BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Ted W. Lieu, Chair
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011 20011-2012 Regular
Session
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Fiscal:Yes
Urgency: No
Bill No: SB 432
Author: De Leon
Version: As Introduced February 16, 2011
SUBJECT
Workplace safety: lodging establishments: housekeeping.
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature require the Occupational Safety and
Health Standards Board (OSHSB) to develop an occupational safety
and health standard for lodging housekeepers, including the
requirement of fitted sheets and long handled tools?
PURPOSE
To require the creation of a health and safety standard
specifically for lodging housekeepers.
ANALYSIS
Existing law provides for the Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board (OSHSB), which consists of seven individuals
appointed by the Governor for four year terms. Two members must
be from the field of management, two members must be from the
field of labor, one member must be from the field of
occupational health, one member must be from the field of
occupational safety and one member must be from the general
public (Labor Code §§140 and 141).
Existing law empowers OSHSB, by an affirmative vote of four or
more members, to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and
health standards. The procedure to adopt, repeal, or amend
occupational safety and health standards must follow the process
for promulgating regulations, unless otherwise stated in Labor
Code (Labor Code §§142.3 and 142.4).
Existing law requires that the Department of Occupational Safety
and Health (DOSH) enforce all occupational safety and health
standards adopted by OSHSB (Labor Code §142).
Existing law allows any employer to apply to OSHSB for a
permanent variance from any occupational safety and health
standard if the employer has an alternative practice or program
that will provide equal or superior safety for employees. The
standards board must issue the variance if it determines on the
record that the preponderance of evidence supports that the
employer's alternative practice or program are as safe as the
standard.
Existing law requires that OSHSB develop or revise certain
specific occupational safety and health standards, including
bloodborne pathogens, hazardous substance removal work,
agricultural field sanitation, and lead-related construction.
This bill would require that the Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board (OSHSB), no later than September 1, 2012, adopt
an occupational health and safety standard for lodging
establishment housekeeping, and would apply to all lodging
establishments in California, including hotels and motels. The
standard must require the following:
1) The use of fitted bottom sheets. "Fitted sheets" are
defined as sheets with an elastic or similar material sewn
into the four corners of the sheet which allows it to stay
in place over the mattress; and
2) The use of long-handled tools, such as mops, to
eliminate the practice of housekeepers working in a
stooped, kneeling, or squatting position when cleaning
rooms.
This bill would also prohibit OSHSB from granting a permanent
variance from complying with the lodging establishment
housekeeping standard.
Hearing Date: April 13, 2011 SB 432
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 2
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
The working conditions of hotel housekeepers have been the
subject of several studies, both in California and Canada
(specifically British Columbia). The studies suggest that
hotel workers are overwhelmingly female and have significantly
higher injury rates when compared to other hotel occupations
and the workforce generally. For example, according to
British Columbia's Workers' Compensation Board, 39% of the
overexertion injuries in a hotel, which would be injuries due
to moving furniture or buckets or garbage cans, were from
hotel housekeepers.
Similarly, a 2002 study conducted by the UC Berkeley's Labor
Occupational Health Program (LOHP) found a high incidence of
injury in housekeeping staff, regardless of age. More than
75% of the workers reported workplace injuries, with 73% of
that population needing to see a doctor and more than half
needing to take time off. More troubling, only half reported
their injuries to their employers, suggesting that these
injuries may be treated outside of the workers' compensation
system.
Similarly, a 2010 study in the American Journal of Industrial
Medicine, showed that injury rates for hotel housekeepers was
significantly higher than average (5.47 injuries per 100
workers versus 3.26 injuries per 100 workers) and that the
injury rate ratio for housekeepers was more than twice as high
as the injury rate ratio for all hotel workers. Moreover,
injuries were significantly more likely for Latino workers
than non-Latino workers. While this study and the 2002 LOHP
study were largely funded by UNITE-HERE, a hotel union, the
presentation of their data processes seems to uphold their
findings and largely restate the Canadian findings, which were
produced by the Canadian federal government.
In the guidelines put forward by the Canadian Centre for
Hearing Date: April 13, 2011 SB 432
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 3
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Occupational Health and Safety, a governmental occupational
safety organization, the Centre suggested utilizing light
weight vacuums and service carts, as well as job rotation and
occupational practices with a focus on ergonomics in order to
minimize musculoskeletal injuries, focusing specifically on
the hotel workers' lifting of mattresses and squatting to
clean rooms. Similarly, British Columbia's Workers'
Compensation Board suggested the utilization of long-handled
tools, such as mops, for cleaning rooms and taking breaks
while cleaning the room.
SB 432 would require that the Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board (OSHSB) would promulgate specific standards
for hotel housekeepers, which must require the use of fitted
sheets and long-handled tools.
2. Proponent Arguments :
Proponents argue that workplace injuries suffered by hotel
housekeepers have dramatically risen due to the increasing use
of so-called "luxury" items, such as thicker mattresses,
decorative linens, and increased pillows. The proponents note
that the beds can weigh more than 100 pounds, and housekeepers
must also move heavy carts from room to room. Proponents also
note that housekeepers have a much higher injury rate when
compared to other service industries and that the injuries can
impact the entire body, including shoulders, backs, feet and
legs due to the lifting of heavy items and squatting for
cleaning. Proponents believe that SB 432 would dramatically
lower the rate of injuries among hotel housekeepers by
creating an occupational health and safety standard.
3. Opponent Arguments :
Opponents argue that lodging facilities have already put in
practice policies to reduce injuries to workers, such as
providing ergonomic training and ergonomic tools for
housekeeping staff, including long handled tools. Opponents
also note that recent green practices, such as allowing guests
to opt-out of having their sheets changed or towels exchanged,
have limited the need for housekeeping staff to clean rooms.
Opponents also note that few lodging establishments utilize
Hearing Date: April 13, 2011 SB 432
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 4
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
fitted sheets and that there is anecdotal evidence that fitted
sheets are actually more strenuous to use. Finally, opponents
also note that the cost of switching from flat sheets to
fitted sheets would be incredibly expensive.
The California Lodging Industry Association (CLIA) has adopted
an "oppose unless amended" position. CLIA argues that their
members work hard to keep a safe work environment, and that
there are a variety of issues to be considered by lodging
establishments in the selection of bedding and cleaning
implements. Therefore, CLIA suggests that the language
requiring fitted sheets and long handled tools be removed so
those issues can be discussed in a regulatory framework.
The California Hospital Association (CHA) has adopted an
"oppose unless amended" position, requesting language
clarifies that the occupational safety and health standard
only applies to transient lodging.
4. Prior Legislation :
AB 838 (Swanson) of 2009 would have required the Occupational
Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt an occupational and
health standard by July 1, 2011 for controlling the risk of
occurrence of heat illness where employees work indoors. AB
838 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
SUPPORT
CA Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union
CA Conference of Machinists
CA Official Court Reporters Association
California Labor Federation
Consumer Attorneys of California
Engineers and Scientists of California
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21
UNITE HERE
United Food and Commercial Workers - Western States Conference
Utility Workers Union of America, Local 132
Hearing Date: April 13, 2011 SB 432
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 5
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
OPPOSITION
American Hotel and Lodging Association
American Resort Development Association (ARDA)
American Resort Development Association Resort Owners Coalition
(ARDA ROC)
California Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns
California Hotel and Lodging Association
California Travel Industry Association
California Hospital Association (Unless Amended)
California Lodging Industry Association (Unless Amended)
Hearing Date: April 13, 2011 SB 432
Consultant: Gideon L. Baum Page 6
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations