To think retail staff should be wearing masks too?

[cccro]

Sorry if this has already been posted.
Today I went to a few shops.
Wilkos -no staff wearing masks,yes screens at tills but staff at door and walking around aren't wearing masks.
Primark -no staff wearing masks
Superdrug -no staff wearing masks

What's the rule here?
Are sales assistants immune from catching covid?
I don't understand why they aren't wearing masks?

Oh excellent another thread moaning about people not wearing masks! One thing I always thought was lacking on mumsnet was people discussing face coverings on other people they happened to walk past. Hurrah for Covid!

Seems weird they dont want to wear them themselves. I would if I was coming into close contact with hundreds of people a day but YMMV.

Think they should but hey I have given up with all the opposition to masks and just police myself

In all the shops I've been in since Friday all shoppers and staff have been wearing masks/visors except for children. I have seen only 1 person in Sainsbury's without one.

What the fuck is the point? To protect you? You do realise that everything in the store has been touched by at least one of us? We can't social distance effectively between ourselves either. Customers wearing them is to protect us so that we dont catch it and spread it around the store for you to catch.

This pretty much sums up the stupidity of the U.K. government’s approach to coronavirus. We know that some individuals shed the virus at significant rates and are very contagious but others are not and may infect no one. We know that masks protect others, they don’t protect you. Now think of a supermarket. You have customers that may come into close proximity with a few people if they’re not observing SD and you have staff who will come into contact with hundreds of people each day. Now take our hypothetical super contagious individual. Where is there a greater risk of super spreading? As a worker or a customer? Asa worker obviously. So who should wear the mask? Not the one at risk of super spreading according to Boris and co.

It’s like they want the virus to spread but have put in place this rule simply to placate the fearful and encourage them to go out and get sick.

Just another example of what the rest of the world can do but England is too special for 🤷‍♀️

They don’t have to wear them.

Yabu customers have a choice to go into a shop retail workers dont. And you'd have to wear one for an hour tops cannot be compared to wearing one for a full 8 hour shift.

I've worked in retail for most of my life.
You honestly cant win when it comes to the general public.

If you are wearing one, customers get annoyed that they can't hear you. There are also customers with some hard of hearing elderly and ones with hearing difficulty. It's becoming an obstacle for them in day to day life which most people don't have to worry about.
If you aren't, you get verbally attacked by people for not wearing one.

Also god forbid you are the poor unfortunate soul at the door checking everyone is wearing a mask. I've seen colleagues shouted at, sworn at and some customers threaten them with their jobs, push past them to get into the store. All for not wearing a piece of cloth on their face for 10 minutes.

Also bear in mind, people in shops have used their glove free hands to stack the shelves, take unwanted clothes from the fitting rooms back to the racks, scan your goods into the till etc. Masks are no guarantee of protection in shops, so much more gets handled. Of course workers wash their hands and have the alcohol gel, but again no guarantee of protection.

It's funny no one was complaining that workers in supermarkets and corner shops weren't wearing masks in full lockdown. Now it seems to be a childish tit for that, I have to wear one so you should have to as well.

I don't really know what my aim is with this reply. Just to make you more aware of what it's like on the other side I guess. Please give retail workers a break. Like I said, you really can't please everybody. For every person that gets upset that you aren't wearing a mask, there will be someone that gets upset that you are, or that they have to.

Any excuse to bash retail workers. Tragic.

To me it makes zero sense.
The sales assistants come into contact with that many people per day.
I'm aware a mask isn't the most comfortable (I wear one for my job and yes I'm on my feet all day)
It's not the staffs fault it's the government.
They've made very questionable decisions.

@hellywelly3

Legally not required to wear them. I think because it’s your choice to go shopping but the staff don’t have that choice they have to go to work. I work for 9 hours a day in a shop it would be awful to wear one for that long. I know healthcare workers have to wear them longer and I really feel for them.

It's funny because I know that the local zoos, caravan holiday parks etc are all requesting their staff to wear face masks. I think that it should be encouraged for staff in shops to do the same. Yes customers wearing masks offers some protection, but not against the other staff, children and those not wearing.

None of it has made sense all the way through, so the mask situ is just more of the same nonsense IMHO.

yanbu
my ds wears one. has done all the time. but then he doesn't think he is special.
it annoys me that I have to wear one to keep staff safe. and they don't have to .....because its uncomfortable...beyond daft.

I'm in France at the moment and in shops and attractions any staff not behind a Perspex glass, such as at a till, are wearing masks and, less commonly, visors.

I can see why they might not want too - a full shift in a mask will feel like a long time and they'd probably need to change for a new one mid shift.

But it makes more sense for them to wear one really.

Re schools and offices...

Offices - some do when mixing in large groups. Dh has to wear a mask or visor if meeting a client face to face (especially if it's not been arranged to be outdoors) or having a meeting with his department where it's harder to SD if max numbers there. Those on reception have screens, though at present the office building isn't open to the public yet.

Schools - there are some concerns, especially at secondary and sixth form ages, that masks won't be worn, and in some cases not even allowed.

I think if the staff are behind screens then no worries.
If staff are on shop floor /at door
They should be wearing a mask.

Wearing a mask for half an hour whilst shopping is a whole lot easier than wearing it for hours on end doing physical work.

Whilst might not be comfortable initially people would get used to it.

I wore one (well two as changed half way through day to a new one) all day, in 30c heat, outdoors at a theme park the other day. Tbh after being in France for a week it's becoming more second nature to just have your mask ready and worn now.

Surgeons wear them for hours at a time.

So it can be done. They don't reduce oxygen levels, etc and they are quick to get used we are finding.

Went to M&S yesterday. The only member of staff I saw wearing a mask was the man at the door telling customers they had to wear a mask . I can understand not wanting to wear a mask all day but why not wear a visor instead?

I work in a supermarket. We are all required to wear masks except for staff on tills who are behind acreens.. If you have a reason for not wearing a mask you have to have a meeting with a manager and get it documented. We are all doing it and all finding it hard. The masks end up wet and sweaty, we take them off when we go in the back and then put them back on. The hand sanitiser is no where near the warehouse so I haven't sanitised my hands before taking it on and off. I feel like we are not wearing them safely and that we would be better in visors. I feel that it is a case of us looking the part rather than it being the right thing to do..

I work in retail and I have to wear one (currently a visor). But bloody hell it's miserable. It's hot, claustrophobic and the tightness of the band gives you a headache (if it's not tight enough the bloody thing constantly slips down). Combined with being on your feet all day, trying to cope with new ways of doing things (which all staff hate), and customers who are not happy and think it's personally our fault, it does not make for a pleasant working experience. But, we are only staff..and do we matter?

Shoppers can be in and outside again in ten minutes.

Staff are sometimes at work for 8+ hours, it's they're choice. I can't wear them for longer than an hour, I don't expect them too.

Popped into Lush yesterday, all staff wearing masks, one way arrows and directed to wash my hands with soap and water immediately on entry. DM works for a specialist but well known retailer, her staff have screens, all staff must wear a mask AND a visor AND an apron AND gloves when on the shop floor, and numbers in store are extremely limited. She's also on furlough still. Her HQ is based in northern Italy though, so they are taking things very seriously.

Plus, nobody can hear a thing anyone is saying..staff to staff..staff to customers..customers to staff..combined with the perspex screen it makes being on the till hell.

My dad is mostly deaf and relies on lipreading a lot. He has been quite worried about shopping with staff in masks, so for that reason I feel staff might be better in visors where they need to talk to customers.