months or years to repetitive motion, force, vibration or awkward positions. Activities and tasks that can cause musculoskeletal injuries include slips, trips, falls, reaching, lifting, bending, twisting, kneeling, squatting, pushing and pulling, falling objects, and pressing against surfaces.
These injuries can affect a person’s muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, bone, back, or blood vessels. They can cause pain in the back, wrist, shoulder, neck, or other parts of the body.
Required elements of the employer’s MIPP program:
- Procedures for identifying and evaluating housekeeping hazards through worksite evaluations
- Procedures to investigate musculoskeletal injuries to housekeepers
- Methods or procedures to correct identified hazards
- Training for housekeepers and their supervisors on the signs, symptoms and risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries to housekeepers and safe work practices including the use of tools and equipment.
Housekeepers’ rights:
- To participate and be informed of worksite evaluations in a language they can understand
- To participate in identifying and evaluating possible ways to correct hazards
- Ask questions and have questions answered during training
- Provide input during an investigation of a musculoskeletal injury
- Have a union representative participate in worksite evaluations and be present during an investigation of injuries