Canteen facilities

benevans1989

Hi and Good afternoon,

I work perm nights with my team for a 'global' company.

The issue is because the site employs some nearly 200 people and only 10 of us work nights over 2 shifts that the microwave at work gets 'abused'.

One of the top dogs threatened to remove the microwave unless it was kept in a clean and tidy state, now on nights because there is so few of us, we all agreed we would clean it after eachother in tern to ensure that we as a team arnt hard done to by this. However the issue being days staff dont seem to follow the same values and every night when we come in the microwave is of a poor state inside, so the boss taken it away for a week to 'teach' us all a lesson.
It was re-instated but again he is now threatening to remove it and donate to charity as the company doesnt have to provide one by law.
I always thought that at night because we dont have acess to the hot food van outside or the supermarkets (because they are closed) they are required to provide one under some workplace regulations (i cant remember what but i learnt some stuff at college)

I havent argued the case yet as im unsure on our position but as a team this is pretty unmotivating.

I was wondering if someone could clarify our position on this...

much appreciated from a hacked off sick of all the crap nightshift worker.

DevCoder

Are you referring to page 7 of this?

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg244.pdf

zaax

legal requirement

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg244.pdf

benevans1989

Thjis was Breifed out from the daily ops meeting by said manager

"Finally – a check of the microwave went ahead today and sadly it is in a state again, and is not being cleaned even after the temporary removal of it recently.
Therefore this is the Final time that staff will be given a chance to keep this facility clean. Failure to comply will result in the complete removal of the microwave from site as it will be donated to a charity. People’s comments on this are of no interest as plenty of warnings have been given and *** are not required by law to provide this facility."

I had emailed before i was on holiday and did say im sure its not ok to remove it but they seem happy enough to do so.
its not like i could nip home either - i live 25 miles away! haha.

ohreally

The issue is with the individuals who appear unable to comply with a simply instruction to keep an appliance hygienic.

benevans1989

ohreally wrote: »

The issue is with the individuals who appear unable to comply with a simply instruction to keep an appliance hygienic.

Its infuriating! the hours i work mean i have no contact with management other then via email, in order to voice the teams issues. My own line manager i havent seen in person since march!
Its not hard to get some kitchen roll and some bacterial spray(which are even provided!)

Takeaway_Addict

zaax wrote: »

legal requirement

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg244.pdf

Where? It says 'may' need. Not an absolute.

'Where provided, eating facilities should include a facility for preparing or obtaining a
hot drink. Where hot food cannot be obtained in or reasonably near to the
workplace, workers may need to be provided
with a means for heating their own food (eg microwave oven).

benevans1989

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Where? It says 'may' need. Not an absolute.

'Where provided, eating facilities should include a facility for preparing or obtaining a
hot drink. Where hot food cannot be obtained in or reasonably near to the
workplace, workers may need to be provided
with a means for heating their own food (eg microwave oven).

So how does this actually work, they can basically just tell us to !!!!!! off its cheese sarnys for the forseable future?

getmore4less

If the issue is the days staff and night staff are all good to go I would see if you can get lockable place to keep facilities and only night staff get a key.


Some ingenuity with portable facility might be possible.

benevans1989

getmore4less wrote: »

If the issue is the days staff and night staff are all good to go I would see if you can get lockable place to keep facilities and only night staff get a key.


Some ingenuity with portable facility might be possible.

Yeah i hadnt thought of that, perhaps i could put this to management and see what kind of reaction i get back, most likely no but you never know.
Its just frustraiting that, we do 12 hour shifts, all shops around here stop serving hot food around 8pm, but then again why should i have to spend money every time i want something warm to eat? the company just seem to write off everyone because of a few people who just cant wipe up a spill, then the next person see's the mess and thinks well its not my mess. and so on..

theoretica

I don't know if they are sturdy enough, but there exist lockable socket covers - so only people with access to the key could turn the microwave on at the wall.