Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.
Ann Work Expo Health. 2023 Jan 12;67(1):76-86. doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxac030.
Age-standardized mortality rates for taxi drivers, chauffeurs, bus and coach drivers show that public transport workers were at high risk at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the public transport sector was required to continue services throughout the pandemic.
This paper aims to develop a better understanding of the experiences of organizational leaders and workers within the UK public transport sector (bus, rail, and tram). Specifically, it aims to explore the perceived balance of risk and mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, report on their perceptions of safety in public transport during the pandemic and in the future, and consider how these perceptions and changes impact on long-term worker health and wellbeing.
This study formed part of a larger stakeholder engagement with the public transport sector. Organizational leaders and workers were recruited (n = 18) and semi-structured interviews carried out between January and May 2021. Data were analysed thematically.
Overarching and subthemes were identified. Themes relating to perceptions and impacts of risk of COVID-19 for employees included: acceptability of risk for workers, perceptions of risk mitigation effectiveness, changes to working practices and their impact on morale and wellbeing, issues with compliance to mitigations such as social distancing and face coverings in passenger and co-worker groups alongside a lack of power to challenge behaviour effectively, and the roles of leadership and messaging. Themes related to long-lasting impacts of COVID-19 on working practices and effects on health and wellbeing included: continuing mitigations, impact of increasing passenger numbers, impact of vaccination programme, and impact of changes to business structure.
Most public transport employees reported feeling safe, related to the extent to which their role was public-facing. However, data were collected during a time of very low passenger numbers. Current mitigation measures were thought effective in reducing the risk of viral transmission, although measures may have a detrimental effect on worker morale and wellbeing. Issues relating to non-compliance with guidance and 'in-group' behaviour were identified. Impacts on wider business sustainability and individual wellbeing of staff should be considered when developing responses to any future pandemics. Recommendations are made for prioritizing employee engagement with colleagues, and the importance of strong leadership and clear messaging in promoting adherence to behavioural mitigations.
出租车司机、司机、公共汽车和长途汽车司机的年龄标准化死亡率表明，在 COVID-19 大流行初期，公共交通工作人员面临高风险。尽管如此，公共交通部门仍被要求在整个大流行期间继续提供服务。
本文旨在深入了解英国公共交通部门（公共汽车、铁路和电车）的组织领导人和工作人员的经验。具体而言，它旨在探讨感知到的 SARS-CoV-2 传播风险平衡和缓解，报告大流行期间和未来对公共交通安全性的看法，并考虑这些看法和变化如何影响长期工人健康和福祉。
本研究是与公共交通部门进行更大利益相关者接触的一部分。在 2021 年 1 月至 5 月期间，招募了组织领导人和工人（n=18）并进行了半结构化访谈。数据进行了主题分析。
确定了总体和子主题。与员工 COVID-19 风险的看法和影响有关的主题包括：工人对风险的可接受性、对风险缓解效果的看法、工作实践的变化及其对士气和福祉的影响、在乘客和同事群体中遵守缓解措施（如社交距离和口罩）的问题，以及缺乏有效挑战行为的权力，以及领导力和信息传递的作用。与 COVID-19 对工作实践的长期影响以及对健康和福祉的影响有关的主题包括：持续缓解、乘客人数增加的影响、疫苗接种计划的影响以及业务结构变化的影响。
大多数公共交通员工表示感到安全，这与他们的工作面向公众的程度有关。然而，数据是在乘客人数非常低的时期收集的。目前的缓解措施被认为可以有效降低病毒传播的风险，尽管这些措施可能会对工人的士气和福祉产生不利影响。确定了与不遵守指导方针和“同组”行为有关的问题。在制定应对任何未来大流行的措施时，应考虑对更广泛的业务可持续性和员工个人福祉的影响。建议优先考虑员工与同事的互动，并强调在促进遵守行为缓解措施方面的强大领导力和明确信息传递的重要性。
