ALLAYING EMPLOYEE FEARS SURROUNDING COVID-19

摘要

The ongoing pandemic has presented a challenge for workplace health and safety of the modern era. While keeping employees physically safe from the virus is a top priority, one of the 'symptoms' of the pandemic that employers also need to address is worker anxiety. Statistics have shown that 32% of workers surveyed were anxious about catching or spreading Covid-19 in their normal workplace, with 21 % also feeling dissatisfied with the health and safety measures that their employers were putting in place. The food manufacturing and production industry was subject to great scrutiny through 2020 as a result of reporting on outbreaks in factories and manufacturing facilities in England and Wales, with over 450 workers reportedly testing positive for Coronavirus across four different facilities. Many aspects of working in food production that are unique to the industry have been discussed as potential explanations as to why infection rates were so disproportionate among food sector workers, including refrigerated work spaces, communal welfare areas and workers having to raise voices to be heard over loud machinery.