Most retail outlets turn a blind eye to employees' request for protective face masks; store attendants are scared of increased risk during sale season
Most retail outlets turn a blind eye to employees' request for protective face masks; store attendants are scared of increased risk during sale season
The malls are making merry and trying to hold their sneezes.
Taking advantage of the pre-Independence Day annual sale season, as shoppers flood shopping centres and malls, store attendants are panicking because their managements are dragging their feet over anti-swine flu measures.
Some are ready...
Big Bazaar, one of the largest retail chains in the country, reportedly rejected a plea by its employees to allow them to wear surgical face masks to keep the flu virus away.
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Are they safe? Students in the city have started wearing face masks to school. Some schools have also declared a week's holiday as a precautionary measure against swine flu.u00a0PIC/IMTIYAZ KHAN |
"Since sale promotions and discounts are on and we are expecting more people during the upcoming Independence Day weekend, we are scared we might get infected. We deal with a diverse customer base and anyone of them might be a swine flu carrier. We approached the administration to allow us to wear masks but they rejected our plea," said an employee of Big Bazaar, wishing anonymity. During the Independence Day, footfalls at malls increase by over 50 per cent.
However, when MiD DAY contacted Big Bazaar, their spokesperson said they were 'contemplating' taking precautionary measures to make sure their stores do not become breeding grounds for the H1NI virus. "We'll be distributing protective face masks at all stores in the cities where the virus is spreading fast. But we won't force employees to wear it," said Atul Takle, the spokesperson for Future Group, the owner of Big Bazaar.
Explaining his company's stand on employees' request for masks, Takle said, "We didn't consider this step earlier because the outbreak hadn't happened. But now we realise their fear is genuine as the risk of infection is real.
The official directive regarding precautions will be communicated to employees either today or tomorrow."
while, most aren't
But not everyone is getting ready to beat the flu.
When MiD Day tried to contact other retail majors like SRS, The Loot and Big Apple, they didn't respond, saying the deadline for response was too short. Even Retail Association of India, which works closely with all reputed retail chains, didn't respond to the query. Repeated calls to its CEO Kumar Rajagopalan remained unanswered.
Employees of Shoppers Stop at Noida share the fear and are demanding surgical face masks from their management. "The management must consider distributing masks among employees because if they feel unsafe, their fear will affect their productivity. But till now, Shoppers Stop hasn't done anything. The government must lay down guidelines so that our interests are taken care of," said a manager of Shopper's Stop, Noida.
A senior official from the Tata retail venture,u00a0 Westside, Noida, said, "Since no swine flu death has been reported in the city, we're not panicking. At the same time, there's no harm in taking precautionary measures as the flu is spreading very fast. As we come in direct contact with a number of people, our employees will welcome such a move by the management. But we haven't yet received any official information from the headquarters regarding precautionary measures."
