With the changes of technology, entire hotel industry is changing their trends on their every aspect of service to make their guest happy and experience the same technical advancement. Being a core department housekeeping have to balance. And here I am discussing few latest trends housekeeping following in recent days.
“It’s certainly important for our group of hotels to use green products,” says Tyson Ghostkeeper, director of Operations for Mouallem Management Group, which operates five Best Western hotels in Alberta. The group sources these products from Ecolab — a global provider of water, hygiene and energy services to food, healthcare and hospitality industries. The company’s products include phosphorus-free, concentrated solid detergent, de-stainers, softeners and neutralizers, as well as EPA-registered alkaline bathroom disinfectants and Green-Seal-Certified plant-derived cleaners.
“They’re concentrated powdered chemicals, so there’s less water used and less water in the chemicals themselves,” says Ghostkeeper, speaking of Ecolab’s products. “The only time we use warm water is when there are stains we can’t get out. But we still don’t have to use scalding hot water and that reduces the [environmental] impact.”
“Sustainability and environmental stewardship are core values of Ecolab and our solutions,” explains Deanne Middleton, Ecolab’s senior Marketing Communications manager. Building on its existing product portfolio, Ecolab also recently launched Aquanomic 2.0, which, according to the company, delivers results using low temperatures.
With the trend to larger beds, thicker mattresses and pads, open closets and off-the-floor night stands, housekeeping is both helped and hindered in the course of its work. On the down side, a study of 900 Las Vegas housekeepers revealed roughly half of them suffered severe neck and back pain from using heavy vacuum cleaners and pushing loaded carts (some can weigh up to 500 lbs), as well as repetitive-motion injuries from lifting bulky mattresses, making beds that are too close to walls and stretching and stooping while cleaning.
According to the Hamilton, Ont.based Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, a housekeeper changes position every three seconds, with an estimation of 8,000 body positions for every shift. But hotels are designed for the comfort of the guests, not the workers. Still, to reduce injuries, some hotels have invested in lighter vacuum cleaners and carts (with better wheels designed for carpets), implemented job rotation so workers use different muscle groups and instituted team work so housekeepers can alternate between tasks. They’ve also provided training to ensure proper lifting habits, as well as prioritized heavier work for the start of the shift rather than the end, when injury risk is higher.
Most housekeepers work alone, leaving them vulnerable to threats from unsavoury guests and intruders. Best Western protocol is to position carts across room doors, whereas Hilton’s housekeepers pull the carts right into the room with them. “They also close the door behind them and dead bolt it,” says Collinge, “and hang a sign noting that housekeeping is in the room. And they won’t let anyone in.”
At least not without verification. “The housekeeper will always verify the guest’s name with the front desk,”. “They’re also empowered to check guests’ ID and will often escort them down to the front desk to get their forgotten or lost key.” Housekeepers also carry walkie-talkies and enter specific codes from the rooms to signal when they’ve entered and exited.
The balance between guest convenience and property security is an ongoing challenge and most hoteliers have invested in extra training for housekeeping staff, who are often the eyes and ears of management.
The concept of eco-friendly system. Most of the hotels almost stopped using plastics, conserving the water by discouraging everyday changes of linen, and eliminating detergents and using natural soaps.Most properties have long committed to leaving a light carbon footprint by adopting recycling and reuse programs, incorporating solar energy and sourcing environmentally friendly products and suppliers.
Some concerns are taken care by different brand nowadays,
Complied by., -
Shantanu Ghosh,
Faculty - Housekeeping
