Safety & turnover

The two safety rules that prevent almost every housekeeping accident: never mix cleaning chemicals (bleach plus other cleaning products can release toxic gas), and keep every bottle labelled — no mystery sprays. Gloves for bathroom work, ventilate while using strong products. For your body: bend at the knees not the back, push the trolley rather than pull it, and split heavy mattress-corner work across the room's natural pauses. A twisted back in June ends a season in July.

Your hotel will set how long a departure room and a stay-over should take; ask your supervisor in your first week. Speed comes from the sequence — never deciding what's next — and from batching: all dusting together, all bathroom together, one vacuum pass. What speed never comes from: skipping the corners, reusing bathroom cloths on glasses, or marking an unchecked room as ready. Report what you find honestly — a broken kettle or stained mattress reported today is maintenance's job; discovered by a guest tonight, it's a complaint with your room number on it.