20
Nov
The Case for Employers Supplying Face Masks to Their Employees
It all started in late 2019 with an unknown mysterious respiratory illness in Wuhan, China. Only a few months later the virus spread to every country in the world and resulted in over a million deaths and billions of dollars in damage. This pandemic also ravaged the world causing mass unemployment with people instructed to not leave their homes, which has also caused an economic depression around the world. People started to wear face masks at work and in public areas to try to reduce spread. Unfortunately, for us, the rise of a second wave has shown that we are not out of the woods yet and that we will need to act with urgency to mitigate its effects.
Adverse economic effects of COVID-19
The economic effects of the pandemic around the world have been devastating. The economic growth rate has dropped significantly in 2020; thousands of small businesses have filed for bankruptcy, and mass unemployment is estimated to cause 100 to 110 million people to enter poverty. Even powerful large corporations and wealthy countries such as the USA and Japan have been crippled by the pandemic. Japan has lost 7.8% of its GDP due to the pandemic. The mass evictions and food shortages in the USA have put the social programs acting as a safety net under constraint. The USA has suffered an unemployment rate of 11%.
Despite the numerous safety protocols employed, it seems that the pandemic has continued to ravage these countries. Numerous industries around the world such as tourism, hospitality, transportation, and oil (which lost a quarter of its value) have been crippled by the spread of COVID-19.
Prevention methods observed to control the virus spread
Various ways have been promoted and adopted to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, including but not limited to social distancing, hand washing, ventilation of indoor spaces, and the most important and crucial method of all – the proper usage of face masks (see the risks of an improperly fitted face mask). Wearing a face mask at work is important! Health experts and researchers all around the globe have continuously stressed upon the importance of proper face coverage to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many countries have rigorously imposed face mask-wearing and other preventative measures so that the damaging effects of the virus can be mitigated.
The case of employers supplying face masks to their employees
In order to recover from this pandemic, we need to open up the businesses that were closed down. However, we need to employ strict safety protocols to ensure prevention from serious long-term consequences. One of the first and most important steps is to provide employees with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as face masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers. This will ensure that the employees remain healthy and the spread of the disease is controlled. Employers supplying face masks to their employees is vital to jump-start businesses and bring the economy back on track – only by proper use of PPEs can we continue thriving in a post-COVID-19 world.
Takeaway
It is of the utmost importance to the safety and continued thriving of our society that we urge employers to provide PPEs (such as face masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers) to their employees. It will be both beneficial to the employers and employees if there are strict protocols and safety measures taken to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 is halted. The benefits of the use of facemasks during the pandemic are numerous and the downsides virtually none.
