BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 432
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Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 432 (De Leon) - As Amended: August 15, 2011
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 4-2
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards
Board (OSHSB), no later than December 1, 2012, to adopt
occupational safety and health standards for lodging
establishment housekeeping that includes the use of a fitted bed
sheet, instead of a flat sheet, and the use of long-handled
tools in order to eliminate the need for housekeepers to work in
a stooped, kneeled, or squatting position, as specified.
Further requires these provisions to be operative September 1,
2013 with full compliance required no later than December 31,
2015. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the standard developed by OSHSB to include the
following requirements:
a) The use of a fitted sheet instead of a flat sheet.
Authorizes fitted sheets to be purchased in the normal
course of replacing bed linens, as long as full compliance
is met no later than December 31, 2015.
b) The use of long-handled tools to prevent housekeepers
from working in a stooped, kneeled, or squatting position
in order to clean bathroom floors, walls, tubs, toilets,
and other bathroom surfaces.
2)Authorizes, as an alternative to the use of a fitted sheet,
the use of equipment (e.g. wedge, or other device) or
alternative method that assists in sheet installation, if
OSHSB determines these alternatives provide the equivalent
health and safety protection provided by the use of a fitted
sheet.
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3)Specifies nothing in this measure limits OSHSB's authority
from granting a variance of these requirements and requires
OSHSB to enforce this section in the ordinary course of its
duties, as specified.
4)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.
FISCAL EFFECT
Potential, unknown administrative costs, likely between $125,000
and $175,000, to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
(DOSH) and OSHSB to enforce and implement these provisions.
This bill requires DOSH to enforce this bill in the ordinary
course of its duties. It is unclear, however, if DOSH can meet
its current enforcement duties in addition to the new
requirements proposed in this bill. It is also likely OSHSB
would need to issue some administrative guidance on
implementation of this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author provided information from a study
published by four universities in the American Journal of
Industrial Medicine (2010) that states hotel workers have an
injury rate
25 % higher than all service sector workers. The study
further states that housekeepers have the highest rate of
injury by classification, 50% higher than all other hotel
workers, and have the highest rate of muscular-skeletal
disorders with a 76% overall likelihood of high risk, lower
back injuries.
According to the author, "Most lodging establishment
housekeepers clean between 25 and 30 rooms a day. In each
room, housekeepers are required to lift heavy mattresses to
change flat sheets, leading to increased rates of back and
shoulder injuries. Many other injuries are caused by a lack
of long-handled cleaning tools (mops). Where these are not
supplied, housekeepers clean up to 32 bathroom floors on their
hands knees in a single shift.
"In hotels where workloads are negotiated by union agreements
the problems are mitigated by more reasonable room quotas and
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other forms of workload relief and work rules. In hotels where
no collective bargaining exists, housekeeper injury rates are
currently unaddressed."
This bill requires OSHSB, no later than December 1, 2012, to
adopt an occupational safety and health standards for lodging
establishment housekeeping that includes the use of a fitted
bed sheet, instead of a flat sheet, and the use of
long-handled tools in order to eliminate the need for
housekeepers to work in a stooped, kneeled, or squatting
position, as specified.
2)Existing law establishes OSHSB to hear appeals from employers
regarding citations issued by the Division of Occupational
Safety and Health (DOSH) for alleged workplace safety and
health laws. OSHSB also adopts standards primarily focused on
preventing worker injury, illness, and fatalities. OSHSB
consists of seven members appointed by the governor - one
member from the public; two management members; two labor
members; one occupational health member; and one occupational
safety member.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081