A recent survey on food processing and sanitation was recently published in the Delish website. As per reports people working in the food industry would usually report to work amidst being sick with the fear of losing their jobs. As per the website, a research on Mind of the Food Worker survey, which is commissioned by alchemy System gathered more than 1,200 workers all of which have one thing in common, they all work for food supply.
The research included participants from farms, food processing plants, cafeterias, restaurants and grocery stores within the United Stated and Canada. The results shockingly revealed that "51 percent of employees admitted to always or frequently working while ill, they then cited their concerns that if they would miss work, they would lose income from daily wages and/or losing support from their co-workers for not showing up to a shift. While another statistic coming from the worker's managers revealed that only 18 percent of employees went to work while sick."
Jeff Eastman, the Alchemy Systems CEO stated that employers should have constant communication with their workers. Educating the workers in regards to food safety can be of great help as they'd need to understand that they are front liners in food serving. As per reports "93 percent of food workers who participated on the poll survey felt confident to stop work if they see a safety or product problem."
He then added:
"Managers and supervisors need to better communicate why it's okay to stay home when sick, "The vast majority of front-line food workers and their employers are committed to providing safe foods for their customers, the survey shows that over 90 percent of food workers feel responsible for the safety and well-being of their customers. But when it comes to safety, that number needs to be 100 percent."
