Abstract
Grocer actions to protect grocery workers’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Background and objective: As essential workers, grocery workers have been at an elevated risk for infection with COVID-19. Resources such as OSHA’s COVID-19 Guidance for Retail Workers and the CDC’s Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility provide guidance for safeguarding grocery worker health. Our study explores the extent, type, and perceived sufficiency of safety precautions implemented by grocers from workers’ perspectives.
Methods: We conducted 67 semi-structured in-depth interviews with U.S. grocery workers who worked prior to and throughout the pandemic. Participants were diverse with respect to their jobs, race/ethnicity, gender, age, geographic location, type, and union status. Interviews addressed grocery stores’ COVID-related safety precautions and training and employee perceptions of the adequacy of these actions.
Results: Many participants wished that safety precautions (e.g., limiting the number of customers, mask requirements) had been implemented more quickly or had remained consistent throughout the pandemic. Most participants (n=47) felt that their employers provided adequate information/trainings on risks and safety precautions. However, many participants (n=36) said additional instruction about vaccines, cleaning demonstrations (e.g., surface disinfectant contact time), proper mask wearing, and de-escalation strategies with unmasked customers would have been useful.
Conclusions: Grocery workers have perceptions of what measures are most effective to keep them safe, which practices they want to see continued or intensified, and most effective means to convey information to them. Grocers can benefit from these perceptions and suggestions to implement systems, procedures, and increased comprehensive training to create a healthier work environment for their employees and customers.