Working conditions of trade workers and their adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

It is shown that the restrictions of interpersonal communication, the introduction of additional requirements to working conditions in the period 2020-2022 in connection with COVID-19, due to the increased risk of getting sick, had a stressful effect on the population. First of all, this concerned employees of those professional groups who, in the course of work, come into contact with a large number of the population (customers, buyers). Representatives of these professional groups, during the pandemic, as a rule, continued to work in the workplace. The purpose of the study: to assess the working conditions and adaptation of personnel of trade organizations in different periods: 2012 and 2021 (before and during the COVID-19 pandemic). The objects of the study were large non-food trade organizations. The working conditions of employees of trade organizations were assessed in accordance with the Guidelines for the Hygienic Assessment of Factors of the Working Environment and the labor process, as well as the method of interviewing employees about their own working conditions. A computerized questionnaire developed by the Leningrad Psychoneurological Research Institute named after V.M. Bekhterev was used to assess neuropsychiatric maladaptation (ONPD). The survey was conducted in 2012 and 2021 - before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of respondents were women (about 70%) with various experience in this profession. A total of 66 people were interviewed. The working conditions of trade workers (sellers) in 2012 and in 2021 are similar and are harmful to the second degree. During the 2020-2021 pandemic, the working hours in trade organizations have changed: new rules have been introduced during the working day, new work processes have been organized (introduction of remote technologies, constant monitoring of the health of employees and customers by logging the health status of employees, visual inspection and remote temperature measurement). A comparative analysis of the assessment of neuropsychiatric maladaptation showed that during the pandemic and concomitant restrictions aimed at minimizing contacts between people, 31.0% of employees had psychoemotional discomfort, expressed in asthenic symptoms (15.1%), the appearance of depressive moods (15.1%). In 2021, workers significantly (p ≤ 0.05) exceeded the average values on the A scale (asthenia): 37.0±6.2 and 56.7±9.6; and there was an upward trend on the D scale (depression). This indicates that the forced conditions of restriction of social contacts that have arisen in the last two years have a negative impact on the processes of adaptation and mental comfort of employee