"Occupational risk prevention is still a pending task for most companies in the hotel sector in Lanzarote." This has been denounced by Comisiones Obreras, which assures that hand in hand with the crisis, there is an overload of work that directly affects the health of workers.
The most affected sector, according to CCOO, is that of chambermaids, "where a high percentage of damage to the health of workers is concentrated." In this specific case, the union maintains that as a result of "the negotiations promoted since 2005 by Comisiones Obreras", the obligation to assess ergonomic and psychosocial risks was agreed. However, there are "hotel establishments reluctant to carry out these more specific evaluations, as they involve an extra expense", but also others that do carry them out, but then do not act accordingly.
"It is equally worrying that those who have done them are completely ignoring them. In most of the hotels where there is an evaluation of ergonomic and/or psychosocial risks that advise reducing the number of rooms to be cleaned by each chambermaid and introducing breaks for fatigue recovery, they have done exactly the opposite, increasing the number of rooms per worker and extending the working day, without compensation to recover possible delays", denounces the general secretary of the Insular Union of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism of Lanzarote (SICOHT), Rafael Díaz González.
Díaz recalls that this contravenes article 16.2 b) of the Law on Prevention of Occupational Risks, which establishes that "if the results of the evaluation [?] reveal risk situations, the employer will carry out those preventive activities necessary to eliminate or reduce and control such risks".
"Widespread fear of losing the job"
Faced with this situation, Rafael Díaz fears that "the improvements achieved in recent years will be in vain due to the current economic situation. It is about the health of a large part of the active population on the island and cannot be put aside, protected by the widespread fear of losing their jobs".
The union maintains that, "at present, the group of chambermaids is doing more work now than six years ago, when they already showed their discontent with the overload of work supported". According to reports, the evaluations show that most of the chambermaids do not have enough time to finish their work on time or that they do not have small breaks to recover from fatigue. However, CCOO has no "evidence of hotels that have reduced the maximum number of rooms to be assigned to each worker based on these results".
In addition, despite the fact that in recent months there has been an increase in the number of contracts in the hospitality sector in Lanzarote, the SICOHT perceives that this increase is not having an impact on improving the working conditions of chambermaids. In fact, they believe that nothing has been done to "alleviate the burden they bear" because they are "an invisible department" for customers and, therefore, "is being discriminated against".
"They abuse drugs to endure the pain"
According to CCOO, this situation is creating a very negative spiral, because "the overload of work to which they are subjected may lead to an increase in medical leave that, if not replaced, complicates the problem even more". Rafael Díaz assures that "the workers express fear of being fired for being sick and many ask their doctor to prescribe medications to be able to withstand the pain and not miss work, as they are aware that their absence would cause an organizational problem in the department".
For this reason, the union assures that "it is common for workers in the housekeeping department, like many others, to self-medicate and are abusing drugs to relieve musculoskeletal pain". In cases of accessing medical leave, "these ailments are considered in most situations as common contingencies and therefore referred to the Canarian Health Service, despite their occupational origin", and "this means that preventive measures are not established to eliminate the risks that are causing these health damages".
Middle managers without training
In addition, Comisiones Obreras assures that hotel companies show their predilection for middle managers who do not have the appropriate training and who "abuse their authority and treat their subordinates incorrectly". Thus, in addition to fearing dismissal, workers also fear receiving the worst tasks if they report their situation.
In short, and although the union considers that "much has been advanced based on workers' claims and negotiations with the sector's employers", it also warns that "Prevention Plans are still a document that is not put into practice" and that "companies are limiting themselves to complying with current legislation regarding the drafting of the minimum required preventive documentation, but without integrating it into the general policy of companies".
