‘FEELING UNSAFE AT WORK IS THE NEW NORMAL’: SUPERMARKET STAFF WORKING IN COVID-19

Supermarkets all around the UK have enforced the governments guidelines on social distancing. Credit: Adrien Delforge

With a typical working week consisting of over 50 hours, supermarket employees have been subjected to unsafe and strenuous shifts that are mentally exhausting.

Chloe Weaver interviews a supermarket manager, Brian (not his real name), to find out what it’s really like to work on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic.

Answering the phone, the manager’s voice is clearly strained and the interview takes a tense tone as they describe the stressful experience of being deemed ‘essential’ throughout the pandemic.

“THEY SEEM TO THINK THAT OUR UNIFORM RESULTS IN OUR IMMUNITY, BUT IT ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT.”

“Feeling unsafe at work is now the new normal,” Brian explained. “My daily routine has gone out the window, my schedule is hectic at the best of times, but now it feels like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders.

“The vast majority of customers are following the guidelines,” Brian said. Those who aren’t following the guidelines are making the staff’s lives incredibly difficult.

Panic buying has resulted in empty shelves across the country.

“We are taking every step we can to mediate risks for both staff and customers, but the biggest recurring problem seems to be that customers will observe the 2 metre rule with each other but don’t feel the need to do so with colleagues.”

“They seem to think that our uniform results in our immunity, but it absolutely does not.” Staff have been self-isolating away from their families so they can keep coming to work.

“PPE is a bit of a worry, as we don’t have a lot provided in the first place.”

“A lot of my employees speak of their determination to keep doing their job and serve the community, despite their uncertainty and concerns,” said Brian. “For me, one of the biggest challenges is trying to keep people calm and keep morale up. I’ve found it’s best to try to act as normal as possible.

“PPE is a bit of a worry, as we don’t have a lot provided in the first place.” Brian has to make do with the tools he is given and try to spread masks and gloves evenly around the staff. “We always make sure that we have hand sanitiser in abundance.”

But, understandably, it’s hard to keep a brave face when customers start to act threateningly. “My worst experience was a customer threatening to deliberately cough on a member of staff after they asked them to respect the social distancing rules. We ended up having to call the police.”

But Brian admits, the hardest part is simply not knowing all the answers. “There is no guideline or handbook to deal with a global pandemic.

“The older generation are by far the worst in my opinion. A lot of them seem to be stuck in their ways, they have their routines and the things they’re used to doing and it’s difficult for them to change out of them” says Brian. “That being said, the younger bored generation aren’t far behind when it comes to flouting social distancing rules.”

“We’ve had letters of thanks sent to the store.”

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. The staff have received a lot of appreciation from customers.

“We’ve had letters of thanks sent to the store from local children and customers have even brought us chocolates,” Brian said. “I’ve had plenty of customers stop me and express their admiration for everyone and thank us for what we’re doing.”

And this sense of community has inspired the supermarket employees to help other frontline workers.

“A member of the team mentioned that their mother works on a local COVID-19 ward and the staff still have to pay for tea and coffee. So, we decided to take £150 of our own budget, to provide them with refreshments and biscuits.

“While we are key workers working in tough conditions, it’s nothing compared to what the NHS are doing, they’re the true heroes and deserve all the credit and respect.”