Characterizing observable COVID-19 controls in Pacific Northwest grocery stores

Abstract

Utilizing a longitudinal, observational study, grocery store health and safety controls implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic across stores in two cities were characterized. Sixteen stores between Seattle, WA (n = 9) and Portland, OR (n = 7) were visited monthly by the study team from May 2020 to January 2021, and observations of controls were recorded using a standardized checklist in REDCap. The checklist included questions on the presence or absence of controls such as physical barriers, social distancing markers, required masking of customers, cleaning of check-out stands, and closures of store areas. Descriptive analyses were conducted to determine the proportion of stores with a certain control each month. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to explore how controls changed over time, and whether differences were observed between cities or by income of the area the store serves. Source control (e.g., mask requirements) and engineering controls (e.g., physical barriers at checkout) were the most common and consistent controls observed across stores and over the study period. Controls such as having special hours for vulnerable populations, demarcations on aisles for directionality, and cleaning check-out stands between customers varied significantly over time (p < 0.05 in the mixed-effects model). Having an employee present to clean baskets and carts, as well as physical barriers between self-checkouts, were significantly more common in stores in areas above the median income (p < 0.05 in the mixed-effects model). To best protect workers and shoppers from infectious agents, controls should be evidence-based, consistently implemented across grocery stores, and coupled with administrative practices and policies to promote worker wellbeing.

Keywords:

• Controls
• COVID-19
• essential workers
• grocery workers
• infectious disease

Acknowledgments

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health under Federal Training Grant T42OH008433. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH. The authors acknowledge the University of Washington statistical consulting program for advice on data analysis and presentation.

Disclosures

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to declare for this work.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.