COVID-19 has Australians worried about returning to the workplace

The new research from Monash University's Insurance Health Work Group, part of the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, was published in The Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation , just as some states emerge from snap lockdowns and Sydney's is extended until local transmission is under control. The study's findings offer government, industry and employers an opportunity to develop evidence-based support resources and strategies to ease the transition back to worksites. Participants in the COVID-19 Work and Health Study completed a survey at four timepoints between March and December 2020: with questions focussed on changes to work status, financial implications, and mental and physical health. The latest publication reports on results from the third survey, conducted between July and September 2020, with 86.3 per cent reporting at least one concern about their workplace reopening, 82.4 per cent with concerns related to infection risk and 53.4 per cent reporting concerns related to impact on work and home life. The most common concerns were getting infected with COVID-19, infecting other people, being able to maintain physical distance from colleagues, and being concerned about work colleagues coming to work when sick. Parents with dependent children were more worried about getting infected in the workplace, as were healthcare, retail, and Victorian workers generally. The worry of infecting others was less commonly reported by managers and part-time workers.