Was I right to do this at work and what could I have done differently ?

CD31

A few months ago I worked in retail in a very large store, one of the biggest in the area. Due to staff shortages and no replacements, theft skyrocketed and because we only had one security guard who was appalling at his job and couldn’t care either way things got stolen all the time. 

What happened was that the fire doors were being kicked down as well as they are on the side of the shop and the floor plan stupidly dictated that the most valuable items were near there, so it was a smash and grab job, they just kicked them in, grabbed things and then drove off stealing thousands of pounds worth of items each time and this happened night after night. 

The management had a brainwave to block the fire doors with heavy items that you couldn’t move without a struggle like trolleys and foldaway metal railings we have in the back and asked me to block them each night from the moment it was discussed as I worked late nights ( on my own on a massive department by myself) 
I refused to do this and was met with aggressiveness and told to “do my job” as it has been “okayed”
 I refused again saying it was illegal to block any firedoors and that it would just be my luck to do it and there be a fire. When I refused to do it , I asked for the deputy manager to type up and sign a document stating I had been asked to deliberately block not 1 fire door, but 4 and that it had been okayed by the senior staff including the time I had been asked and the managers signature. This was refused and management did it themselves and I was told to have a meeting the next day at 11am for my disciplinary for refusing to do what the manager told me. I rang in the next morning and kindly told them to stick their job up their backsides and found employment somewhere else. Was I right in this situation about the legalities ? 

Sncjw

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is what they could be in breach of and also health and safety at work..
Could you exscuakte it to the area manager or head office? 

Abby1984

Sncjw said:

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is what they could be in breach of and also health and safety at work..
Could you exscuakte it to the area manager or head office? 

And go outside the organisation and report it to your local fire service.  They will call out to do an inspection/audit.

Devongardener

It is illegal and you were right to refuse, but instead of refusing to attend a disciplinary meeting,  you should have gone and stated your reason for not obeying orders and then object to a formal warning in writing.  Then you would have a good case for constructive dismissal.    Even now you can and should report to the Health and Safety Executive and the local Fire Service.  

MalMonroe

WOW! I think you are now my new hero, and I'm not joking.

Yes, you were right - thank you for standing up for what you know to be right and good for you for sticking to your guns.

I'm so glad you told them where to stick their job and that you now have a new one. 

They are definitely acting in an illegal manner likely to cause harm to staff, customers and anyone else who is in their shop. They need to ensure that stock is NOT kept near the fire door and that very loud alarms are installed. They sound like people who should definitely not be running a business.

However, I do agree with Abby1984 that you should report them to your local fire service, for the safety of all the other people who work in and use that shop.

If you are interested you could read the information in the following link - 

https://www.gov.uk/workplace-fire-safety-your-responsibilities/enforcement-appeals-and-penalties

And you could also contact acas, see if you can sue their pants off for firing you for doing the right thing. 

https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

Thanks again, I really think you deserve a medal. Everything you did was spot on. 

CD31

MalMonroe said:

WOW! I think you are now my new hero, and I'm not joking.

Yes, you were right - thank you for standing up for what you know to be right and good for you for sticking to your guns.

I'm so glad you told them where to stick their job and that you now have a new one. 

They are definitely acting in an illegal manner likely to cause harm to staff, customers and anyone else who is in their shop. They need to ensure that stock is NOT kept near the fire door and that very loud alarms are installed. They sound like people who should definitely not be running a business.

However, I do agree with Abby1984 that you should report them to your local fire service, for the safety of all the other people who work in and use that shop.

If you are interested you could read the information in the following link - 

https://www.gov.uk/workplace-fire-safety-your-responsibilities/enforcement-appeals-and-penalties

And you could also contact acas, see if you can sue their pants off for firing you for doing the right thing. 

https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

Thanks again, I really think you deserve a medal. Everything you did was spot on. 

Thank you very much, I used to get treat so poorly as well and honestly management ( who are on upwards of 75k a year) looking at me as if I’ve lost the plot for disobeying “simple instructions” , I’m glad I did the right thing and didn’t go through with it. They would have thrown me under the bus if anything bad happened as well 

Dakta

I hope you're happier in your new role, did the right thing IMO.

You don't mess with anyones safety.

Marcon

CD31 said:

A few months ago I worked in retail in a very large store, one of the biggest in the area. Due to staff shortages and no replacements, theft skyrocketed and because we only had one security guard who was appalling at his job and couldn’t care either way things got stolen all the time. 

What happened was that the fire doors were being kicked down as well as they are on the side of the shop and the floor plan stupidly dictated that the most valuable items were near there, so it was a smash and grab job, they just kicked them in, grabbed things and then drove off stealing thousands of pounds worth of items each time and this happened night after night. 

The management had a brainwave to block the fire doors with heavy items that you couldn’t move without a struggle like trolleys and foldaway metal railings we have in the back and asked me to block them each night from the moment it was discussed as I worked late nights ( on my own on a massive department by myself) 
I refused to do this and was met with aggressiveness and told to “do my job” as it has been “okayed”
 I refused again saying it was illegal to block any firedoors and that it would just be my luck to do it and there be a fire. When I refused to do it , I asked for the deputy manager to type up and sign a document stating I had been asked to deliberately block not 1 fire door, but 4 and that it had been okayed by the senior staff including the time I had been asked and the managers signature. This was refused and management did it themselves and I was told to have a meeting the next day at 11am for my disciplinary for refusing to do what the manager told me. I rang in the next morning and kindly told them to stick their job up their backsides and found employment somewhere else. Was I right in this situation about the legalities ? 

Yes, you were right.

What should you have done differently? Probably not accepted a job offer from them in the first place!

Glad you've found employment elsewhere.

pinkshoes

You were 100% right, and I'd also contact the local fire brigade to pay them a visit if they're planning on blocking fire exits!

I once worked for a "sneaky" project manager who would always phone to ask me to do things as he wanted to take risks to get the project done quicker. If it then backfired and didn't work, he would play the "well why did you go and do that?!?!?" card, and I got the blame! (And he was very quick to have all the glory if it worked!!)

After that, my response was always "that's a nice idea but risky, so if that's what you would like doing, can you drop me an email stating that please...".