The New York Times has an article about failure of most hotel guests to give low-paid, hard-working housekeepers a much appreciated tip. Aside from the hard work they do, the Times also notes the hazards of the job.
Angela Lemus, a housekeeper at the Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill who makes $19.91 per hour, said through a translator that in addition to scrubbing tubs and taking out trash, she sometimes has to clean blood or other medical waste from rooms.
Before the end of World War II, there was little interest in fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the capabilities of the working population—a scientific practice known as ergonomics. By the 1970s, NIOSH researchers were pioneering the study of musculoskeletal health as professional ergonomists, examining physical and social components of work environments (such as conveyer belt height and lunch break routines, respectively) to mitigate musculoskeletal injury risks.
The NIOSH Lifting Equation mobile application, NLE Calc, is a tool to calculate the overall risk index for single and multiple manual lifting tasks. This application provides risk estimates to help evaluate lifting tasks and reduce the incidence of low back injuries in workers.
Wearable exoskeleton devices can reduce some of the mechanical stress of manual labor (1). These wearable machines can be powered by electricity or by human motion, and they can be as large as a space suit or as small as a glove.
In manufacturing and other industries where lifting is part of the job, disorders that affect the muscles and bones are a common problem. In fact, musculoskeletal disorders cause one-third of work-related injuries resulting in missed workdays, costing about $45 to $54 billion annually in lost productivity and treatment, according to estimates from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine.
Standing five hours a day contributes lower-limb muscle fatigue, a small study concluded, and may raise the risk for long-term back pain and musculoskeletal disorders, according to WedMD’s HealthDay.
Study authors report almost half of all workers worldwide spend more than three-quarters of their workday standing.
United Airlines baggage handlers will get some protection from ergonomic hazards in the workplace, under what the U.S. Department is calling “a precedent-setting agreement” with the airline. The agreement settles a lawsuit filed by the department on behalf of OSHA to eliminate several hazardous conditions its inspectors identified in United's baggage-handling operation at Newark Liberty International Airport, where United baggage handlers reported at least 622 musculoskeletal injuries from 2011 to January 2015.
‘Tis the season for shopping and for working—specifically in retail. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015, 4.6 million Americans worked in retail sales while 3.4 million more worked as cashiers, making up almost six percent of total U.S. employment.
OSHA has cited Magna Seating, doing business as Excelsior Springs Seating System,
for one serious health violation of the agency's general duty clause after a May 2016 agency investigation found musculoskeletal disorder injuries.
On the road every day, transportation workers are responsible for the safe delivery of passengers, materials and goods across the United States. Bus drivers ensure our kids and family members arrive safely.
