Hazards in the hotel industry, housekeeping, and working with chemicals
Section 4
Hazards in hospitality, housekeeping and working with chemicals
Work within hotel structures – from housekeeping, through technical departments, to the reception – is characterized by a huge variety of tasks. Every day, staff is exposed to contact with aggressive chemicals, biological agents, physical strain, and specific psychological conditions resulting from shift work and direct guest service. Below we discuss in detail the key hazards and methods of their minimization.
Professional cleaning chemicals and Safety Data Sheets
Chemicals used in hotels are mostly strong concentrates, which require appropriate dilution (preferably using automatic dosing systems). Direct contact with the concentrate threatens severe chemical burns to the skin and damage to the respiratory tract.
- Prohibition of combining substances: It is strictly forbidden to mix different preparations! The most common and dangerous mistake in housekeeping is combining chlorine-based agents (e.g., bleaches, sanitary disinfectants) with acidic agents (e.g., descalers). Such a chemical reaction causes the immediate release of highly toxic gas (chlorine), which can lead to fainting, pulmonary edema, and even death in a closed, small room (like a hotel bathroom).
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS): A Safety Data Sheet must be available for every chemical preparation in the facility. It contains, among others, the composition, warning pictograms, rules of safe storage, and most importantly, first aid instructions in case of swallowing, or splashing in the eyes or on the skin. The employee must know where this binder is located.
When working with chemicals, the employee must use appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – primarily protective gloves resistant to chemicals (ordinary, thin latex gloves may degrade), and when pouring concentrates – safety goggles.
Biological hazards and safe cleaning
Cleaning staff encounter biological hazards on a daily basis. The most common include: bloodborne pathogens, viruses, fungi, and bacteria living in restrooms and on dirty bedding. The handling of infectious material is critical to the employee’s health.
- Contaminated bedding and towels: Never hug dirty bedding to your body while removing and carrying it. The materials may contain sharp objects (e.g., needles, broken glass) or bodily fluids. Dirty bed linen should be rolled inwards and placed in special bags (maintaining separation by degree of soiling/contamination).
- Emptying trash cans: It is strictly forbidden to compress trash with hands or feet. In hotel bins, guests often throw away broken glass, razor blades, or syringes. Trash bags should be grabbed by the top edge, away from the body.
Ergonomics at work and service carts
Housekeeping work involves immense physical effort and monotonous, repetitive movements. Lifting mattresses when making beds, bending over bathtubs, and moving heavy furniture leads to chronic musculoskeletal disorders (especially of the lumbar spine).
Operating the service cart: A full housekeeper’s cart can weigh up to several dozen kilograms. Pushing it on carpets requires a lot of force. The cart must always be pushed with both hands, not pulled behind you (pulling causes twisting of the torso and extreme strain on the spine). Furthermore, the cart in the hotel corridor must be parked so that it does not block escape routes (it cannot block fire extinguishers, doors to stairwells, or passageways).
Technical workers and maintenance staff
Maintenance staff in a hotel are employees with a very wide spectrum of tasks – from repairing a tap, through painting, to interfering with electrical systems. Their work carries a high risk of accidents.
- Working on ladders: Ladders should be used exclusively as temporary workstations for light work (e.g., changing a light bulb). Tools should be kept in a tool belt so that the worker always has three points of contact (e.g., both feet and one hand). It is strictly forbidden to stand on the highest, unprotected step of a stepladder.
- Electrical work and mechanical devices: During machine repairs (e.g., a jammed washing machine in the hotel laundry), the energy isolation principle (LOTO – Lockout/Tagout) must be applied. This means cutting off the power supply and securing the switch so that no one accidentally turns on the device during the repair.
Occupational safety at the reception
The work of a receptionist combines the nuisances of working with a display screen (posture defects, eye strain) with enormous psychosocial risk. The biggest challenge from the OSH point of view is shift and night work.
Working at night disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm, which promotes chronic fatigue, cardiological diseases, and a drop in concentration. A receptionist working the night shift often acts as a “lone worker”. This requires the implementation of specific safety procedures: from providing monitoring, through access to panic buttons notifying the intervention group, to training in assertive and safe reaction to verbal and physical aggression from intoxicated or problematic guests.
Quick Question — Chemical safety
During a thorough bathroom cleaning, a housekeeper encounters a very stubborn stain. A standard descaler (an acidic agent) works too slowly. The employee considers adding a strong chlorine-based disinfectant (bleach) to it to “boost” the effect. What should she do?