Feeling unsafe at work

DisheartenedStudent

Hi everyone,

I've been working since May last year in retail part time to fund my studies. The place has always been a bit run down but the manager was always saying he'd reported issues/concerns and therefore things were being sorted so I never thought anything of it.

I'll give you a run down of the issues with the place, however the main point and question I have is whether or not I can take this further or just leave on the spot as I just feel so unsafe working there and it's clear nothing is being done to resolve the problems.

- I have to scan magazines every Sunday in the back of the shop and to do so have to sit low down in front of a metal framework stacked high with packs of magazines (around 350 packs of magazines/books) so extremely heavy weight. There is also metal shelving stacked on the very top which would basically kill somebody if it fell and hit them. The shelving is lifting away from the framework and two of the shelves are bent inwards due to the overweight of the magazines. As the metal has bent inwards its caused a sharp pointy bit to stick out and therefore whenever anybody grabs something of the shelf it scratches them. The issue I have is the shelving is completely caked in dirt and filth to the point where I asked another colleague why it wasn't replaced and their response was "oh that won't get replaced until it collapses". I've told the team leader it's unsafe weeks ago yet nothing was done so I told my managers who has yet to respond to me.

- When i began working there I noticed the automatic sliding front doors to the shop didn't work and so just had to remain open at all times. Staff used to joke that the shop is freezing in winter and you have to wear scarf and gloves it's that cold. I laughed along thinking they were exaggerating. Cut to Winter and you really do have to wear gloves, scarves the lot to keep warm. I asked why nobody fixed the doors and "apparently" it was reported 8 years ago and nothing has been done since. The problem is now we serve coffee so wearing gloves is out of the question and the state of our hands when its freezing was a joke.

- We are so short staffed you generally work alone for up to 6-7 hours a shift in a busy shop situated inside a railway. Expected to carry out lots of jobs including heavy lifting of totes full of magazines, climbing high up to re-stock/scan products on a rickety old step ladder, cleaning, re-stocking books (again carrying huge totes of books through the shop) etc..

- Regarding the issue of the totes.. we used to have a blue trolley (that was also bent inwards and rusty due to overweight and being taken outside) that would carry the heavy totes across the shop so we didn't have to. Well, it broke at the end of last year and the manager said he reported it to be replaced yet it is still sat in the back of the shop missing a wheel, completely useless and nothing has been sent to replace it. This means we're expected to carry the totes full of heavy magazines/books across the length of the shop.

- Any health and safety training I've had has always been online with a quiz to take at the end to check you've read everything. The problem is the manager always gets us to do these really close to the end of our shift so we have to rush through and not read them properly just to get to the quiz. Example: Last week he got me out from the front to complete some training online and it was 12.20 (my shift ended at 12.30). There were 2 parts to the training and therefore I just didn't have chance to read through everything and had to rush it. He consistently does this with any sort of training we have to do.

- Two people are leaving and one person has had a heart attack and so hasn't been at work for months and is unlikely to be back due to their age. That's a loss of around 40 hours a week and he hasn't replaced anybody yet. We just work alone more or cover the hours needed. He's now decided to start looking for a replacement but the hours he has offered are 10 hours per week which is nowhere near enough to cover the people soon to be leaving.

I've taken photos/videos of the back of the shop as it is absolutely filthy. Drinks and fruit are kept on shelves that are absolutely caked in filth and it's just horrible to think people don't realise what they're buying. We are expected to clean the stockroom and be on the front serving and doing our own designated jobs and sign a sheet off. I never sign it as I think its ridiculous that the manager signs the end of the week sheet to say he is happy the store is clean when it's absolutely filthy. The only way the stockroom would be clean/safe is if all shelving was replaced, all areas we are expected to walk were kept clear and the floor was given a thorough clean. I never eat in the staff room as you can imagine it is awful. The chair for us to use on our break is black with dirt.

I will try and find a way to upload the pictures as I don't think typing the issues gives the place any justice. I've shown 6-7 people so far and all of them were horrified at the state of the place considering it is a huge chain with a "good" reputation. Although there are online jokes about the company going down the pan so I can't see that reputation standing much longer.

So, I've been advised to take it further to environmental health etc. Do I have any grounds to do so as I feel as though because it says in our contract we should keep the store clean then it is our responsibility for the absolute state in the back of the storeroom. (I'd generally agree but it's honestly impossible to clear the state it is in and there is never time when you're working alone unless you shut the shop up) Besides, the shelving is a complete health and safety risk.

I do feel sorry for the manager in some aspects because he has been told he isn't allowed to employ anybody else due to costs and I don't really want to be getting him into trouble as he's a generally nice guy and could face losing his job due to the state of the stockroom.

Ideally I just want to leave. I handed my notice in on Monday but it's a 4 week notice period and the place is that depressing I just do not want to have to go back. Especially for 4 weeks. Every time I get a scratch at the place it's a worry whether it could turn into an infection due to filth and rust. Stuck between working the full notice period, keep my mouth shut like all the other staff and get on with it or take it higher and refuse to work there.

Oh..I just remembered a couple of weeks ago I was pulling a huge metal crate across the shop floor, grabbed the edges to lift open the door on it and slammed my hand into a metal edge that was poking out. It was all bent outwards like something must have hit it and so the edge was a spike and caused my hand to bleed. I also took a photo of that.

