‘Light’ and ‘heavy’ work in the housekeeping service of a hospital

Messing, Karen; Chatigny, Céline; Courville, Julie

doi:10.1016/s0003-6870(98)00013-1

Cited by 86 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Such disdainful behaviour on the part of other staff and of hotel guests is not just unpleasant, but it also has considerable impacts upon cleaners' health-it can, for example, undermine their mental health and lead to anxiety and low self-confidence, both of which are linked to psychological damage (Cortina et al 2001;Dejours 1993;Leary and Kowalski 1995:137). At the same time, cleaners' low status can result directly or indirectly in damage to their physical health, the result, usually, of their not being consulted by administrators with regard to the design of the spaces and furnishings they clean (Messing, Chatigny and Courville 1998). Hence, even when equipment is ordered specifically for their use, cleaners are usually not involved in its choice and do not pre-test it.…”

Section: Cleaner Demographics and The Low Status Of Cleaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, as Quinlan, Mayhew and Bohle (2001) have argued, outsourcing often leads to considerable changes in the ways tasks are carried out because the contracts with outside providers may not make explicit all of the necessary-yet often invisible and informal-aspects of the tasks as they were conducted in-house (cf Messing, Chatigny and Courville 1998). At the same time, however, the hotel typically assumes that all parts of the newly outsourced tasks have, in fact, been addressed as before.…”

Section: Outsourcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have previously been involved in efforts to apply this type of analysis to women's work in the service sector (for example, Seifert, Messing and Dumais 1997). For us, cleaning is a particularly interesting type of work for such analysis for several reasons: it is subject to a fairly strict sexual division of labour (Gaucher 1981;Messing, Haëntjens and Doniol-Show 1993;Messing, Chatigny and Courville 1998); it is considered to be a traditional task for women; and even though cleaning is associated with significant risks for musculoskeletal problems (Milburn and Barret 1999;Torgen, Nygard and Kilbom 1995) and with health problems derived from exposure to cleaning products (Karjalainen et al 2002;Rosenman et al 2003), many employers and even some union activists believe that cleaning rooms is a natural and undemanding activity, done without problems by many women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cleaning Up After Globalization: An Ergonomic Analysis of Work Activity of Hotel Cleaners

Seifert

Messing

2006

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Hotels and hotel chains are responding to globalization and increased competition through new marketing initiatives, employment practices, and restructuring decisions that are intensifying the work of cleaners. In this paper, we report on how such work intensification at two hotels in Montréal, Canada, is changing the nature of cleaners' jobs. Specifically, we found that the numbers of operations to be completed, the numbers and weights of items to be cleaned, and the effort involved have all increased. ''Flexible'' employment relationships and outsourcing have also worsened cleaners' workloads. In response to our research, the labour union representing cleaners has negotiated a lower number of room assignments per cleaner, as well as an improved way of taking into account the variability of work when determining the quota of rooms to be cleaned. Despite this, new marketing strategies continue to intensify work. We conclude that standards and regulation on a governmental level are a necessary complement to union actions.

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Section: Cleaner Demographics and The Low Status Of Cleaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Outsourcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cleaning Up After Globalization: An Ergonomic Analysis of Work Activity of Hotel Cleaners

Seifert

Messing

2006

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“…We suggest that the concept of the work perceived or lived by the patients and clients be added to the study of the prescribed and real work. In a study of hospital housekeeping carried out from this perspective, we integrated the viewpoint of the visitors to the rooms, which provided us with a better understanding of certain strategies of the cleaners (Messing et al, 1995 ;Messing et al, 1998 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Escuchar y ver en un mundo técnico : effectos de la discontinuidad de los horarios sobre la actividad de trabajo de las enfermeras

Seifert¹,

Messing²

2004

pistes

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“…Un exemple frappant est celui de certains hôpitaux qui exigent un test de force physique pour les candidates au poste de « préposé à l'entretien, travail lourd », poste habituellement occupé par des hommes, mais qui ne font passer aucun test aux candidats au poste de « préposé à l'entretien, travail léger », habituellement occupé par des femmes (Messing 2000). Or, les exigences des postes de « travail lourd » et de « travail léger » sont différentes, mais d'intensité égale (Messing, Chatigny et Courville 1998).…”

Section: La Condition Physique Et Les Tests De Sélectionunclassified

Les tests de sélection : une course à obstacles vers l’égalité économique des femmes

Demers¹,

Messing²

2005

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Dans le marché du travail, nombreux sont les emplois bien rémunérés auxquels les femmes ne peuvent accéder. Elles font face à plusieurs obstacles dans la reconnaissance de leur capacité à occuper ces emplois ou à exécuter ces tâches, traditionnellement dévolus à des hommes. L'un des plus significatifs provient des tests de sélection qui favorisent le maintien du statu quo en fait de main-d’œuvre, ils reproduisent généralement les caractéristiques des personnes qui occupent le poste, le plus souvent des hommes, la fonction telle qu'elle est exécutée par celles-ci et requièrent des normes de performance fixées par l'employeur. Les auteures ont étudié ce phénomène à travers les décisions des tribunaux des droits de la personne et des arbitres de grief portant sur la contestation des résultats aux tests. En ce qui concerne les droits de la personne, la situation a passablement évolué. Les employeurs sont forcés d'expliquer tant les modalités d'exécution de la tâche que la nécessité des tests requis ou des performances recherchées. En matière d'arbitrage de grief, les mêmes règles s'appliquent. Toutefois, rares sont les contestations qui portent sur les tests eux-mêmes. Les féministes devraient mettre en question non seulement les applications des tests mais aussi la nature, la pertinence et l'importance des capacités évaluées.Women are frequently kept out of well paid jobs because they face many difficulties in proving that they can do jobs or perform tasks traditionally assigned to men. Prominent among these are screening tests that favour the status quo among the working population. Tests are routinely based upon the characteristics of the current jobholders, the way they perform the tasks, and existing performance standards fixed by the employer. We have studied employment screening tests through human rights and grievance decisions disputing screening results. Human rights decisions have evolved over time. In these courts, it is up to the employer to explain how the task should be performed and to demonstrate the necessity for the test as well as the level of performance required. The same rules apply in grievance proceedings before an arbitrator. However, we found that the nature of the tests is rarely brought up as an issue in grievance proceedings. Feminists should question not only the applications of the tests but the nature, relevance and importance of the capacities being tested

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‘Light’ and ‘heavy’ work in the housekeeping service of a hospital

Cited by 86 publications

References 23 publications

Cleaning Up After Globalization: An Ergonomic Analysis of Work Activity of Hotel Cleaners

Cleaning Up After Globalization: An Ergonomic Analysis of Work Activity of Hotel Cleaners

Escuchar y ver en un mundo técnico : effectos de la discontinuidad de los horarios sobre la actividad de trabajo de las enfermeras

Les tests de sélection : une course à obstacles vers l’égalité économique des femmes

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