Being forced to train for something i dont want to do

Annisele

*Jane* wrote: »

After reading on here you all agree i should do the job, but i am going to try my best to fail the training i went as a shelf stacker 15 years ago and do not expect at my age to be unloading wagons, although you all disagree with me.

I don't entirely agree that you should just "do the job".

I definitely think that you should do the training. There are several possible results from that:

• You discover that actually the job isn't anywhere near as bad as you fear, and you do it happily.
• You're actually pretty rubbish at it (which is what you suspect), your manager notices that, and decides never to have you doing it because you'll take forever.
• You're pretty rubbish but your manager *doesn't* notice, and wants you to do it all the time - then you have a problem, but right now I think you're worrying about something that might never happen.
• Probably the worst case - it turns out you're really good at it, but you hate doing it. However, I'm sure you can manage not to shine when the boss is looking :-)

Hammyman

*Jane* wrote: »

Ok thanks everyone i got my answer they can make us do it.
The reason i am unhappy is it is a very physical job and i know i will struggle with it, you have to load all the empty rollers and boards onto the wagon as well as using a manual pallet truck and i dont think i will be able to pull the boards that have pop , beer etc
The health and safety at my work is a joke.
I now know were i stand and when the time comes will have to look for a career move

You won't struggle with it. I was a shunter for Stobarts at a Tesco RDC. Ever wonder why some cages are half empty? Each individual cage is only loaded up to a set weight limit. They don't just stack them full to the top regardless of how much they weigh. Also the trailer is sloping downwards towards the loading bay so gravity gives you a helping hand. I could manage to move them around OK with a spinal injury.

I used to pull 2 tonne pallets out of the backs of wagons with a manual pallet truck and you won't be doing anything even remotely like that. A single full size pallet of 2 litre pop bottles weighs about 700kg which is quite light when you're moving them with a manual pallet truck. You'd be lucky if the stack of empties weigh a hundred kilogrammes which takes very little effort to move with a pallet truck - you can do it one handed. You can also ask the driver if he will lower the suspension on the tractor unit when you are reloading so you're rolling the empties downhill towards the front of the trailer when you are putting them back on.

TBH though I'd be surprised if the driver doesn't take them off the trailer onto the loading bay themselves and put them on the lift and you just take them off at the bottom. Certainly seemed to be what I had to do on the odd store delivery I had to do.

*Jane*

Just a quick update we have know been told the older women are not getting trained as they are too old to do the job, but me and the younger ones are :mad: also they are now saying we have to be trained to empty the bailer which is not as much of a problem to me as working unloading wagons. But it looks like we might have to do produce as well, i cannot lift the boxes on produce they are way too heavy for me i struggle lifting the boxes of butter and marg, i really dont know were to go from here.

DCFC79

I can understand about the boxs of fruit and veg as they are heavy but cases of butter are nothing and marg is a little heavier but still not as heavy as a crate of fruit. Is it the actual lifting of the case of butter/marg your worried about or the actual carrying of them, if the carrying is an issue theres a trolley(i speaking from experience of working for jS) you use to put the case of butter/marg and you push it to the shelf location hence no need to carry the case

. Its a case of remove the few odd units on the shelf, remove the top to the case and transfer the new case to the shelf and put the odd units on top of the new case. There is of course an easier way, instead of moving the new case to the shelf you remove the odd units from the shelf but you move each individual unit form the new case onto the shelf and place the odd units at the front.

*Jane*

No i already ocasionaly do the marg and butter i find them heavy, but thnk that is because the rollers come muddled up with fats, cheese and milk, and say your job is cheese and the fats are on the top you have to sort the rollers out into 3 different aisles before you can put your aisle out. If that makes sence

DCFC79

*Jane* wrote: »

No i already ocasionaly do the marg and butter i find them heavy, but thnk that is because the rollers come muddled up with fats, cheese and milk, and say your job is cheese and the fats are on the top you have to sort the rollers out into 3 different aisles before you can put your aisle out. If that makes sence

yes i understand what you mean, it isnt like 1 for cheeses, 1 for marg and fats etc etc but it can come mixed. Used to be like that years ago for another store i worked at but i think they have sorted themselves out to do it 1,2,3 cages per aisle.

*Jane*

You changed the post after i wrote lol yes I do use the L shapes as its the only way to put the heavy boxes on the shelves, think my job is made worse by this timing of boxes every nght its does take up time having to use L shape to ship to shelf and when they are wanting 55 cases a hour putting out, but i am thinking they are wanting me to leave because there is no way i can lift produce never mind putting 55 cases a hour out, with this unloading wagons as well i think they are wanting me to leave.

Acc72

*Jane* wrote: »

Just a quick update we have know been told the older women are not getting trained as they are too old to do the job,

QUOTE]

It would be interesting to understand the criteria applied to this decision - what was the cut-off age and how did they arrive at this ?

On the other hand, it appears that they asked everybody to be re-trained, and the big issue is that you do not want to.

I think that you need to show a willing and attend the training in a positive way.

It will then become apparent whether you are physically able to do the job or not. If you are not, then I am sure that your bosses will ask those who are fit to do that specific job. If you are, then surely it is reasonable for them to ask you to do this ?

ceridwen

donnajunkie wrote: »

i thought it was normal for supermarket staff to be trained in other areas incase they need cover. i know for example in the supermarket where a friend of mine works they all have to be trained to work on the til even if that is not what they normally do.

Quite possibly so - ie for the staff to be trained on "other duties"....but in OP's position the thought would simply never have occurred to me that they might even think of me ever doing any lifting duties.

It would be so obvious that I was a woman that I wouldnt expect to have to spell out to them what this meant - ie most women have lower physical strength/cant do/shouldnt even be expected to do heavy manual labour (eg lifting). I would expect them to just take one look at me and think "Woman...typical womans build - she wont have the strength. Now where are some strong looking men without any known health problems that would preclude lifting jobs?"

I'm not being sexist there - as Mother Nature has made MOST women physically weaker than MOST men and one cant argue with any physical "facts" - however much one might like to...

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I suspect the reason that the older women arent being expected to do this is not because they are older per se - but because they would give anyone short shrift that expected them to have a typical "masculine" level of strength. The management cynically think that younger women regard themselves as exactly equal to men - even in the respects that they arent (like physical strength). For the record - I'm an older woman myself - hence my sheer astonishment at anyone even thinking of me doing any job requiring physical strength.

Can you access any data proving the standard different "strength levels" between mens bodies and womens bodies anywhere? There must be something somewhere on the Internet that says, for instance, "the average man can lift x lbs easily", "the average woman can only lift two-thirds (or whatever proportion is true) of that amount". Someone somewhere will have done some safety research on this and proven that women tend to have less physical strength.

ceridwen

I googled "health and safety" + lifting and various things to do with manual handling came up.

One thing was by the Health and Safety Executive and a quick google revealed that they refer to "guideline weights" for men and "lower guideline weights" for women. Bingo - official recognition that women cant lift as much as men:D

So - somewheres you should be able to find out what those "guideline weights" are respectively for men and women. Say, for instance, that the "guideline weight" for women is 10kg - then check out the weights involved in this task and you might well find that, for instance, the typical weight involved would be 15kg. In that case - you would easily be able to prove that they were expecting you to lift 5kg (for instance) more than a woman could lift (according to Health and Safety Executive) and that you are a woman. So - end of...and they had to find a man and/or suitable equipment to do it.