Employer forces us to wear face visor after July 19th and its affecting my health

Marcon

briskbeats said:

I'm asthmatic and been struggling with wearing a face visor at work and a mask outside work for a good month now. Have noticed on my days off, that my asthma is a lot better than when I'm at work. Plus this affects my sleep, my performance etc.

Now my employer (supermarket) has told us that masks and visors will still need to be worn by us. 

Really annoyed with this decision as it will make my health even worse - both physically and mentally. I am so desperate to look for other employment, but I am so confused to where to look, what jobs are suitable for me, how to explain to work why I need an afternoon off to attend an interview etc.

Can understand why my employer insists this but need to understand that there are employees that are exempt and be better off without a mask or visor.

I sympathise - I hate the sensation of wearing a mask. Have you seen what Asthma UK has to say about them:

https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/triggers/coronavirus-covid-19/what-should-people-with-asthma-do-now/should-i-wear-a-face-mask-or-face-covering/

If you qualify for exemption from wearing a mask, is there a possibility you could be used in a non-public facing role for the foreseeable future?

Tokmon

Carrot007 said:

Tokmon said:

I'm not trying to downplay any psychological issues that prevent someone from wearing a mask and I'm not saying someone should wear a mask. I'm just trying to explain how there is no physical issue

Severe eczema can happen in some poeple with masks. I would call that a physical issue.

Interesting point, i obviously need to clarify more that I'm talking about physical breathing issues (as I'm sure you knew anyway).

There are many different types of material that can be used to make a face mask and there is no rule on how close fitting it needs to be to your face, type of material used or the characteristics of the material so I'm sure most people who have eczema can wear at least one type without issues. But there is always the chance that someone can't...

juraj.kecso

Brie said:

juraj.kecso said:

I think the OP is talking about a difficulty wearing a visor or a face shield rather than wearing a mask. However, I struggle to understand how wearing a piece of plastic a couple of inches away from your face would be aggravating your asthma. There is no physical barrier covering your mouth.  I agree but having the plastic surrounding one's face does make it hot and moist and that can cause issues.

Employees have the responsibility to share that they may have an exemption and must be able to provide a reasonable justification as to why their disability or medical condition prevents them from wearing a face covering or any other PPE;
I doubt that many people who have been restrained, gagged, or otherwise violated will want to have a chat with their employer about the experience beyond saying "I have a strong issue with wearing that due to something that happened in the past."

 Employees cannot refuse to wear a face covering other than for the reasons outlined under exemption rules. Any rules I've seen are just so vague that they seem pointless.  

Some points above....but I agree that adjustments need to be considered including restricting time when a face covering might be required.  I would hope that it wouldn't get to the point of dismissal and would think that there would be a major backlash about this in the current circumstances. 

Obviously this would be very different if one was working in emergency medicine and refused to be masked while operating or similar - but that is something of long standing and one wouldn't go into that sort of work without accepting that PPE was mandatory.  Someone getting a job in Tescos or an office 10 years back would never have expected to be in this situation.

Except we are not where we were 10 years ago. The situation now is that masks are now required to be worn in many jobs.

They are no different to any other PPE a person would be required to wear.

Ultimately, if the person needs to wear a mask in order to do their job but cannot for medical reasons and no alternative PPE exists, then it's either an alternative position or if that does not exist a dismissal.

Bobo_Brazil

TELLIT01 said:

I was talking to somebody recently who has breathing problems.  He can't wear a mask but gets on fine with a visor.  I think the OP is suffering a psychological problem which they are going to have to deal with.  A visor has no direct effect on the ability to breathe.

... but is completely useless in giving any form of protection against a respiratory virus

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/visors-verdict-they-don-t-work-and-may-actually-spread-coronavirus-1.4375916

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/22/plastic-face-shields-almost-completely-ineffective-containing/

Undervalued

briskbeats said:

I'm asthmatic and been struggling with wearing a face visor at work and a mask outside work for a good month now. Have noticed on my days off, that my asthma is a lot better than when I'm at work. Plus this affects my sleep, my performance etc.

Now my employer (supermarket) has told us that masks and visors will still need to be worn by us. 

Really annoyed with this decision as it will make my health even worse - both physically and mentally. I am so desperate to look for other employment, but I am so confused to where to look, what jobs are suitable for me, how to explain to work why I need an afternoon off to attend an interview etc.

Can understand why my employer insists this but need to understand that there are employees that are exempt and be better off without a mask or visor.

Whilst the employee may be "better off" without, the purpose of these masks is primarily to protect others.

SingleSue

I am officially exempt from wearing a mask but still wear one anyway (thought I would get that bit out of the way first). My experience with masks is slightly different to others, a cloth one tended to create more issues for me than a surgical one, no idea why. However, not all surgical masks are equal, I found the ones I get from a local shop far better than the ones my son gets online, not as much of a chemical like smell and no or a milder asthma trigger because of it.

