Supermarket staff now forced to stand in car park in the dark.

od244051

My friend works for a supermarket which has car park on roof. Two lifts - a 'down' lift and an 'up' lift to inside the store, Plus a set of stairs which goes to the street below.. Since lockdown, there has been a member of staff on the roof until, it gets dark. The colleague cleans the trolleys, moves them from the bays in the car park to the one by the lifts, makes sure customers from outside household or support bubble aren't sharing lifts and when store capacity is almost full, communicate with staff member at the front door via walkie talkie - who has the counter (they can see those entering/leaving via lifts),

Now they have been told that a member of staff must be up on the roof til 7pm. With clocks going back, it goes dark about 4:20pm. They don't feel safe being on the roof in the dark as there are some local youth that muck about on the roof plus other unsavory characters . During the day, the first member of staff doesn't go up onto the roof 8/8:30am. Hardly any customers go into the store when its dark. They have shelter as the area of the lifts and trolley bay by them is undercover. There's not much CCTV in the car park, compared to other parts of outside the store. Can their store management force their staff to be outside in a poorly lit car park?

[Deleted User]

Yes.  If he has safety concerns, he should raise them with the management.

74jax

I would have thought the safety of staff and customers to be paramount. 
Yes he should raise issue to be honest so should customers. If no customer will use this car park as its unsafe, then do they police know? Does anyone know?
It may be his hours are cut to not include this time but I'm guessing if he feels in danger he won't mind, but as a customer is be wanting this raised.
It might just be he doesn't want to stand in the dark (I'm not saying that is his main concern) but it could be. But if it is genuinely dangerous, I'd be reporting. 

Smodlet

At, arguably, the point in history when supermarket workers should be valued more highly than they ever have been, this sounds unacceptable to me.  Your friend may not want to raise this with management for fear of an impact on his/her job status but surely you could raise this with the company concerned, could you not?

I would have thought social media groups for your area might be a more effective platform to raise this issue as they might be aware of the specific store you refer to.  I have difficulty visualising the situation you describe so apologise I cannot offer any further suggestion but wish your friend the best.

[Deleted User]

I wonder if customers and staff could raise a petition requesting better lighting in this area for health and safety concerns.  But certainly (with supermarket staff at a premium), I would suggest he should refuse to do this duty.  Hopefully, if necessary, he will be able to find another job elsewhere.

thebrexitunicorn

Is your friend in a union? If so I’d raise these concerns with the rep. 

74jax

thebrexitunicorn said:

Is your friend in a union? If so I’d raise these concerns with the rep. 

If it wasn't a H & S issue I'd agree.
But the op is saying its dangerous for the staff and customers. So firstly id be reporting this, it's what the rep would ask if they had already done. 

JamoLew

agree - the Union would be my first point of contact.
is there a Risk Assessment in place already ?
note that "not feeling safe" and "not BEING safe" can be poles apart -- one is subjective, the other objective (hopefully)

Brynsam

od244051 said:

My friend works for a supermarket which has car park on roof. Two lifts - a 'down' lift and an 'up' lift to inside the store, Plus a set of stairs which goes to the street below.. Since lockdown, there has been a member of staff on the roof until, it gets dark. The colleague cleans the trolleys, moves them from the bays in the car park to the one by the lifts, makes sure customers from outside household or support bubble aren't sharing lifts and when store capacity is almost full, communicate with staff member at the front door via walkie talkie - who has the counter (they can see those entering/leaving via lifts),

Now they have been told that a member of staff must be up on the roof til 7pm. With clocks going back, it goes dark about 4:20pm. They don't feel safe being on the roof in the dark as there are some local youth that muck about on the roof plus other unsavory characters . During the day, the first member of staff doesn't go up onto the roof 8/8:30am. Hardly any customers go into the store when its dark. They have shelter as the area of the lifts and trolley bay by them is undercover. There's not much CCTV in the car park, compared to other parts of outside the store. Can their store management force their staff to be outside in a poorly lit car park?

You do seem to have had quite a few posts recently with various issues troubling you - a water cooler which is out of action for a couple of days, CCTV which doesn't point in the right direction, the fact you find wearing a face mask uncomfortable because you have asthma... Isn't it time for a chat with your employer or, if you are simply finding the pressures of everything crowding in on you (and you are very far from alone if you are), perhaps a chat with your GP to see if anything can be done to help you cope?

od244051

Brynsam said:

od244051 said:

My friend works for a supermarket which has car park on roof. Two lifts - a 'down' lift and an 'up' lift to inside the store, Plus a set of stairs which goes to the street below.. Since lockdown, there has been a member of staff on the roof until, it gets dark. The colleague cleans the trolleys, moves them from the bays in the car park to the one by the lifts, makes sure customers from outside household or support bubble aren't sharing lifts and when store capacity is almost full, communicate with staff member at the front door via walkie talkie - who has the counter (they can see those entering/leaving via lifts),

Now they have been told that a member of staff must be up on the roof til 7pm. With clocks going back, it goes dark about 4:20pm. They don't feel safe being on the roof in the dark as there are some local youth that muck about on the roof plus other unsavory characters . During the day, the first member of staff doesn't go up onto the roof 8/8:30am. Hardly any customers go into the store when its dark. They have shelter as the area of the lifts and trolley bay by them is undercover. There's not much CCTV in the car park, compared to other parts of outside the store. Can their store management force their staff to be outside in a poorly lit car park?

You do seem to have had quite a few posts recently with various issues troubling you - a water cooler which is out of action for a couple of days, CCTV which doesn't point in the right direction, the fact you find wearing a face mask uncomfortable because you have asthma... Isn't it time for a chat with your employer or, if you are simply finding the pressures of everything crowding in on you (and you are very far from alone if you are), perhaps a chat with your GP to see if anything can be done to help you cope?

This situation isn't about my employer. Its a friend. I wouldn't be too happy and refuse to do this. Friend and colleagues have told me they are bored stiff doing this as there's so much cleaning and moving trolleys one can do. Plus there are a couple of them that do the car park and unable to push trolleys about due to health issues. They have done it in the pouring rain when hardly a soul turns up. Plus they get very cold easily as its a wind trap on the roof. Some days, the store has few staff in and they are better used elsewhere.

od244051

Update, my friend and few colleagues raised this subject to the management. They have came up with a solution - a panic alarm. The thing is they doubt it they can activate the alarm if under attack and if they did activate the alarm, doubt anyone will hear them from inside the store. If they do, it sounds like a burglar alarm going off nearby and think nothing of it. As several other businesses and residential properties nearby.

Also, they will access the staffing levels after 5pm if the staff member is required inside the store.