Employers fail to prepare for workers’ return

Just 11 per cent of employees have additional hygiene measures such as hand sanitiser, a survey has found.

Just 4 cent of workers said there had been extra cleaning or disinfection, the ACTU survey found.

Employers are significantly under-prepared for increasing numbers of employees returning to workplaces, with less than 10 per cent of workers believing bosses have implemented basic COVID-19 protections.

National polling of 1367 workers conducted for the ACTU found just 11 per cent of employees currently in the workplace had additional hygiene measures such as hand sanitiser or access to soap and water

Just 4 cent of those in the workplace said there had been extra cleaning or disinfection and only 9 per cent said there was a plan in place in case a worker developed symptoms or tested positive to COVID-19.

Only 1 per cent had access to additional paid pandemic leave, while none of the workers polled said their employer had made any effort to support their mental health.

It found social distancing, mandated by governments for months, was only in place for 70 per cent of the workers polled.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the results showed a “staggering” lack of basic preventative measures in workplaces.

“We are more than two months into the lockdown period and almost 90 per cent of working people say their workplaces don’t have hand sanitiser,” she said.

“Pandemic leave, or some form of additional paid leave is necessary to ensure that people can get tested or self-isolate, has been provided to one per cent of working people.

“This polling shows how much work is left to be done before the economy can be safely reopened. The union movement is launching a campaign to make workplaces as safe as possible, but we need immediate action from all governments to prevent a second wave of infection.”