{"id":21911,"date":"2020-06-04T13:36:33","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T12:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=21911"},"modified":"2020-06-04T15:44:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T14:44:29","slug":"scared-for-their-safety-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=21911","title":{"rendered":"Scared for their safety at work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite, representing staff working in call and contact centres across the financial services sector, has today (June 4) called for urgent action following the publication of a report into Covid-19 within the sector. The survey finds that most staff fear they will either contract or pass on Covid-19 to loved ones \u00e2\u20ac\u201c through being at work.<\/p>\n

Only last month UNITElive reported<\/a> on the worries and stresses that our members in banks were under, providing a key service to communities \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with management not taking their safety concerns seriously.<\/p>\n

The survey of nearly 3,000 staff working in call centres throughout the UK found massive alarm among the workforce over safety conditions within their workplaces.<\/p>\n

The independent research was conducted by Professor Phil Taylor of the University of Strathclyde and aimed to gather data from a large sample of contact centre workers about their experiences and perceptions of hazards.<\/p>\n

The report found that 47.2 per cent surveyed \u00e2\u20ac\u0098strongly agreed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and 30.7 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u0098agreed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 with the statement: \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I think it is likely that I will catch Covid-19\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. At the same time, over 90 per cent either \u00e2\u20ac\u0098strongly agreed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (68.6 per cent) or \u00e2\u20ac\u0098agreed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (22 per cent) with the statement, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I am worried I will give Covid-19 to family or friends\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

The survey also revealed distancing concerns with 37.8 per cent of respondents stated that they were seated less than the required 2 metres; with one in six (16.4 per cent) reporting that they were a mere 1.5 metres distance away or less.<\/p>\n

One in two reported their seating arrangements meant that there was often only a short distance and a relatively low panel separating facing colleagues.<\/p>\n

Difficulties are exacerbated by workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 movements throughout the floors, where corridors and walkways are often narrow. Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) believed that social distancing when moving around the building was either \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hazardous\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u0098very hazardous\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

And actions by management have not impressed them much \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with 45 per cent considering management to have been either \u00e2\u20ac\u0098ineffective\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u0098very ineffective\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in \u00e2\u20ac\u0098taking the necessary steps to ensure social distancing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

Many workers understandably want to work from their homes. In fact 65.2 per cent said that they had requested to work from home but of those that had asked to do so only 4.8 per cent had had their request approved \u00e2\u20ac\u201c while 31.7 per cent were rejected. The majority, 63.5 per cent, were still awaiting a decision.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince the start of the Covid-19 crisis the staff in contact and call centres have worked tirelessly as key workers to serve customers, often despite their own safety fears,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 commented Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer.<\/p>\n

‘Scale of fear’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe scale of the fear among call and contact centre staff is stark to see from this report. Workers in the finance sector are calling out for their employer to do more to keep them safe during this public health emergency.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEmployers from banks and insurance companies must consider this report urgently and re-double their efforts to keep their workforce safe. Urgent discussion between employers and trade unions must be stepped up,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

The research concludes that homeworking at this time has undeniable advantages and would \u00e2\u20ac\u015btake call handlers and back office workers out of a working environment that is perceived as very dangerous, freed from the toxic combination that is at work\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

It goes on to add that evidence in the report demonstrates unequivocally that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bworking from home will eradicate \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe flaws of social distancing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 as well as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe inadequacies of cleaning and sanitisation, the palpable risks of hot-desking, the stressful nature of increased and demanding workloads all combined with the baleful, probably dangerous effects, of sub-optimal or malfunctioning HVAC systems in open-plan, densely populated offices makes homeworking a necessity, not an optional benefit\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOrganisations now have an urgent responsibility to re-assess the configuration of their services and swiftly home locate those many who are in a position to do so and want to,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 believes report author Professor Phil Taylor.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bRapid action will save some lives. Inaction will cause further deaths and serious illness,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

But Unite is firmly on the case. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite reps will be raising the findings of this research with employers and pressing for action to ensure the highest possible safety of our members as they work hard to serve finance sector customers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 concluded Rob MacGregor.<\/p>\n

Compiled by Amanda Campbell @amanda_unite<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite, representing staff working in call and contact centres across the financial services sector, has today (June 4) called for urgent action following the publication of a report into Covid-19 within the sector.\u00c2\u00a0The survey finds that most staff fear they will either contract or pass on Covid-19 to loved ones \u00e2\u20ac\u201c through being at work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1214],"tags":[898,1295,292,1335,290,586],"wps_subtitle":"Unite demands action from findings in Covid-19 call centre safety report\u00c2\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21911"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21913,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21911\/revisions\/21913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}