The Endless Juggle: Differential Effects of the Pandemic for Criminal Justice Scholars

While inequalities in scholarly productivity have long existed, the long-term implications on productivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic are not well documented. Using data from a survey of policing scholars, we conduct a mixed-methods analysis to determine the differential impacts of the pandemic on scholarly productivity, focusing on the intersectional effects by gender, childcare responsibilities, academic rank, and teaching load. Findings suggest that the effects of the pandemic were not evenly experienced by criminal justice and criminology researchers with the effects of productivity influenced by gender, rank and childcare responsibilities. We specifically discuss the longer-term implications of the pandemic on academic careers.

A Web Survey to Evaluate the Thermal Stress Associated with Personal Protective Equipment among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

The pandemic has been afflicting the planet for over a year and from the occupational point of view, healthcare workers have recorded a substantial increase in working hours. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), necessary to keep safe from COVID-19 increases the chances of overheating, especially during the summer seasons which, due to climate change, are becoming increasingly warm and prolonged. A web survey was carried out in Italy within the WORKLIMATE project during the summer and early autumn 2020. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate differences between groups. 191 questionnaires were collected (hospital doctor 38.2%, nurses 33.5%, other healthcare professionals 28.3%). The impact of PPE on the thermal stress perception declared by the interviewees was very high on the body areas directly covered by these devices (78% of workers). Workers who used masks for more than 4 h per day perceived PPE as more uncomfortable (p < 0.001) compared to the others and reported a greater productivity loss (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the study highlighted a high perception of thermal stress among healthcare workers that worn COVID-19-PPE and this enhances the need for appropriate heat health warning systems and response measures addressed to the occupational sector.