I can't wear one for too long (my O2 sats plunge and I tend to end up in a bum up position on the floor/on my way to hospital) but I would never (while the pandemic is still in an active phase) actually be without one either in public places. In a way I am lucky in that even though I am in a public facing role, our customer flow and resultant interaction is lower than say a supermarket and so I can take regular breaks from wearing one.

I can't wear a visor at all, nothing to do with breathing, I get horrendous migraine type headaches from them due to a visual processing disorder.

I will still be wearing my mask at work and in busy places/supermarkets etc even after Monday....I was wearing a face covering (and distancing) well before it was suggested or became a requirement as it made sense and it still makes sense.

Undervalued

SingleSue said:

I am officially exempt from wearing a mask but still wear one anyway (thought I would get that bit out of the way first). My experience with masks is slightly different to others, a cloth one tended to create more issues for me than a surgical one, no idea why. However, not all surgical masks are equal, I found the ones I get from a local shop far better than the ones my son gets online, not as much of a chemical like smell and no or a milder asthma trigger because of it.

I can't wear one for too long (my O2 sats plunge and I tend to end up in a bum up position on the floor/on my way to hospital) but I would never (while the pandemic is still in an active phase) actually be without one either in public places. In a way I am lucky in that even though I am in a public facing role, our customer flow and resultant interaction is lower than say a supermarket and so I can take regular breaks from wearing one.

I can't wear a visor at all, nothing to do with breathing, I get horrendous migraine type headaches from them due to a visual processing disorder.

I will still be wearing my mask at work and in busy places/supermarkets etc even after Monday....I was wearing a face covering (and distancing) well before it was suggested or became a requirement as it made sense and it still makes sense.

This is the problem. There are of course people such as yourself who, for sound medical reasons, can't wear a mask and / or a visor either at all or for any length of time. By the sound of it the OP may have similar issues.

Sadly however you only have to read the mind numbing comments on articles in the dreaded Daily Mail or similar by the selfish and thoughtless idiots who jump on the bandwagon and delight in buying meaningless "exemption certificates" online!

They make it extra hard for the genuine and put everybody they meet at a greater risk. 

briskbeats

Undervalued said:

SingleSue said:

I am officially exempt from wearing a mask but still wear one anyway (thought I would get that bit out of the way first). My experience with masks is slightly different to others, a cloth one tended to create more issues for me than a surgical one, no idea why. However, not all surgical masks are equal, I found the ones I get from a local shop far better than the ones my son gets online, not as much of a chemical like smell and no or a milder asthma trigger because of it.

I can't wear one for too long (my O2 sats plunge and I tend to end up in a bum up position on the floor/on my way to hospital) but I would never (while the pandemic is still in an active phase) actually be without one either in public places. In a way I am lucky in that even though I am in a public facing role, our customer flow and resultant interaction is lower than say a supermarket and so I can take regular breaks from wearing one.

I can't wear a visor at all, nothing to do with breathing, I get horrendous migraine type headaches from them due to a visual processing disorder.

I will still be wearing my mask at work and in busy places/supermarkets etc even after Monday....I was wearing a face covering (and distancing) well before it was suggested or became a requirement as it made sense and it still makes sense.

This is the problem. There are of course people such as yourself who, for sound medical reasons, can't wear a mask and / or a visor either at all or for any length of time. By the sound of it the OP may have similar issues.

Sadly however you only have to read the mind numbing comments on articles in the dreaded Daily Mail or similar by the selfish and thoughtless idiots who jump on the bandwagon and delight in buying meaningless "exemption certificates" online!

They make it extra hard for the genuine and put everybody they meet at a greater risk. 

The latter two paragraphs I agree with! This what the problem lies! Do you think the pandemic is prolonged by these people? If they are not wearing masks as don’t believe in the virus, they will continue to shop etc and infect others as they won’t get tested or self isolate if they have the virus on them. They just say it’s a cold, hay fever etc. They also probably not getting vaccinated either.

it’s the Boy Who Cried Wolf situation. Who do you believe in? My colleagues believe in the older people over the young ones. 

Some of these ‘exempt’ people say that they have asthma. This is insulting to the actual asthmatics. The other week, I took a puff from my inhaler before I served one of these young women who claims to be asthmatic, as she said she is asthmatic to the security guard. She looked at my inhaler and asked what’s that. Asthmatics should know what an inhaler looks like and what it does.

From my experience at work, I say only 10-15% of customers coming into my work to shop not wearing masks are actually exempt. At one point my council area for positive cases per 100k was in the top 10. It’s about 239/100k. The average for England or UK is about 350/100k