Health Hazard in Call Center
Call centers employ a lot of people. They all sit in a hall or a room together with just a thin wall of plywood separating them from each other. Each person sits in an enclosed structure, which are called ‘cubicles’. The cubicles are so small that they barely can hold a person, let alone allowing him to move around or stretch.
Their main job is to answer a customer’s call and make a call to a customer. The whole day they are engaged in making or taking innumerable calls. Since they have to talk so much their throats get parched; but most times they do rarely have the time to have a drink of water. They might be able to have a drink but drinking water means you will have to use the washroom often.
The call centers survive on the calls from or to customers. Therefore, to make sure that no call goes unattended; the call centers have a strict policy regarding the use of washrooms. The employees are allowed to go to the wash room in rotation. The time you can spend in the washroom is also restricted. There is no room for loitering around. For the time a person goes to the washroom, his calls are diverted to someone else for the time being.
This restriction some times proves fatal to some people. Those are the ones who have a tendency to have some ailment related to urinary tract. These people have to visit the washroom more often than usual. The women are the ones who require frequent trips to the washroom; more so if she is pregnant. Thus this restriction becomes an issue with health.
Sitting so close together can pass around infections like flu or cold very easily. A person using a set of phones may be having a cold or the flu and after the shift changes the next person using the same set of instruments may be infected by the flu virus. Therefore, they should be careful using the instruments. As a preventive measure all call centers have a rule called ‘hands washing’ policy. Before you take over a cubicle to get to work, you should wash your hands properly and do the same when you are leaving the cubicle. Amenities for this are provided at the call center.
Demand of the work at the call center does not allow you to take a day off whenever you fancy doing so. You have a fixed day when you are allowed a day off, and you have to stick to it; no absence is tolerated without prior information. The call center can’t afford to lose a call due to anyone’s absence. You have to give prior notice for your absence so that the call center can arrange for someone to take you place for the day.
Therefore it is always better to take precautions so that you do not fall ill. You are also to see to it that your work station is neat and clean and sanitized as much as possible. If you do have some infectious disease; you should always be alert and careful that you do not do anything to infect the others.
