Find out how hazardous your job will be

[Barbie222]

The BBC have made a guide to show how exposed you may be to covid in your job.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52637008
Most jobs, it says, expose you to disease only "yearly". What's your job rating? Are you reassured about going to work?

[Madein1995]

I'm 39 (monthly) for exposure and 157 for touch
Thats lumping all probation staff together and I'm not sure I agree
When I'm in group with offenders theres between 6 and 14 of them and 2 facilitators and can be packed to the rafters. Also if I'm supporting someone in completing a piece of work I'll often be stood right next to or in front of them. If it's on a 121 then I'm closer again
I've resigned myself to getting it tbh. I'm young and healthy apart from being overweight. I'm rarely I'll and the stats for my age group are in my favour

[SylvanianFrenemies]

It's not very accurate. Says speech therapy exposure to disease is close to monthly. Contact at arm's length! Tell that to a SLT doing a swallow assessment, laryngectomy valve change, or voice work!

[nellodee]

Primary teachers are 32nd - they are very high. This is the top end of the list that search thing is based on. These figures are from the US, done based on interviews. Its not terribly scientific.

I wonder about the secondary teachers. If teaching in the US is really like you see on TV with a teacher at the front and then students on separate desks, then its not really a surprise. I get the impression their High Schools are quite different to our Secondaries. Don't students have to take their own notes and then do a test at the end of the unit? I get the impression that their teachers are under much less pressure to get the kids to achieve certain grades. I know I am up and down the classroom constantly and do very little of my teaching at the front of the class. We tend to spoon feed and cajole our students a huge amount compared to other countries, I think, because all responsibility for their performance has been put on to us.

[ErrolTheDragon]

How can veterinary nurses be so high - you can't catch it from animals

I think this was based on the risk of some sort of infection, not specifically CV19. So, maybe inc zoonoses too? Vet nurses (and vets) are often close to the owners too - owner holds the pet while it's examined usually.


Re dental nurses being at the top of the list - does that include hygienists? Lots of spray, delving into the dirty corners ... I can't think of anything worse.

[Butterbeaninjeans]

I can't imagine how dental practices will cope. I'm in emergency hub in a hospital service, I don't see out normal service being resumed for a long time to come.

[Barbie222]

Dental procedures are really high risk. I wonder what that's going to mean for dental services over the next year or so.

[Butterbeaninjeans]

Dental nurse here, pretty much accepted I'll be getting it soon 😱

[ginsparkles]

It gives me 190 for exposure and 98 for closeness however that's lumping all retail in one group. As a jeweller my "closeness" is significantly greater than many other forms of retail so I would suggest it's not accurate in my case.

[MinkowskisButterfly]

Don't think it is very accurate. My husbands job is listed as being very little contact when in fact due to lack of social distancing measures (they should be there but management won't enforce it) he spends most of his day with people (and lots of them) stood next to him or within a foot or two.

[NameChange84]

I’m not saying I want teaching ranked higher than other professions, I’m just saying anecdotally most teachers, from my own experience, are sick quite a bit more that once per year to never so I doubt the accuracy of this.

[OptimisticSix]

Not reassured at all, I work in a call centre and it seems to think Im further away than arms length - erm not in my call centre!

[RubixCubix]

4 out of 359 for exposure, 17 out of 359 for closeness. Like a previous poster, if I don't get spat on (or scratched, hit,kicked etc.) then it's been a good day. And I'm paid minimum wage for the pleasure

[abcde11]

@NameChange84 I think it's because you will see the same kids everyday so maybe only exposed via their contacts, where as an HCP or shop assistant will see many people a day who will have different contacts and therefore more likely to know someone with the virus. 🤷🏻‍♀️

That was my thought anyway.

[InMySpareTime]

My job isn't on there (storyteller), but the closest I could find was 265th for exposure but 7th for closeness.
Given I work closely with different groups of children, travelling to and from jobs on public transport, I often get ill a few days after a school booking. My last booking just before lockdown involved close contact with 750 children in 3 days, and 15 bus journeys. I doubt I'll be able to work safely until there's a vaccine or until so many people have antibodies it's not needed.

[CarlottaValdez]

It’s not something to take massively seriously as it’s not got any proper context.

[Peggysgettingcrazy]

I wfh in an office based role. So mines fine.

Unfortunately, there's no listing for one job that people actually go out and about doing, at my company.

[PheasantPlucker1]

Personally I have no idea where all the jobs should rank, I didnt think pet sitting would cause any risk at all until I read a PP explaining it.

I would just like a realistic assessment. Too much to ask for?

[Justabadwife]

Mine came back at 83 out of 159, and we work arms distance away- its all good in theory, but in practice it's completely different. 😕

[OneMomentInHistory]

For context it's important to note this looks at normal exposure to disease. Not exposure to covid with or without social distancing in place.

For those questioning teaching - presumably the yearly cycle feeds in to this. US teachers will have around 15 weeks a year with no student contact, vastly higher than the annual leave provision in most US jobs. Not necessarily a great representation of daily exposure when in work with students.

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

What jobs do you think teachers should rank above then? Interested- I’m due back to work on 1/6 as a childminder and so will also we working with children.

[NameChange84]

@PheasantPlucker1 I’ve been a university tutor for a while now but usually do cover teaching in schools during the longer University holidays too.

As it stands we think we will be delivering Semester 1 remotely and halls etc will remain closed until January. Most Freshers seem to spend November to March almost constantly ill. They get a bad cough or something similar that they just can’t shake for months and often pass it on to the staff. If the guidelines remain to isolate if you have a cough or fever, it would have a massive impact on availability of teaching staff and attendance at lectures, seminars and tutorials. Delivering online would most likely guarantee at least some sort of structure and continuity. Not great for the whole student experience though!

I got pneumonia during my first semester as an undergrad and was ill until Easter. My first year teaching at a university led to me being very cocky about not getting ill at all despite everyone around me getting ill with a particularly nasty bout of “freshers flu”. The day after I’d finished all my marking in December I came down with the actual flu and was dreadfully poorly for six weeks with breathing problems, exhaustion and no appetite. I didn’t leave the house for a month.

I’ve often felt like giving a lecture during Fresher’s Week about staying healthy and practising good hygiene. I don’t know about children being superspreaders but young adults definitely seem to be.

[PheasantPlucker1]

Unis opening is going to be bad too.

From what I remember, freshers flu was also a high temp, lots of coughing and the need to sleep for a month.

No idea how Uni staff are going to tell the difference between that and covid.

[NameChange84]

I get that teaching will not be the highest but teachers are ill very frequently. Kids cough and sneeze all over you for most of the year. And that’s before we get to the vomiting bugs!

What’s puzzled me is that this suggests teachers are only exposed to disease between once a year and never. But that doesn’t seem to be the case in almost every educational establishment I’ve either attended or worked at.

Even my GP said, “if you work in a school or a pharmacy then we accept that you are probably going to get ill several times a year. Hazard of the job I’m afraid!”

[BlueGheko]

How can veterinary nurses be so high - you can't catch it from animals

Am assuming it's because you regularly have to get very close to colleagues and often remain so for long periods. Social distancing not really possible.

[NameChange84]

@Cherryghost people that work in the “houses” in boarding schools supervising and most often living with the pupils.