The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on early childhood educational contexts and on educators' working conditions. This study aims to examine the change over time in personal contribution to workplace safety and perception of risk of infection among preschool teachers after returning to in-person work during the third wave of the pandemic (spring 2021). Teachers' perceptions of workplace safety can influence their quality of work-life and, as a consequence, the quality of service offered to children. Data were collected using two questionnaires: at T0 (January) and at T1 (May). The results showed relations between organizational and personal actions to manage risk and fear of infection at work. Concern about COVID-19 contagion decreased over time (t = 5.53, p = 0.000) and perceptions of personal contribution to workplace safety related to COVID-19 improved: t = -2.18 p = 0.031. The decrease in these concerns illustrates how perceptions of ability to manage contagion and protect workplace safety of preschool teachers improved over time, despite the stability of the pandemic context in the first half of 2021. After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study gives an account of some good practices and their perceived effectiveness in terms of safety for childhood educational contexts.
Keywords: COVID-19; children; early childhood education; fear of infection; preschool teachers; workplace safety.