A nationwide survey conducted has released results last Monday that over half of all food workers in the United States are still reporting to work despite not feeling well or being sick. The new survey conducted by the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPP) has revealed that employees at food companies in the U.S. and Canada go to work sick citing concerns for lost wages and support for their co-workers.
In the report published by NPR, the study was commissioned by Alchemy, a firm that works with companies across the food industry to improve safety and productivity. Results show that fifty one percent of food workers, that includes everyone from growing and processing food to cooking and serving them, said that they always or frequently go to work when they're sick according to the results of the CRPP survey.
As part of the annual Mind of the Food Worker study, the CRPP surveyed more than 1,200 employees across the food industry and that includes workers in farms, processing plants, cafeterias, restaurants and grocery stores. Here are the results of the survey as reported by Quality Assurance Magazine:
- 51% of employees reported they always or frequently go to work when sick.
- More than 45% said they go to work sick because they can't afford to lose pay.
- More than 46% said they didn't want to let their co-workers down by not showing up for a shift.
- 15% of workers would not serve the food they make to their family and children.
- When managers were asked how many employees they thought came to work sick, the majority answered just 18%.
It is said that over 20 million U.S. and Canadian frontline workers are involved in handling food and these are eaten by over 355 million consumers every day.
"The majority of frontline food workers and their employers are committed to providing safe foods for their customers," said Alchemy CEO Jeff Eastman. "The survey findings support the need for a food safety culture that helps workers understand when it's okay to stay home, while food companies make accommodations that keep the food supply safe."
Now the findings of the survey will definitely have serious consequences to the public health. According to CDC, "infected food handlers were the source of 53% of outbreaks and may have contributed to 82% of outbreaks." However Eastman said that the findings are positive overall since 93 percent of workers will stop working when they see the public health may be compromised.
