摘要：Objectives. We examined the prevalence of work-related pain and injury and explored barriers to and experiences of reporting among workers. Methods. We surveyed 941 unionized hotel room cleaners about work-related pain, injury, disability, and reporting. Results. During the past 12 months, 75% of workers in our study experienced work-related pain, and 31% reported it to management; 20% filed claims for workers’ compensation as a result of work-related injury, and 35% of their claims were denied. Barriers to reporting injury included “It would be too much trouble” (43%), “I was afraid” (26%), and “I didn’t know how” (18%). An estimated 69% of medical costs were shifted from employers to workers. Conclusions. The reasons for underreporting and the extent of claim denial warrant further investigation. Implications for worker health and the precise quantification of shifting costs to workers also should be addressed. The hospitality industry is a major employer of low-wage service workers. The second largest occupation in this industry is housekeeping, which comprises 26% of all hotel employees 1 and is characterized by a predominantly female workforce, repetitive physical tasks, low job control, low wages, increasing use of contingency employment, and few opportunities for career advancement. 2– 4 There is evidence that low-wage jobs result in a high burden of illness, injury, and disability. 5– 12 This burden falls disproportionately on workers who are multiply disadvantaged in society and who have been underrepresented and underserved in occupational health research. 8, 13 Hotel workers have higher rates of occupational injury and illness compared with workers in other service industries. 14 Research has shown that room cleaners have an elevated risk for musculoskeletal disorders (Krause et al., unpublished data, 1999). 3, 15, 16 Moreover, the hospitality industry has both upgraded guest services and implemented lean staffing and greater performance demands, 3, 4 which may be associated with occupational injury. 3 However, few epidemiological studies have focused on hotel room cleaners (Krause et al., unpublished data, 1999). Little is known about their work-related pain or injuries and their lost workdays. Previous studies showed that commonly used administrative measures do not capture the full range of occupational injury and lost workdays because of underreporting and re-injury. 12, 17– 23 Additional research is needed to understand the true prevalence of occupational injury and lost workdays among hotel room cleaners and other disadvantaged workers. We examined the prevalence of work-related pain and injury and the reporting of pain and injury among 941 unionized hotel room cleaners in Las Vegas, Nev, who participated in an epidemiological study of working conditions and health. To design effective work-place interventions that take the dynamics of underreporting into account, nonadministrative data are needed on work-related pain, injury, and disability and the barriers to reporting. We examined several of these nonadministrative measures.
