When it comes to the volume of workers’ compensation claims, the hospitality industry is a leader - for all the wrong reasons. Housekeepers are among those at highest risk for injury in the industry. The numbers are startling.

A 2010 survey by the Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) found that of 1.7 million people employed in the hotel and hospitality industry, 25% are housekeepers. In 2010 there were 66,000 non-fatal work injuries and almost 30,000 days of lost-time.

The Housekeeper's Plight

Housekeepers can assume upwards of 8,000 body positions every shift. They have to force themselves into unnatural positions, bending and twisting their bodies around in ways that presents a risk of neck, low back, and upper extremity injuries. So it’s not that much of a surprise that most workers’ compensation claims in hotels originate with housekeepers. The most common types of injuries are in a range of musculoskeletal disorders, including:

• Shoulder sprains and strains
• Rotator cuff tears
• Tendonitis
• Low back strain
• Herniated discs

Cleaning and vacuuming using inefficient technique and poor body mechanics often results in repetitive motion injuries. When it comes to the risk of injury, housekeepers rank second among high risk professions — giving them a 78% probability of suffering a lower back injury on the job. Prevention is the first line of defense against worker’s compensation claims and the losses any injured worker can incur. But the fact is, with this type of profession, avoiding injuries completely is nearly impossible. The next best thing is to figure out how to make the process of getting treatment and returning to work as easy and as affordable as possible.

The current problem with most worker’s comp programs

Typically, TPA's handle claims with little input from you. That makes it difficult to keep track of your employee's treatment progress. You don’t know how long it’ll be before they’re back at work. And you can’t be sure that the injury won’t reoccur. When an employee is out with an injury, you lose in so many ways — the cost of the treatment, the cost of a replacement, the time it takes to reorganize the roster to replace her. (Or reduce her workload, if put on light duty.) The faster they come back to full duty, the better. But even when they do come back, they are often weaker than before. Injuries reoccur and employees may decide to leave the company to avoid aggravating the injury. It’s hard to hold on to good workers in this industry. But it’s impossible for them to keep working in positions that are literally too painful to perform.

You know what it’s like when injuries happen.

You have a housekeeper down with an injury. A large group is due to check out any minute. You have to clean those rooms because another group is coming in later that day. You don’t know when your injured employee will be back. Now you have an understaffed floor. You coordinate with the housekeeping manager and the check-in desk to ensure the rooms get turned around in time for the next round of guests. It’s a nightmare and a struggle, but you get it done. This time. Your injured housekeeper is getting physical therapy (PT) and goes three times a week to a local clinic. You know from experience that she’ll be gone three afternoons a week for a few hours each time. She’s on light duty, and she misses most of her shift every week until the treatment is completed. The rehab clinic is about 30 minutes away. Appointments can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. There could be a wait time, you wouldn’t know one way or the other. The end result is you simply have to let her go and come back when she wants. There’s no accountability. She disappears for three or more hours, but there’s no way of knowing where she’s been or what she’s done. Or even if she’s gone to the appointment. Eventually the PT ends, but it’s not long before the situation repeats itself. It might be a different housekeeper. But sometimes the same housekeeper is reinjured. Only this time the damage is worse and she’ll be out of action for even longer. Not that the PT clinic tells you anything about how the treatment is going. Or what the prognosis is for getting your employee back to work. It’s a hamster wheel, but there is a better approach.

Times Are Changing

The problem with the current system is that while it has its inefficiencies, there’s no denying that it works well enough. But does it? Maybe. Maybe not. Fifteen years ago, your touchtone phone and pager used to get the job done. You left the house with your answering machine turned on. You knew that if anyone needed to reach you in a hurry, they’d catch you at work. Today, the instant you can’t find your smartphone, you panic. Rummaging your desk, purse, or backpack, frantically searching your car, tossing your house upside down. You break out in a cold sweat until the second you put your hands on it, and suddenly — whoosh. You catch your breath with a huge gulp of air. Did you ever think this would be you? Even just five years ago? Time moves on. Technology and attitudes move on. And just because the old way works well enough, it doesn’t mean we can’t find a better way now. You can’t expect improvements without making adjustments. Albert Einstein once said that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Stop the insanity by letting your worker’s comp program dictate your results. New research, technology and strategies have changed how we look at physical therapy and it should change your approach as well.

Implementing On-site Physical Therapy

Most types of injuries suffered on the job have a standard treatment protocol that hasn’t been altered in years. The average person doesn’t bother to seek a better way. It’s human nature to take the path of least resistance. So how do you fix it? By implementing a physical therapy model based on the rationale, techniques, and treatments pioneered in sports medicine, customized to how the hospitality industry operates. Having an on-site physical therapist creates a focus on conditioning your workers’ bodies to absorb the correct muscle memory for performing the specific tasks of their jobs. Therapists can review your job site demands and thus create a program designed for a true one-on-one rehabilitation experience that is customized to the injured worker’s specific return-to-work needs.

The Results You Can Expect

By creating an on-site physical therapy program you can expect the following benefits:

Logistics

• Less Time to Evaluation
• Service Delivery at Work
• Eliminate Missed Appointments

• Better Outcomes
• Fewer Paid Visits
• Eliminate Travel Expense
• Medical Cost Savings
• Reduce Lost Time
• Improve Employee Morale
• Increase Employee Productivity

• Customized Plan of Care
• Ongoing Prevention Programs

With all of these benefits, it is easy to see why more companies are reviewing their current workers comp programs and making adjustments to improve their current strategy. Maybe it is time for you to do the same.