What does workplace safety mean now that Covid is here to stay?
Written by HRuprise founder, Rebecca Weaver.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
If our employees aren’t safe at work, we don’t have the right to be talking about anything else.
This is exponentially more true since the pandemic began.
Not only is it our responsibility to keep employees safe from harassment, abuse and injury on the job, but it’s also our responsibility to keep them as safe as possible from this awful, disruptive, pain-in-the-ass virus.
I know we all hate Covid and the ways it’s forced us to change our behavior around each other.
But with reinfection rates, Long Covid, and new variants popping up weekly, the pandemic continues to be a top workplace safety concern.
Do you really want your employees to risk catching a volatile disease with potentially lifelong comorbidities on your watch?
I can’t believe I still have to say this, but we NEED to protect our employees by requiring vaccinations and boosters, requiring KN95 or N95 masks indoors, offering remote and hybrid work options, and making sure our healthcare coverage and paid sick leave are as generous as humanly possible.
Not only that, we also need to protect our employees from the fallout of our angry, burned-out clientele.
Our frontline employees are probably the lowest paid, most diverse pool of workers on your team. Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and female employees are almost certainly more represented at this level than higher up.
Can we really say we care about safety when we put a twenty-something hostess or receptionist in charge of enforcing mask and vaccine mandates at the door?
Or when we deploy a fleet of mostly-BIPOC delivery drivers to knock on doors and interact with unmasked customers?
Frontline workers deserve robust managerial support, protection from public hostility, and hazard pay, not only for their increased exposure to the virus, but also for dealing with disgruntled (and sometimes armed) clientele.
The public is showing its true colors under the strain of Covid. Don’t let them take out their frustration on your most vulnerable employees.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: REBECCA WEAVER
Rebecca Weaver is the Founder and CEO of HRuprise, a marketplace that connects people with HR coaches to help them grow, develop, and navigate their toughest workplace challenges. LEARN MORE
