Source: Twenty20
Should Pandemic-Protecting Plexiglass Be Retired?
H-E-B is removing the plexiglass protective partitions, often called “sneeze guards,” from its checkout counters installed at the height of the pandemic following their removal from many other retailers over the last year.
The protective shields were designed to block virus-containing droplets – released by coughing, sneezing and speaking – that might otherwise hit cashiers interacting with shoppers. Shields were also placed at deli counters, customer service desks, pharmacies and other customer-facing areas across retail.
The Texas-based grocer told Mysanantonio.com that the “temporary plexiglass was never intended to be a permanent fixture.”
“After receiving input from our store partners (employees), the decision was made to remove the temporary plexiglass,” H-E-B said.
H-E-B also noted that its decision aligns with the moves in early May by the World Health Organization and the U.S. government to end the emergency status for COVID-19 after more than three years.
Shields began being removed from some retailers in the spring of 2022 as infections declined. Publix began removing its barriers in March 2022.
An article from the Montreal Gazette from February 2023 found some grocers still had the shields up, but others were dismantling them. Costco Canada removed the barriers in early February, but a spokesman told the paper they were storing them “in case we need them in the future.”
A Reddit discussion from December 2022 found a wide majority applauding removing barriers. Some noted that the panels made it hard to communicate with cashiers and others derided their effectiveness.
Some studies have questioned the ability of shields to stop the spread of airborne pathogens and posited their risks in impeding ventilation. Other studies have concluded that barriers can reduce exposure depending on their design and positioning.
Other pandemic reminders can still be found at retail, including some stores offering hand sanitizers and wipes. Masks aren’t mandated but are encouraged in some places.
Authorities caution that COVID-19 remains a threat with the virus circulating and new variants emerging. “The emergency phase is over, but COVID is not,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the COVID-19 technical lead at the World Health Organization, told The New York Times.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you support or oppose retailers removing plastic shields at checkout counters and other customer-facing areas? What precautionary measures, if any, should be maintained at stores or positioned to bring back quickly for a potential new wave of COVID cases?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
Gene Detroyer
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.
Yes, retailers, please tear down these walls! The plastic barriers were important during the pandemic, but now these plastic walls only create barriers that make it hard to interact with staff. Some older customers also have a hard time hearing through the plastic, so it creates a poor experience for both shoppers and staff. This all said, retailers shouldn’t discard their plastic, because you know never know when you may need them again.
Excellent point about seniors, Mark. So little in retail takes senior physical capabilities and mental bandwidth into account. At great financial loss to retail I must add.
Were they ever really “important”?? I don’t mean in the psychological sense of making people feel safe(r), but in actually making them safer. I can’t recall ever seeing any studies on efficacy.
The protective shields were designed to block virus-containing droplets – released by coughing, sneezing, and speaking. That makes sense to me. While the shields are surely not 100% effective if it reduces the chance of passing germs, I am for it. COVID is not the only illness that may affect people. Since they are already up, why take them down?
Yes. It is NOT NYC 2000. Same goes for the sorta mask wearing virtue signaling where a mask is worn over the chin. I was an early supporter of masks but if not used properly, is just off-putting in 2023.
Good point, Bob. Why are people still wearing masks over the chin? I just don’t get it, especially outside.
Ideally they would pull the mask up when they get close to or have to talk to someone.
Also some employers require employees who haven’t received at least two COVID shots to wear a mask at work.
At this point I am not saying either of the above make any sense but it is how it is.
The medium is still the message. Put another way, literally everything is energy: energy that repells or energy that attracts. So which do you want to do to your customer? Interestingly, the same source of energy can impact in either direction depending how circumstances influence it in the mind of the customer. The partition attracts when we’re all afraid of covid; it repells when we’re not.
Yes, shields should be removed. They make communication harder and make interaction less pleasant. Retailers need to get back to providing great in-store experiences.
