Infection top reason employees reluctant to return to workplace

Aviva’s study of 2,024 employees showed that virus transmission from colleagues was worrying nearly half of respondents (44%) and infection from customers, a third of those surveyed (33%).

Employees’ concern of catching coronavirus varied by location as well as sector.
Construction workers were most concerned about infection from colleagues (60%). Healthcare workers however scored the lowest levels of personal concern about this (38%) and a relatively low score for concern of infection from patients (34%).

Compared to the national average across workers from all regions (44%), workers in or around Plymouth (57%), Norwich (55%) and Cardiff (55%) were the most concerned about infection from colleagues, while those in Nottingham (34%), Southampton (37%), and Newcastle (38%) registered the lowest concern.

Chris Andrews, Head of Risk Management Solutions at Aviva, commented: "As Britain gets back to business after lockdown, employees want to know that their employers have taken all the necessary steps, and what those steps are. That means not just taking action but engaging with employees on their concerns and clearly communicating what is in place and addressing anything that remains unresolved.”

The survey also revealed that just 42% of those working in their normal workplace said their employer had taken measures to improve social distancing. Similarly, just 40% of employees said barriers or screens between workers and customers had been erected in their workplace.

Andrews continued, “It’s clear that not enough businesses are following the basic points of the government’s guidance for employers. The risk of not adopting the government’s measures is the spread of the virus, a return to lockdown either locally or nationally and long-term impacts to UK PLC. We must not let that happen.”

Aviva survey here: bit.ly/3hsSYAB