The employer has a duty to provide adequate protection
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In shop work, it is difficult for an individual employee to avoid customer contacts. Keeping a safe distance can also be challenging.
Over the weekend, there has been a public debate about the different mask policies for shop workers in the different retail chains. Erika Kähärä, PAM's work environment expert, wonders why the employee should not use his or her own face mask.
“If employees experience insecurity at work without a mask, it also has an impact on the employee's health,” says Kähärä.
Retail chains have already made several improvements to protect employees as early as the spring, when protective plexiglasses and visors were introduced at cash registers. However, in addition to cash register work, there are many jobs in stores where customer contacts inevitably arise.
“In practice, customers keep distance in very different ways when dealing with staff. In addition, the stores have a large number of customers from time to time. These are things that are difficult for an individual employee to influence themselves, ”says Kähärä.
“An estimate that short-term contact would not expose you to the infection might be too optimistic,” she continues.
Kähärä emphasizes the employer's responsibility to protect the employee in all customer contacts.
“The employer must ensure the safety of the employee by assessing the risks in different job roles and acquiring appropriate protective equipment. The costs of these cannot be passed on to employees ”.
Read more on how to protect yourself from the infection at work here