It sounds like i'm being petty haha but if you saw the photos I think you'd see what I meant. Any suggestions on how I can upload or where to upload them whilst keeping myself anonymous would be great.

tea_lover

As this is part of a chain, have you tried contacting anyone in head office? Depending on the size of the company there should be someone along the lines of a Group Head of Safety (or similar) - do you have access to a staff directory or intranet?

I'd also consider contacting your local authority. As this is a retail establishment they are the regulatory body for safety issues (the HSE cover some workplaces, local councils cover some others).

DisheartenedStudent

Thanks tea lover.

I will definitely contact my local authority. It's so difficult because I get on with the manager and don't really want to land him in it but I have to weigh up the fact that somebody could get seriously ill working there.

I also considered contacting head office but the regional and areas mangers come into the store quite regularly (well, every 3 months or so). They have seen the state of the stockroom and told the manager once that it needed sorting out. They've been back in since then however and didn't say a word that it was still really bad. This makes me wonder if anyone in the company would actually give a damn but it is worth a try. They're also the ones who refuse any extra employment.

TBagpuss

You can report it to environmental health in terms of the food storage and preparation areas.

In relation to the injury to your hand, was that entered into the accident book at the time?

As you have already handed in your notice you are already going.

Some of the things are things you could address - for example, there is nothing to prevent you from partially emptying the bags of books etc and moving them in two trips rather than one, if they are too heavy.
Similarly, with the training, there is no reason you can't go at a sensible pace. If you have not finished at the end of the shift, ask your manager "can this be saved to finish later, or shall I complete it now and claim overtime?"
Do you know whether the manager is even aware that there is not enough time? I know we have certain forms of training which are online and the time estimates given always seem to me to be ridiculously long - so if I have don the training myself and know it only took me 10 minutes, I would not necessarily expect you to need 30 minutes, even of the module suggests it may take that long, unless you tell me!

You can contact head office and the regional managers with your concerns. If you do, keep them as factual as possible.

e.g. - the shelving unit is overloaded. The shelves are buckling, it looks unstable and I felt unsafe working near it as I felt there was a real risk it might fall on me. There is a protruding piece of metal which I cut myself on. I reported this but no action has been taken.

- temperatures in the cafe were xx degrees. The automatic doors don't work so the cafe is open to the outside for long periods. There is no / inadequate heating. It is not practical to wear gloves or thick coats while serving customers

DisheartenedStudent

Hi Tbagbuss,

Thank you so much for your advice all of which is extremely helpful.

I didn't enter it into the accident book as I have no idea where it is kept. To be honest I hadn't even thought of that because it was a scratch but now I realise nobody has shown me where it is kept.. I will ask the manager when I next see him to show me exactly where is is and if we don't have one I will be asking questions as to why we don't.

Whenever I've hurt myself in the past it has always been "just grab a plaster". An accident book has never been mentioned so I think I'll raise that with him when I see him. I seem to remember asking colleagues about it before when somebody scalded themselves but I don't really remember what the answer was as I had just started working there.

I think I will take all of your pointers and raise it with head office upon leaving so that all of the issues are sorted.

I agree with the totes and book issue i've recently started dragging the HUGE crate through the shop so to avoid having to carry them from one end to the other. Even though we aren't supposed to be doing that my argument is that I am not carrying them alone through a shop without a trolley. If I hurt myself I'm alone in the shop for hours the only people who would be there to assist would be customers so carrying them is out of the question now.

I tried to carry a few books at a time across the shop from the stockroom and the manager has asked why it is taking so long and puts a lot of pressure on me to get it finished quickly. As its a top charts bookcase its impossible to carry the books a few at a time from stockroom to shop floor without it taking hours to get finished. Maybe I will do this however and when he asks I will make a point that carrying a heavy tote is out of the question unless he can provide a trolley for me.

Thanks again for your much needed advice.

tea_lover

You should be able to easily access a risk assessment (or several) for the area you are working in, and for the tasks you are carrying out. You should also know how to access first aid assistance and how to report accidents.

The H&S training you undertake should include safe manual handling techniques. There should be a risk assessment covering manual handling which shows how handling will be eliminated where possible (eg. by the use of a trolley), and how the residual risk will be controlled.

Obviously that's a lot of 'shoulds'.... and that's far from an exhaustive list. It doesn't sound as if any of this is in place so definitely worth raising with head office, even though you are leaving.

Savvy_Sue

As you're leaving, this is probably too late, but if you'd been in a union that could have been helpful.

DisheartenedStudent

No union unfortunately savvy sue

DisheartenedStudent

I uploaded the photos but it won't let me post a link to them as i'm new which I am gutted about considering they highlight how bad it is.

kingfisherblue

Can you upload a broken link? Maybe so that one of us can add www. to the front of it?

DisheartenedStudent

I will try that. I've uploaded to imgur so all it needs infront is

h t t p : / /

imgur.com/a/uxTfX

imgur.com/a/Hkmdx

imgur.com/a/kdcvN

imgur.com/a/gHvNw

imgur.com/a/fdWb4