"A gente é invisível pra sociedade": impactos das condições de trabalho na saúde e qualidade de vida em entregadores de comida na pandemia de covid-19 / "We are invisible to society": impacts of working conditions on food delivery workers' health and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic

Resumo A pandemia de covid-19 agravou as situações de renda, fome, desemprego e informalidade provocados pela Reforma Trabalhista de 2017 e pelo desmonte de políticas sociais, levando muitos trabalhadores ao ramo da entrega de comida sem direitos ou garantias de proteção. Este trabalho procurou investigar as condições de trabalho e o impacto na saúde e qualidade de vida de entregadores de comida de Curitiba/PR, de acordo com as categorias de entrega, durante a pandemia de covid-19. Foi realizada pesquisa de campo em 10 points de entrega, seguindo a lógica da saturação de discursos, com o auxílio de instrumento de pesquisa com perguntas semiestruturadas. Paradoxalmente, apesar da menção a vários aspectos negativos das condições de trabalho, a qualidade de vida foi percebida como positiva por grande parte dos entregadores, sendo associada à possiblidade de trabalho e retorno financeiro. Os aspectos negativos das condições de trabalho e seus impactos na saúde e qualidade de vida foram sentidos com mais intensidade por entregadores de aplicativo. Esses achados trazem a necessidade de aprofundamento da discussão das condições de trabalho nos novos arranjos contemporâneos e precarizados e seus impactos na saúde dos trabalhadores, a partir de diferentes contextos e categorias de trabalhadores.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated the scenario of low income, hunger, unemployment, and informality generated by the 2017 Labor Reform and the dismantling of social policies, leading many workers to enter the food delivery business that misses labor rights or protection. Thus, this study aimed at investigating how such working conditions impacted food delivery workers' health and quality of life in Curitiba, Brazil, during the pandemic according to delivery categories. Field research, based on saturation of discourse, was conducted in 10 delivery points using a semi-structured instrument. Despite mentioning several negative aspects regarding working conditions, most delivery workers perceived a positive quality of life, mainly associated with the possibility of work and financial return. App-based delivery workers felt more intensely the negative impacts on health and quality of life. These findings point to the need for further discussions on how these new contemporary and precarious labor arrangements impact occupational health in different contexts and categories.

Work, health, and safety conditions of delivery riders in the Philippines during COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION@#The delivery sector has experienced a remarkable expansion in recent years, owing mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, numerous elements, like practices, regulations, and health and safety conditions, impact their efficiency. Similarly, the issues and complaints of delivery services, notably its on-the-ground workers/riders, have grown.@*OBJECTIVE@#This research aims to describe delivery riders' work-related health and safety conditions in the Philippines.@*METHOD@#An online survey was conducted for delivery riders to inquire about working conditions, and health and safety issues. Eighty survey respondents were included via snowball sampling. The survey focused on seven variables: precautions at work, health risks due to work, accident involvement, bad driving practices, road conditions, potential dangers for riders, and employer regulations and support. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. @*RESULTS@# Most riders are low-income married men who have finished at least high school and work more than eight hours a day, six days a week. Most of them also work for food delivery businesses during the day. The findings show a general adherence to traffic and safety laws, a propensity to push oneself to work despite poor conditions, and a lack of company support for riders' health, safety, and other requirements. The regular delivery rider's everyday difficulties include dirt roads, a lack of traffic signals, the presence of wandering animals and irresponsible pedestrians, and an insistence on showing up to work despite weather or health concerns. Furthermore, responders have high esteem for and thoroughly grasp local traffic laws.@*CONCLUSION@# Although the riders are generally perceived to comply with safety standards, their employers’ rules and support indicate that delivery firms are deficient in providing adequate safety and health measures for their workers. There is low importance on strategies to prevent transmission and contraction of COVID-19, such as vaccinations, testing, face masks, face shields, and sanitizers, among others.

Delivery of healthy lunch to worksites: a two weeks pilot study in a sample of working adults in Selangor, Malaysia

@#Introduction: Lack of healthy food choices at the worksite is associated with unhealthy eating habits and poor diet quality. This study aimed to conduct a two weeks pilot study to assess the diet quality of lunch-meals delivered to worksites. Methods: Using a crossover study design, a total of 50 adults were purposely recruited from among university and hospital staffs in Selangor. Participants were randomised into two groups, whereby in week one, Group A was provided with the study’s “healthy lunch-meals” (RD4U©) for 3 work days/week, while Group B consumed their usual lunch. In week two, the groups switched over with Group B receiving RD4U© lunch-meals for three days. Diet quality of the lunch meals was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index for Malaysian (HEI-M). Participant satisfaction for RD4U© service was determined using SERVQUAL. Results: Mean protein consumption was significantly higher (27±4 g/day) while fat consumption was significantly lower (18±5 g/day) for the RD4U© lunch-meals, compared to the respective levels (24±11 g/day; 22±12 g/day) for the usual lunch meals. Total HEI score of the RD4U© meals (61.9±9.2) was higher than that for the usual lunch meals (56.1±11.2). Nonetheless, the overall diet quality scores indicate that both RD4U© and usual lunch meals were in the “need improvement” category. Generally, participants were satisfied with the RD4U© lunch-meal service. Conclusion: The RD4U© lunch-meals showed potential in delivering healthy lunch to worksites, and feasibility studies to expand the RD4U© delivery service is recommended.

Case Study on Improvement of Hospital Foodservice by Introduction of FMEA Techniques: Focus on Food Delivery Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction

In this study, we attempted to improve hospital food delivery service quality and customer satisfaction by using FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis), which is applied to the quality control of products in manufacturing plants. Subjective food delivery service quality improvement was judged based on a 5-point likert scale. Traditional FMEA uses an RPN (Risk priority number) to evaluate the risk level of a component or process. The RPN index was determined by calculating the product of severity, occurrence, and detection indexes. In our results, total RPN value (P<0.01) significantly decreased after FMEA introduction, whereas customer satisfaction (P<0.001) and food delivery service quality (P<0.001) significantly increased. Specifically, foodservice errors (P<0.01) and loss cost (P<0.01) were significantly improved by FMEA introduction. Taken together, we suggest that FMEA reduces critical activities and errors in foodservice delivery caused by simple priority selection.