American workers will use personal protective equipment if their employers distribute it, a new study concluded.
Researchers from the CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health analyzed the survey responses of 742 non-health and non-remote workers last June who did not use PPE at work before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only 29% used PPE if it was left entirely to them, the team reported on Thursday at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Weekly Mortality. More than half of the people who used PPE were forced to do so by employers. And use doubled if PPE was provided, they found.
About 30% of workers who were not required to wear PPE received the equipment by employers, the NIOSH team found, and 45% of those workers used PPE. This compared to 22% of workers who did not use PPE if it was not provided.
The team also found that 8% of workers were banned from using PPE by their employers. “In general, low-income workers were more likely than high-income workers to be prohibited from using risk controls or being unable to obtain them,” the team wrote.
The team also noted why the use of PPE is important.
“Failure to protect COVID-19 workers can exacerbate existing health disparities, including those among low-income populations,” said the team. “Workers with lower incomes are more likely than those with higher incomes to have pre-existing health problems that can increase the risk of serious illnesses associated with COVID-19.”
Among those who did not use PPE and other risk controls in the workplace, 15% were unable to obtain them and 77% said they thought they were not needed.
Low-income workers were more likely to be banned from using them or unable to obtain them, compared to higher-income workers.
“Employers can help protect workers against Covid-19 by requiring and encouraging the use of occupational risk control and providing recommended risk controls, along with other Covid-19 precautions in the workplace,” said the report.