“Oh, there’s been no difference!” Surprised, I processed the most uncanny response to the most cliché question of 2020 –‘How has the pandemic affected your life and work schedule?’ I questioned further: “But aren’t you a frontline worker?” His response: “I am! But I came to work before, I come to work now and I will keep com- ing.” With a tumble of respect, gratitude, and concern, I thanked him for his time and returned to my lab.
My conversation with this frontline custodial worker left me puzzled. The one thing common to most of us is that life has been nothing but different since March 2020. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, all non-essential research was halted, state-wide lockdowns were initiated, and many struggled with new work-from-home routines. Some worried about the health and safety of older relatives, while others juggled their time between child care and planning their next trip to the grocery store. And yet, with apparent calm and ease, this frontline custodial worker told me that his routine hadn’t changed one bit, barring the addition of a mask and more frequent hand washing. This news left me facing the grim reality of frontline workers and our society’s blind yet unwavering expectations of them.
Inspired by this conversation, I partnered with Aishwarya and the CAMB Student Newsletter team to interview additional custodial staff members, Abramson Café employees, delivery personnel, and security guards manning the entrances around campus. We distributed an anonymous survey to learn more about their working conditions during the pandemic, to raise support for their concerns, and to better appreciate their immense contributions. We were encouraged by the responses and support we received from most of the staff members, intrigued by the silence of a few others, and most importantly, surprised by the unconcerned attitudes of many. Summarized below are some of the issues raised by the respondents during the survey, and our take on how we, as CAMB students, can help resolve them.
A common sentiment that the entire working crew expressed, irrespective of their field of work, was their gratitude towards CHOP and Penn’s management for adopting strict guidelines to ensure their safety right from the beginning. Just as multiple virtual town-hall meetings, discussion groups, and safety workshops became routine additions to our weekly schedule, the working staff received similar support and training from the management. The use of masks and sanitizers became compulsory and everyone was given strict instructions to maintain social distancing.
Aside from the added safety measures, workers across the board also had to adjust to some less-than-ideal changes. Many custodial staff workers were reassigned to clinical buildings to match the increasing workload. This move required additional training, added concern for their safety, and extended work hours. Despite strict guidelines from EHRS and Penn facilities for lab waste disposal, the custodial staff also told us about incidents of improper research waste disposal. These included used gloves and masks thrown in normal trash bins, and sharps disposed of in non-sharp containers where they can puncture through the collection bags. Our careless practices have often put the custodial staff at high risk for in- jury and are especially dangerous during a viral pandemic. Additionally, research staff members are the primary users of common spaces like washrooms and break rooms. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to keep these spaces clean, correctly dispose of our trash, and avoid creating additional hurdles and health risks for the custodial staff.
Security staff found themselves newly responsible for ensuring that everyone entering Penn or CHOP buildings is authorized and symptom-free. The management also introduced new policies that prohibited overtime shifts and permitted leave time based on hours worked as opposed to the previous, guaranteed fixed amount of time. Recognizing their challenges, the next time we find ourselves annoyed by the in- convenience of an occasional slow-moving line or the tediousness of filling out PennOpen Pass every morning, we should remember to exercise patience and show compassion towards these essential workers.
Workers at the Abramson Cafe also expressed concern about campus dining. Cashiers at the Café described how difficult it is to enforce safe physical distancing practices for everyone who comes to the registers. These workers come in contact with hundreds of individuals every day, some of whom are doctors, nurses, and caregivers to patients. Taking extra precautions, like minimizing our contact with hard surfaces, wearing clean and properly donned masks, washing our hands frequently, and maintaining appropriate physical distancing, are paramount to our safety and the safety of others when in the Café.
Delivery personnel have also faced challenges in performing their jobs during this pandemic. They shared that it can be difficult to find lab personnel to sign for packages due to reduced working capacity. This puts them in a predicament, whereby they cannot easily return to the labs and/or might need to hold unclaimed packages on their person. To help, we can leave clear and detailed instructions for package deliveries on our lab doors or other visible spaces. Ideally, we can also designate a safe drop-off area on each floor for delivery persons to leave packages if a lab is empty or no one is around to accept them.
Acknowledging all the reported challenges faced by frontline workers during the pandemic - and in consideration of the steps we can take to make their working lives easier - we pose a bigger question to our readers:
Should frontline workers be given an option to temporarily opt-in/ opt-out of their work during a pandemic without it affecting their pay?
Largely, the research community was granted work-from-home privileges and the ability to decide whether to opt-in to research during Phase I reopening of laboratories. This flexibility offered relief and support to employees and students with pre-existing health conditions, people who had to take care of their family members, commuters who could no longer travel safely, and those who didn’t feel comfortable returning to the workplace. These situations could well apply to any of the essential frontline workers. Thus, we would like to encourage more flexibility in our expectations of these essential workers. Our survey showed that 80% of the working staff would have appreciated the option to opt- in or opt-out, while no one would have been opposed to having these options, a result that spoke volumes by it- self. The remaining 20% answered that it wouldn’t have mattered, they still would have come to work.
When asked if there was any way in which we (the researchers, students, and professors) can contribute towards helping staff members in their daily job, we received responses like, “Just continue doing awesome science!” and “Make sure science prevails!”. It’s truly an honor to receive their support and appreciation for the research conducted at Penn and CHOP. And yet, how often do we forget to thank the custodians working on our floor, the security staff guarding the doors day and night, the café staff catering to the clinicians, patient families, and the construction crews, and the delivery people who ensure we receive our precious reagents on time? Indeed, our heroes risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure that our work doesn’t stop.
These are indeed unprecedented times. Our way of life has changed uniquely and drastically. While the isolation has allowed us a magnified and introspective view into our own lives, it may also have rendered us somewhat blind to the troubles of others. We have tried to highlight the contributions and experiences of some of the most essential workers of the Penn Medicine and CHOP community during the pandemic. Each one of these frontline workers has worked diligently during the lockdown to enable the continuation of essential COVID-19 research and have played an instrumental role in ensuring our smooth return to research in June. Our hope is that everyone acknowledges our non-re- search colleagues that make science possible for scientists. The entire CAMB Newsletter team would like to pay a sincere tribute to our Unsung Heroes.
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