Risks and Controls in Hotel Housekeeping

This document discusses the risks and controls involved in hotel housekeeping tasks such as vacuuming wet floors, cleaning washrooms, and using chemical cleaning agents. It also provides recommendations for additional controls to mitigate the risks.

Task or scenario Hazard/s Associated harm, e.g.
what could go wrong? Existing Risk Controls
Current
risk
rating
Use the
Risk
Matrix
Any additional controls
are required?1
Residual
risk
rating
Use the
Risk
Matrix
To vacuum the wet
floors of the hotel
rooms and dusting
the stair cases
Musculoskeletal
disease and injuries
The task of the scrubbing of
the wet washroom of 20-30
hotel rooms tends to cause
the body of the housekeeping
staff to move and bend in
various of the ways that leads
to sprain, strain and tear the
muscles and the tendons.
The existing control for the
risk is near to zero since
the hotel employers are
concerned about the
satisfaction of the
customers and not the
employees
8/10 Additional control regrading
helping hands, machineries
for scrubbing the floors and
the reduction of the long
strenuous hours of work for
the housekeeping staffs
5/10
To clean the
washrooms, the
corridors and the wet
floors in a hurry
before the customer
can check in
Slip, falls and tripping
hazard due to wet and
patchy floors
Often it has been found that
cleaning the bathtubs, the
floors and the rooms create
ideal condition for the skip
and trip accidents
The existing risk of
controls by the hotel
includes the use of the
dryers and the mops by
the sweeper before the
cleaning process by the
housekeeping staffs
5/10 In case of carrying bundles
of linen, the restricted view
also causes trips over the
equipment of cleaning that
results on some of the
severed rate of injuries. The
controls regrading the
excess manpower is
required
4/10
To clean the floors,
the walls, the bed
sheets and the
utensils with
chemical cleaning
agents for making
them look shiny and
attractive
Respiratory illness due
to repeated exposure
towards the chemical
agents of the cleaning
The respiratory disease
including lung cancer, nostril
blockage and headaches that
might lead to fever and other
chronic disease
The existing risk of control
is impressive since the
organization has
introduced the use of the
less harmful bleaches and
fragrance enhancer in
place of chemical
substances for cleaning.
2/10 More improvement is
required in the process since
the organization sometimes
uses the chemical substance
for bleaching for reduction of
the cost and the
maximization of their profit
1/10
1 Always consider whether or not it is possible to eliminated the hazard or hazardous task altogether. If this is not possible, refer to the hierarchy of risk
controls.

To dispose the waste
of the rooms after the
customers check out
Infectious diseases due to
the waste disposal
furthermore expose to
broken glasses, cleaning of
vomits and other body
waste
There are risk for blood borne
pathogens and also disease
from the human waste and
vomits while cleaning the
floors and the rooms
The existing risk of control
is not that much effective
9/10 Improvement of the condition
required 9/10