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This report considers the challenges to be overcome in improving the safety and

health of cleaners, and examines actions taken to achieve this goal. By its nature, the

report focuses on challenges associated with cleaning tasks, seeking solutions to

these challenges that can reduce the risks to workers’ health and safety. This should

not obscure the positive developments in this field, and it should be noted that the

European cleaning industry bodies representing both employers and workers are

leading the way in improving the performance of the sector.



Common hazards, risks, and health outcomes include:

• risk of slips, trips and falls, particularly during ‘wet work’;
• exposure to dangerous ingredients in cleaning materials;
• exposure to hazardous substances being cleaned, which can include biological hazards such as moulds or human wastes;
• psychosocial issues including work-related stress, violence and bullying;
• risk of musculoskeletal disorders;
• risks, such as electric shock, from work equipment. O O

The work-related health disorders found in cleaners include:

• musculoskeletal disorders;
• work-related stress, anxiety and sleeping disorders;
• skin diseases such as contact dermatitis and eczema;
• respiratory disorders including asthma;
• cardiovascular diseases.

Where cleaning work is contracted out, there can be additional difficulties as the

client company and the cleaning company need to liaise and share knowledge to

ensure that risks are identified and eliminated or controlled.



The messages in this report can be summarised as follows:

• select your cleaning service by value, not price;
• switch to daytime cleaning;
• value the cleaners and the work they do — if it is done wrong, it can cost the
• business see cleaning as an essential task which can expose the workers to particular
• hazards and risks;
• assess the risks to cleaning workers and implement preventive measures;
• share knowledge with all relevant parties, including the client company, the cleaning contractor and the workers themselves

The full publication can be found at the following website address:



http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/reports/TEWE09006ENC