1 In 4 American Workers Hesitant to Ask Their Boss to Wear a Mask or Stay Socially Distant
Nationwide YouGov & SafetyCulture Survey Assesses Employee Reluctance to Speak to Supervisors & Coworkers About COVID-19 Safety Behavior in the Workplace
SafetyCulture, the world’s leading platform for workplace safety and quality, has released findings detailing workers’ likelihood to speak up about COVID-19 safety in US workplaces. More than one in four males (27%) and only one in five females (20%) who will be returning to their place of work are unlikely to ask a colleague or boss to put on a mask, wash their hands or distance themselves, according to the national survey conducted by YouGov and SafetyCulture of over 2,500 adults*.
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“Companies which will survive and thrive today are those which proactively lean into challenges, encourage employee feedback, and take ownership of risks. They build visibility across their workplace through real-time data capture, and they empower all workers to have a voice when it comes to safety. ”
Millennials are most likely to comment on safety concerns and measures over Gen Z, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. When it comes to work meetings, more than one in five (22%) are unlikely to speak up if the room is deemed overcapacity.
Although October 2020 was a month of frightening COVID-19 records, over eight in 10 (81%) of these workers are confident that their workplace has or will take the appropriate actions to put safety checks in place for a safe return to the office.
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Key findings from the survey also include:
- More than one in five (21%) are unlikely to wear a mask for an entire day at work
- Only 17% of Millennials are unlikely to wear a mask for the full day compared to 31% of Baby Boomers
- 17% are not confident that colleagues will stay home if they show signs of COVID-19
- 15% admit they are unlikely to social distance from others in the workplace, with 16% of Boomers not complying with social distancing
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The majority of these workers agree that their trust and confidence in a workplace would increase with certain safety measures put in place, including:
- Temperature check protocols upon entry (55%)
- Social distancing protocols which are monitored and enforced (59%)
- A real-time list of thorough cleaning and disinfecting activities being completed regularly, throughout the day for high traffic areas (60%)
- Readily available mask and hand sanitizer supplies available for free with their use being enforced in all areas of the workplace (63%)
Bob Butler, General Manager, Americas, SafetyCulture, cautions against a top-down approach to safety in workplaces:
“Companies which will survive and thrive today are those which proactively lean into challenges, encourage employee feedback, and take ownership of risks. They build visibility across their workplace through real-time data capture, and they empower all workers to have a voice when it comes to safety.
“Organizations must actively encourage employees of all levels to speak up when something raises a concern in the workplace. Everyone needs to take responsibility to create a genuine culture of safety, from the frontline to senior management. One way of doing this is by investing in the right tools that enable employees to be the eyes and ears of the organization,” Butler said.
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