Like everything else, there ia a pro and a con. While the plexiglass barriers appear to have outlived their usefulness for now, and do create ‘communication barriers’ between humans, the may also serve to protect those people who work behind them from customers who are carrying some contagious germ, and getting sick simply from doing their job. You pick it!
Retailers shouldn’t imagine infectious diseases are never coming back – and with events like the wildfire smoke blanketing much of the country there are still airborne hazards for staff and shoppers – and should be taking this opportunity to look again at HVAC for opportunities to keep airflow clean. Better air means more alert staff and happier customers!
It’s about time they come down. Up here in Canada, they are a rare sight these days. Shopping is so much about connection (which human are hard-wired for), and these barriers not only ‘blocked’ transmission, they also blocked connection. There time has passed.
This is an opportunity for companies to build bridges with their staff by Engaging a two-way dialog with employees to give them a say in whether to remove the plexi. After all it’s the employee who is the more vulnerable party, being exposed to countless strangers on a daily basis. I think shoppers have become use to them to the point that they barely notice them anymore.
Incidence of COVID is thankfully low right now, although there are always plenty of other germs being spread around. I agree that the barriers’ time has passed but retailers do need to be sensitive to the concerns of their associates. For those employees who still want to mask up in the absence of plastic barriers (like some of the regulars at my local Kroger store), they should absolutely be encouraged to do so.
Take them down and store them somewhere for when we need them again.
I think this should be a case by case, format by format decision. For extended customer/ front line worker interactions such as nail salons, I’m all for keeping the panels. Check- out team members in grocery and mass are usually at a comfortable distance from shoppers already. The point about seniors is well taken, but they are often the ones wearing masks. So it’s a balance between the retailer being considerate of shopper and staff health concerns versus the ” barrier” it creates.
More touchless technologies with voice interaction should be developed.
Making digital interfaces feel more human will be key for dealing with the next virus.
Excellent point. This is a case by case basis decision. I walked by a nail salon in a retailer last week and was surprised to see them still with the guards still up. Restaurants, grocery retailers, etc made their decisions
I think it’s time for the plexiglass shields to come down, they have outlived their usefulness, and many are in bad shape.
It’s time to let these sad reminders of the pandemic go. Hopefully, we will never need them again, but if we do, they can always be reinstalled.
Take them down. They were off putting before and they are worse now. Have sanitizer throughout the store and let employees wear a mask if they are so inclined. But the plexiglass? Landfill.
No. I like the barriers — they respect distance, safety, and health. Certainly communication needs work. Yet our local Kroger’s took them down and I’m not happy with that fact.
It should be entirely up to the retailer and on a case-by-case basis. While there is certainly mixed results as to whether they are effective or not, if customers and employees feel there is value in having them remain in place, so be it. If not, take them down.
There is a lot of inconsistency regarding this in my area. Some stores within the same chain still have it and others a few miles apart don’t.
Maybe a solution is to leave them up at half of the registers and take them down at half. Just like customers, some cashiers like the barriers and some cashiers hate them. This would allow people a choice on both sides.
A grocer in my area recently remodeled and another recently replaced its checkstands and both got new checkstands in with larger stronger plexiglass barriers than before. So I am not sure this is going anywhere.
I think this is an excellent solution. The most vulnerable among us will benefit from continued protection — and there are far more who are vulnerable than we tend to admit.
Stores would only need to be certain to be clear about their choices and promote it as a benefit — checkout stands serving those who are most vulnerable.
The WHO and our federal government have declared the COVID emergency over. It is time for the plexiglass shields to be removed. I’m all for each individual determining if they wish to wear a mask in public, however the shields no longer truly serve a purpose. Think about all of the places where the public gather, from restaurants to theaters, etc. – there are no shields there, and everyone seems to be just fine.
“temporary plexiglass was never intended to be a permanent fixture”
I couldn’t phrase it better myself if I had wanted to. Will some people be upset by this and advocate keeping them?? Yes…but we can’t always get what we want.