You probably know it at a gut level. The data is there. The stories are there, too. But we are not paying attention to it. I saw it plain as day in the September 20th Washington Post. Our front-line workers are not earning enough from one job to ‘make it.’ Read this excerpt from today’s Washington Post carefully:
“This summer, Markeis Womack, 31, installed visors and glove boxes on Broncos and Rangers for about eight hours a day on the assembly line at the Ford plant in Wayne, starting at 6 a.m. After, he cleaned offices, churches, and day cares on a 10-hour shift working as a janitor. His workday ended at 4 a.m., because his Ford job didn’t pay enough to make ends meet. Womack, the father of two young kids, makes $20.69 an hour at Ford and said he can only dream of “stability and owning a house.”
Did you catch how many hours of sleep Markeis had? Two. He’s working two jobs. I could cite studies on sleep deprivation, fatigue, and the relationship between fatigue and workplace errors, accidents, and injuries. If you want the proof, here is the summary data:
“There is overwhelming evidence demonstrating that sleep deprivation leads to workplace accidents. Overly sleepy employees are 70% more likely to be involved in workplace accidents than colleagues who are not sleep deprived.”
There are two societal trends identified thus far. Our front-line workers are not earning enough to make ends meet. To do so, they make difficult choices. Sometimes it’s working multiple jobs. Sometimes it’s living in substandard housing, and sometimes it’s making choices with healthcare, nutrition, or other living basics.
Markeis is an example of sleep deprivation. At some point workers like him will make an error because they are tired. Hopefully we have systems and processes to keep that mistake from being deadly. Hope is not, however, a strategy. In this case, it’s a ticking time bomb.
A conversation with a long-time friend piqued my curiosity. The US Census Bureau just issued their findings on poverty. In 2023, a family of four is living in poverty if they make less than $29,950 annually. For a single person, that number is $14,880.
So, let’s look at a few statistics on earnings:
- Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr., or $15,080 annually.
- An average material handler earns $15.97/hr., or $33,217 annually.
- An average airline baggage handler earns $16.75/hr., or $34.840 annually.
- An average janitor earns $16.00/hr., or $32,280 annually.
- A fast-food worker averages $14.46/hr., or $30,076 annually.
- Call center workers? They earn $15.00/hr., or $31,200 annually.
The point? Many of these workers are dangerously close to the poverty level if they are head of households. Throw in variable costs of living and most of their income goes to rent. For example, the average rent in Minneapolis is $17,040/year. It doesn’t leave much discretionary income. Now throw in a higher cost of living and the problem becomes more difficult.
So, what do workers do? USA Today reported that “Vehicle homelessness” is one of the fastest growing segments of our population. If you can’t afford rent, you live in a car. If you can’t afford medicine, you skip it. Preventative healthcare? Unaffordable and you must get time off work and spend time on a bus. Healthy food? Too expensive and it may not be accessible. Urban populations are particularly subject to food deserts.
To connect the dots, there are significant segments of the workforce that are either sleep deprived, undernourished or lacking access to basic healthcare. Wages are insufficient for workers to make ends meet. The household environment may not be what we think it is. Combine all, or some of those factors, and we can’t hope that our workforce will be safe, alert and attentive.
If we really want to improve safety, we need to rethink our basic employment contract with our workers. We need to recognize the difficulties they face and help to better their health, so they can be safe at work.
Some practical things we can do now:
- Identify if your workforce is at risk. Look at wages and the true cost of living they experience in the cities where you operate.
- Make shift schedules more predictable so employees who need to work multiple jobs have better stability in their schedules.
- Watch for signs of distress and sleep deprivation.
- Talk with your employees and understand their circumstances.
- Think outside of the box and consider offering nutritious meals for workers at a subsidized rate.
- Bring healthcare professionals to your workers and make it easier to access.
It’s time to start addressing the “Health” in Health, Safety Security and Environment!
