U.S. workers will use personal protective equipment if their employers provide it, a new study finds.
Researchers at the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health looked at responses in June from 742 non-medical, non-remote workers who were not using PPE at work before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only 29% used PPE when left entirely to them, the team reported Thursday in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly. More than half of those using PPE were required to do so by employers. And use doubled if PPE was provided, they found.
About 30% of workers who did not need to use PPE received the equipment from employers, the NIOSH team found, and 45% of those workers used the PPE. This compares with 22% of employees who did not use PPE when it was not provided.
The team also found that 8% of employees were prohibited from using PPE by their employers. “Overall, lower-income workers were more likely than higher-income workers to prohibit the use of hazard controls or be unable to obtain them,” the team wrote.
The team also noted why wearing PPE is important.
“Failure to protect workers from COVID-19 could exacerbate existing health inequalities, including among lower-income populations,” the team said. “Lower-income workers are more likely than those with higher income to have pre-existing health problems that can increase the risk of serious COVID-19-related illnesses.”
Of those who did not use PPE and other workplace hazard controls, 15% could not obtain them and 77% said they thought they were unnecessary.
Lower-income workers were more likely to be banned from using or unable to get them, compared to higher-income workers.
“Employers can help protect workers against Covid-19 by demanding and encouraging the use of occupational hazard controls and by providing recommended hazard controls along with other Covid-19 workplace precautions,” the report said.