BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 432
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Sandre Swanson, Chair
SB 432 (De Leon) - As Amended: June 15, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 25-15
SUBJECT : Workplace safety: lodging establishments:
housekeeping.
SUMMARY : This bill creates new occupational safety and health
standards for all hotels, motels and other similar transient
lodging establishments in California. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board
(OSHSB) to adopt an a standard for all hotels, motels and
other similar lodging establishments, by September 1, 2012,
that require the following:
a) The use of fitted sheets, as defined, on the bottom
sheet on all beds within the lodging establishment.
b) The use of long-handled tools, including but not limited
to, mops and similar devices, to eliminate the practice by
housekeepers of working in a stooped, kneeling, or
squatting in position in order to clean bathroom floors,
walls, tubs, toilets and other bathroom surfaces
2)Defines "fitted sheet" as a bed sheet containing elastic or
similar material sewn into each of the four corners that
allows the sheet to stay in place over the mattress.
3)Allows OSHSB to grant variance to this provision.
4)Requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH)
to enforce these standards in the ordinary course of its
duties.
EXISTING LAW
1)Creates DOSH within the Department of Industrial Relations
(DIR) to enforce and administer all state occupational safety
and health standards and regulations.
SB 432
Page 2
2)Creates OSHSB within DOSH to adopt reasonable and enforceable
standards that meet or exceed federal standards.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, up to $120,000 in Occupational Safety and Health Fund
costs for the adoption of new occupational and health standards
and minor costs annually for the enforcement of the new
standard.
COMMENTS : According to the author, a study published in the
American Journal of Industrial Medicine in 2010 titled
"Occupational Injury Disparities in the US Hotel Industry," (The
Study) found that hotel workers have an injury rate that is 25
percent higher than all other service sector workers. The Study
asserts that housekeepers have the highest rate of injury by
classification, 50 percent higher than all other hotel workers.
In addition, housekeepers also had the highest rate of
muscular-skeletal disorders and are 76 percent more likely to
suffer from work-related lower back injuries.
The author asserts that most lodging establishment housekeepers
clean between 25 and 30 rooms per day and in each room, they are
required to lift heavy mattresses to change flat sheets.
According to the author, this requirement leads to increased
rates of back and shoulder injuries. In addition, many
housekeeper injuries in the lodging industry are caused by the
lack of long-handled cleaning tools including, but not limited
to mops. The author notes that, where these tools are not
supplied, housekeepers may clean up to 32 bathroom floors on
their hands knees in a single shift. Additionally, the author
asserts that cleaning the top portion of bathroom showers
without long-handled tools often requires housekeepers to stand
on bathtub rims which results in higher rates of falls.
The Study also found that, within the United States' hospitality
industry, hotels and motels employ 1.8 million workers. Within
this industry, housekeepers make up 25 percent of the workforce
and constitute the single largest occupational group in the
hotel industry. Due to the cleaning tasks in this and other
industries demand a high level of physical effort - including
aerobic strain, repetitive movement, high static muscular loads,
and a high frequency of stooping - hotel workers are nearly 40
percent more likely to be injured on the job than all other
service sector workers. The Study also notes that hotel workers
SB 432
Page 3
sustain more severe injuries that result in more days off work,
more job transfers and more medically restricted work compared
to other employees in the hospitality industry.
According to a 2006 report titled "Barriers to Occupational
Health Services for Low-Wage Workers in California," (Lashuay
and Harrison) (Report), over two-third of the 25 occupations
reporting non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses are
low-wage occupations, including, but not limited to, hotel
cleaners, janitors and food service workers. The Report notes
that accidents are common in these low-wage industries. In
addition, the Report states that prevention efforts could play
in reducing workers' compensation expenditures and, more
importantly, worker pain and disability.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :
In support, the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAC) writes
that this bill will prevent injuries from occurring for
housekeepers working in hotels and other lodging industries. CAC
states that housekeeping staff are often only supplied with flat
sheets to change the linens and short-handed tools to clean the
bathrooms. The use of these supplied tools requires housekeeping
staff to lift heavy beds and clean bathroom floors on their
hands and knees more than 30 times a day. CAC notes that these
tasks take a grueling toll on workers' bodies and lead to higher
rates of workplace injuries. According to CAC, studies have
shown that hotel workers in general, and housekeepers in
particular, are at the highest risk of acquiring
muscular-skeletal disorders than workers in any other sector.
They assert that the implementation of standards that require
fitted sheets and long-handled tools will improve workplace
safety and improve the well-being of hotel housekeepers.
In a letter of support, the California Teamsters Public Affairs
Council (CTPAC) writes that that workplace injuries suffered by
hotel housekeepers have dramatically increased during the past
several years as a result of heavier workloads largely cause by
"luxury" branding in the hotel industry. They note that, in
addition to having to life multiple mattresses that can with
over 100 pounds, housekeepers spend their work days pushing
heavy carts across carpeted hallways, bending down to clean
floors and climbing to clean high surfaces. The California Labor
SB 432
Page 4
Federation, writing in support of this bill, asserts that it
will provide minimal standards that will make a huge change in
the working conditions of California's lodging housekeepers.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION :
Writing in opposition, the California Hotel & Lodging
Association (CHLA) states that there is no evidence that the use
of fitted sheets will reduce injuries. They assert that there is
no consensus in their industry regarding the ergonomic benefit
of flat versus fitted sheets and anecdotal information from
experienced housekeeping staff has told them that fitted sheets
can be more strenuous to use than flat sheets. The California
Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) writes that creating
requirements based on what may or may not be best for the safety
of housekeepers is not in the best interest of workers.
CalChamber asserts that requiring all lodging establishments to
change out all of their flat sheets for fitted sheets would be
costly and require these establishments to acquire the equipment
to launder the new style of sheets. In their letter of
opposition, the California Travel Association (CalTravel) states
that, over the last five years, the majority of lodging
establishments have instituted some level of "green lodging
practices" that have greatly reduced the number of times sheets
and towels are changed. They note that, by offering guests the
opportunity to "opt out" of housekeeping completely, sheet
changing has decreased up 70 percent in one national chain hotel
and decreased by approximately 50 percent in several other chain
and independent hotels.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union
CA Conference of Machinists
CA Official Court Reporters Association
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Consumer Attorneys of California
Engineers and Scientists of California
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Lawyers Guild Labor & Employment Committee
Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21
SB 432
Page 5
UNITE HERE!
United Food and Commercial Workers-Western States Conference
Utility Workers Union of America, Local 132
Worksafe
Opposition
American Hotel & Lodging Association
American Resort Development Association
Anaheim/Orange County Hotel & Lodging Association
Asian American Hotel Owners Association
California Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns
California Chamber of Commerce
California Hotel & Lodging Association
California Travel Association
Grand Hyatt San Francisco on Union Square
Greater Santa Barbara Lodging & Restaurant Association
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Holiday Inn Golden Gateway
Hotel Association of Los Angeles
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach
Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
Hyatt Regency Sacramento
Hyatt Regency San Francisco in Embarcadero Center
Los Angeles County Business Federation
Marriot Hotels & Resorts
Monterey County Hospitality Association
Outrigger Lodging Services
Sacramento Hotel Association
San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association
San Francisco Hotel Council
Textile Rental Services Association of America
Torrance Chamber of Commerce/Visit Torrance
West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinley / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091