According to OSHA, the #1 thing employers should focus on, is “Protecting the musculoskeletal system of employees.” Is your hotel doing everything possible and required by OSHA to protect your employees from soft-tissue and spinal injuries?
The main goal of health and safety programs is to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses, as well as the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for employers, workers and their families. Once a safety and health program is established, it should be evaluated periodically and at least annually to verify what is working and what is not, and whether a program is on track to achieve positive outcomes.
The General Duty Clause requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause serious physical harm. One of the "root causes" of workplace injuries is the failure to identify or recognize hazards and risk that are present, or that could have been anticipated. A proactive, ongoing process to identify and assess workplace hazards and risk includes a worksite evaluation and musculoskeletal risk assessment designed to prevent costly injuries.
Title 8, Section 3345, the Hotel Housekeeping Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program (MIPP) states than employers must perform a worksite evaluation when their program is started and must perform periodic assessments to ensure their program is up to date and "effective." A risk assessment should occur at least annually, whenever new tools or equipment are introduced, a renovation occurs, a process changes, and when a new hazard or risk is discovered as the result of an injury or incident investigation.
Title 8, Section 5110 (RMI - Repetitive Motion Injuries) also requires a hotel to evaluate risk and provide training whenever there is more than one RMI in the last 12 months, caused by an identical task or work activity.
Accurate Ergonomics (AE) specializes in hotels and is the perfect resource to ensure compliance, prevent loss and increase profits. An AE worksite evaluation and musculoskeletal risk assessment will identify your worksite’s strengths, highlight areas for improvement and provide an opportunity to implement effective control measures, including changing workforce behaviors.
Has it been a year or longer since your last worksite evaluation? You owe it to your company, workforce and bottom-line to have AE’s musculoskeletal injury prevention specialists perform an assessment. AE specialists will measure behaviors, task performance and risk of injury against performance objectives, and share a report of findings and control measure recommendations with stakeholders.
Since it is budget season, a risk assessment will allow you to plan for success in 2020. You can also purchase a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) hotel housekeeping risk assessment package complete with an assessment guide, forms and much more.
AE also offers complete Do-it-Yourself training packages for hotel housekeeping departments in both English & Spanish, including an optional Train-the Trainer course.
Contact Accurate Ergonomics to schedule your risk assessment today! We can also meet you online, discuss a strategy to improve your program in 2020 and send you a proposal for budget consideration.
Visit www.accurateergonomics.com or call 707-894-4544 ~ 1-866-950-3746 (ERGO) today.