misconduct......manual handling??

rainybird

I have worked for my company for 9 years, I am not happy there, I have endured years of bullying & harassment by management & a few members of staff (mates of management). The whole work force have been put on risk on redundancy, around 200 people, they are looking to get rid of about 20 full time staff, I have volunteered for redundancy & have a very good chance of getting it, (notice starts next week). I won't get much of a payout & I don't yet have a job to go to, but I really want to take this a chance to get out,. I have a clean record but a big mouth and am not afraid to stand up for myself and others...this is why I am disliked by management.

Two weeks ago I hurt my shoulder & arm at work lifting a heavy box, I took 4 days off work sick. I did report earlier in the day before the accident that there was a problem regards boxes all over the floor, not stacked correctly & not on pallets. I have no intention of suing the company, it was just an accident. after an investigation they have now informed me they are taking me to a disaplinary for misconduct for not following correct manual handling techniques.....can they do this...do I have any rights...any help would be much appriciated. I am still struggling to understand why?

Emmzi

1. have you had any training in manual handling? what and when?
2. do they have a record of it
3. did you act in accordance with the training?

they can give you a misconduct for not following company procedure, endangering others, etc if it adds up. I am not sure I personally would if I were letting you go. It wouldn't usually be a dismissal offence unless you were wilfully reckless.

ETA on the H&S side see if you can find user dickindonkey, it's his speciality

dickydonkin

rainybird wrote: »

I have worked for my company for 9 years, I am not happy there, I have endured years of bullying & harassment by management & a few members of staff (mates of management). The whole work force have been put on risk on redundancy, around 200 people, they are looking to get rid of about 20 full time staff, I have volunteered for redundancy & have a very good chance of getting it, (notice starts next week). I won't get much of a payout & I don't yet have a job to go to, but I really want to take this a chance to get out,. I have a clean record but a big mouth and am not afraid to stand up for myself and others...this is why I am disliked by management.

Two weeks ago I hurt my shoulder & arm at work lifting a heavy box, I took 4 days off work sick. I did report earlier in the day before the accident that there was a problem regards boxes all over the floor, not stacked correctly & not on pallets. I have no intention of suing the company, it was just an accident. after an investigation they have now informed me they are taking me to a disaplinary for misconduct for not following correct manual handling techniques.....can they do this...do I have any rights...any help would be much appriciated. I am still struggling to understand why?

As Emzzi has correctly asked - has the company provided manual handling training, is it recorded and did you follow the advice and guidance given in the training?

I have seen some extremely poor manual handling courses that are delivered by someone who doesn't have a clue.

I can't speak for your company, but I always included copies of the PP slides/ titles of any DVD's and content of the training to accompany the employees training records with a signature by both parties to confirm attendance and understanding of it - this removed any future ambiguity of what was and was not exlained in the training.

Yes - the company can technically discipline you if you have not followed procedures, however, following training and as a matter of course, your employer also has a duty to ensure that their own training instructions are being followed and are actually working.

This can be done my supervisors/managers monitoring how their workers perform follwing training, however, reactive monitoring in the form of an injury is usually the only indication many employers use to ascertain their procedures are not working - for whatever reason - obviously by then, it is too late.

It does seem harsh that you are being disciplined in your circumstances - that is assuming the whole story has been posted, but as Emmzi correctly stated, unless you have been reckless and placed other workers or plant and equipment at risk, such a situation would not normally warrant dismissal.

A clue in your post which alluded to you having a 'big mouth' may be a factor here.

Without knowing the quality of your training or how it was delivered and monitored makes it difficult to provide you with some form of defence, however, you can ask if the incident has been reported under RIDDOR regulations as you were off work for over three days.

Emmzi

my apologies for getting your name wrong dickydonkin, long day and I had Ant and Dec's "wonky donkey" stuck in my head, no idea why!

dickydonkin

Emmzi wrote: »

my apologies for getting your name wrong dickydonkin, long day and I had Ant and Dec's "wonky donkey" stuck in my head, no idea why!

Thankfully it was only the latter part of 'wonky donkey' you got wrong in my name - not the former!:)