In-Home Cleaning Accidents
Posted by Caleb Page on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 @ 09:54 PM
We received a call yesterday from a woman that wanted someone to clean her home twice a week for $10 per hour. While the rate would be fabulous, we certainly couldn't meet it. After we ended the call, I thought more about the risks that one could unintentionally bring into their home.
In the maid service industry, the #1 cause of injury is slips, trips, and falls. This can happen on stairways, climbing in and out of tubs, and while mopping floors. While no one wants to slip or fall, accidents do happen.
Source: WBZ-TV Video Archive
The most expensive accident in the home cleaning industry is driving related accidents. While the auto comprehensive policy covers the majority of things, it's not uncommon to have at least on neck/back strain incident as a result. The accident in the video above resulted in no injuries, but the ambulance and emergency room bill exceeded $2500 for an employee that was hit by the thief driver of a stolen vehicle. Again, no one tries to get into an accident; it is a fact of being on the road for a substantial part of the workday. The question is what happens after an accident?
For workplace injuries, the law is pretty clear. The employer is responsible (providing that the employee was following the safety policy). In our case, we carry workers' compensation insurance to cover this event. We'll still have to manage the recovery and ensure that the employee gets appropriate care, but we're covered in the event of a catastrophic claim.
Our workers' compensation insurance runs more than $30,000 per year. We clean a little over 3,500 homes each year. This insurance adds over $8.50 to every cleaning. We can see how the $10 per hour number starts to look difficult from this aspect alone.
Consider the case of our caller.
One should check with a lawyer, but many self-employed persons who do not elect workers' compensation coverage are not covered by their personal health insurance while working. This includes travel to and from the client site.
What happens when a self-employed person has an accident in a home or enroute to/from a customer's house? Hopefully it's small enough that everything is settled in a friendly manner. My fear is if a person's livelihood is threatened then they are often driven to desperate means. This could include suing the owner of the home and bringing to life a risk much larger than ever imagined.
When you think about a fair rate for cleaning services, please take into consideration many of the expectations you have of the service beyond a clean home - insurance being just one of them.