This document provides a safety training for hotel employees on proper lifting techniques to avoid injuries. It discusses what constitutes heavy lifting and some potential damages from improper lifting such as pain, injury, and lost time or costs associated with employee injuries. The training recommends bending at the knees rather than the back when lifting, getting assistance for heavy objects, and reporting any injuries promptly. It includes links to videos demonstrating proper lifting form to maintain back safety and avoid injury while completing lifting duties that are part of many hotel roles.

1. Running Head: HOTEL DESK CLERK SAFETY TRAINING
General Safety Training
Luz Juliana Charles
Texas Tech University
RHIM 3358
April 26, 2015

2. Safety Training for Heavy Lifting
What is heavy lifting? Heavy lifting is lifting anything more than you can handle with proper
form (posture), balance, and visibility. An employee must be able to lift properly and avoid
heavy lifting when possible. Heavy lifting can produce unexpected outcomes resulting from an
employee not paying attention, not bending from the knees versus the back and not asking for
help. What may be heavy for one may not be heavy for someone else so avoid the risk and ask
for help to avoid damage resulting from improper or heavy lifting.
This training will cover how to lift properly and avoid a negative situation such as the effects
from heavy lifting.
Damages of Heavy Lifting can include:
• Pain
• Injury
• Retraining Costs
• Temporary Loss of Employee
• Permanent Loss of Employee (yes, it can be that serious)
The following is an informative PowerPoint provided by OSHA about ergonomics and
proper lifting:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&
url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.osha.gov%2Fdte%2Fgrant_materials%2Ffy10%2Fsh-20865-
10%2F07_ergo.ppt&ei=-KI9Vc7JIonAsAX0h4GICg&usg=AFQjCNHg0txzvUY-
ShIzI394zJOEpku8sg&sig2=A1GKYeSOQ_Vndb9XMKRBIw&bvm=bv.91665533,d.b2w
The following safety lifting video outlines the preferred method for lifting, avoiding back
injuries resulting from lifting, pulling or pushing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf7mlHNjvb8
The following video must be viewed and fully understood before completing the safety
training for proper lifting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDR6se131Bc
Why is this safety training useful or necessary? This proper lifting safety training is useful and
necessary for all of our hotel employees as everyone has to lift something at one point or another.
As the PowerPoint indicated that ergonomics is for everyone, so is training. The more an
employee is trained on safe lifting practices, the less likely they are to become injured as a result.
Once employees understand the importance of proper lifting we can proceed to the
learning and prevention stage of training.
What is the number one cause for a lifting injury? Not asking for help. If an employee thinks
an object or box may be too heavy, then take a moment to ask for assistance. Team lifting is
better than lifting alone as the risk of injury is greatly reduced. This is why employees are trained
on proper lifting and not just heavy lifting alone.

3. What should an employee do if they know an object is too heavy to lift but there is no one
available to help them lift it? Tag the item with a note to include the date, time and your name
indicating that the object requires a team of two to lift it. You can even email this to your Front
desk Hotel Manager so that they can help you lift it once they arrive. If there is no one scheduled
to arrive, wait for the arrival of your shift replacement and then lift it together at that point.
NEVER lift a heavy item without assistance from another employee and never ask a
customer to help you lift anything whatsoever.
In general, what is the proper way to lift something? Before lifting anything the employee
must first analyze where the item needs to be placed. Ensure the pathway is clear and that
there are no impediments along the way. Proper lifting requires that the employee squat down
towards the item and bend from the knees. An employee should never bend over and lift
anything. The employee should lift and bring the item towards their core (center / midsection)
while maintaining a straight back (proper posture) and walking to the desired location to place
the item accordingly. If the employee needs to turn then the item must turn together with them as
described in the second YouTube video “Proper Lifting Techniques, Prevent Back Injuries by
Lifting Objects Correctly”.
What is the risk associatedwith improper lifting? As mentioned in the introduction of the
training and in the YouTube video “Back injury at work-Good practices for lifting”, pain and
injury are the highest risk factors associated with improper lifting. Temporary or even a
permanent loss of employee results in a loss for both the employee and the employer (our Hotel).
What can I do to avoid an injury? Follow the training provided today and always report an
injury immediately after it has occurred. Documenting the injury properly and promptly is the
best practice to follow.
What if I have questions about today’s lifting training? Use this as your opportunity to
inquire now. If you don’t have any questions now but think of one at a later time, write down
your question and take it to your department manager as soon as you think of it.
We understand that accidents will occur but it is your responsibility as an employee to
follow common sense, training techniques and patience to avoid an injury on the job.

4. References
Back Injuryat workSafetyTrainingVideo.(n.d.).YouTube.Retrievedfrom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf7mlHNjvb8
Ergonomics OSHA Long Term Care WorkerProtectionProgram.(n.d.).Google.Retrievedfrom
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjA
A&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.osha.gov%2Fdte%2Fgrant_materials%2Ffy10%2Fsh-
20865-10%2F07_ergo.ppt&ei=-KI9Vc7JIonAsAX0h4GICg&usg=AFQjCNHg0txzvUY-
ShIzI394zJOEpku8sg&sig2=A1GKYeSOQ_Vndb9XMKRBIw&bvm=bv.91665533,d.b2w
ProperLiftingTechniques-PreventBackInjuriesby LiftingObjectsCorrectly SafetyTrainingVideo.
(n.d.).YouTube.Retrievedfrom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDR6se131Bc