Looking for advise on what my dutys are, and the law

Whitebeast

Hi I work for a family owned retail store in devon, and I work on the shop floor as a retail assis, putting stock out and making it all look neat ect, But now they are telling me I need to pull in HUGE heavy pallets from the warehouse when shop is closed on to the shop floor, Im a 5ft female in my 60s and I have health condetions with my joins, they said I have no choice in the matter and I have to do it. they tried getting me to do it tonight and I refused, My Question is, Should I have to be quailified or trained in to use of a pump truck before I even touch it as others have had no training or anything and already been doing it, Do I need special shoes ect, and can they make me do it. I been there 4 years, I give anything a go but I just wouldnt be able to saftley do this cause of my health condetions.

Any advice would be great thank you x

Voyager2002

Seek advice from your trade union.

35har1old

Voyager2002 said:

Seek advice from your trade union.

Likely not in a trade union

35har1old

Whitebeast said:

Hi I work for a family owned retail store in devon, and I work on the shop floor as a retail assis, putting stock out and making it all look neat ect, But now they are telling me I need to pull in HUGE heavy pallets from the warehouse when shop is closed on to the shop floor, Im a 5ft female in my 60s and I have health condetions with my joins, they said I have no choice in the matter and I have to do it. they tried getting me to do it tonight and I refused, My Question is, Should I have to be quailified or trained in to use of a pump truck before I even touch it as others have had no training or anything and already been doing it, Do I need special shoes ect, and can they make me do it. I been there 4 years, I give anything a go but I just wouldnt be able to saftley do this cause of my health condetions.

Any advice would be great thank you x

Should provide training 

Marcon

Whitebeast said:

Hi I work for a family owned retail store in devon, and I work on the shop floor as a retail assis, putting stock out and making it all look neat ect, But now they are telling me I need to pull in HUGE heavy pallets from the warehouse when shop is closed on to the shop floor, Im a 5ft female in my 60s and I have health condetions with my joins, they said I have no choice in the matter and I have to do it. they tried getting me to do it tonight and I refused, My Question is, Should I have to be quailified or trained in to use of a pump truck before I even touch it as others have had no training or anything and already been doing it, Do I need special shoes ect, and can they make me do it. I been there 4 years, I give anything a go but I just wouldnt be able to saftley do this cause of my health condetions.

Any advice would be great thank you x

You don't 'have' to do anything, although if you unreasonably refuse then it's likely your job is at risk - but from what you've said, this instruction is anything but reasonable. Why are your employers so insistent that you have to do this - and after four years of not being asked to do it?

Give the ACAS helpline a call for some free advice: 0300 123 1100

Alderbank

35har1old said:

Whitebeast said:

Hi I work for a family owned retail store in devon, and I work on the shop floor as a retail assis, putting stock out and making it all look neat ect, But now they are telling me I need to pull in HUGE heavy pallets from the warehouse when shop is closed on to the shop floor, Im a 5ft female in my 60s and I have health condetions with my joins, they said I have no choice in the matter and I have to do it. they tried getting me to do it tonight and I refused, My Question is, Should I have to be quailified or trained in to use of a pump truck before I even touch it as others have had no training or anything and already been doing it, Do I need special shoes ect, and can they make me do it. I been there 4 years, I give anything a go but I just wouldnt be able to saftley do this cause of my health condetions.

Any advice would be great thank you x

Should provide training 

If you want a one-liner, it ought to be 'should carry out  risk assessment.'   

I agree that in many cases one of the control measures resulting from the risk assessment would be to provide training.

However, trainers aren't miracle workers and the conclusion of the OP's risk assessment, given what she has told us, could well be that no amount of training could make pulling those HUGE pallet trucks safe for the OP.

tacpot12

Do you have home insurance? If so, check to see whether you have legal expenses cover as part of it. If you do, call the legal helpline provided by your insurer. 

I would be refusing to do the work on the grounds that you aren't strong enough. Your employer could move to dismiss you on the grounds of capability, but they have to follow a fair process. They can't treat you less favourably than someone else in the same situation, so it you know of someone who has been allowed to not shift the pallets, then you could cite this in a greivance. I would raise an informal greivance now, and if you have home insurance and have spoken to the insurers, you could let slip that you have their backing to go to an employment tribunal.

If you were fit enough to move them, you could cite Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) makes it very clear that an employer must provide adequate training for all persons using work equipment (including pallet trucks), but training and risk assessment don't seem to be the issue here. The employer should be asking someone from their occupational health team to get involved, and I would recommend that your greivance mentions that they haven't done so. 

You aren't disabled unless your health conditions stop you from doing normal activities, such as walking around the store, so disability descrimination is not going to apply. 

If this does ever end up at a tribunal, I think it would be a good wheeze to 'borrow' a pallet and pallet truck of the weight and size your employer is expecting you to operate and hire a fit young lad/lass (who is trained and wearing safety shoes) to wheel it into the tribunal!  It will brighten their day if nothing else. 

I would advise not trying to move anything that you aren't comfortable do. If you do, the employer might claim that any accident is then your fault. You need to be able to sue your employer for any accident, so don't take on moving anything that might be too heavy. Just say, "I'm happy to other work, but not that". 

elsien

https://www.britsafe.org/training-and-learning/informational-resources/the-health-and-safety-at-work-act-explained#:~:text=The%20Health%20and%20Safety%20at%20Work%20Act%201974,-As%20a%20brief&text=Adequate%20training%20of%20staff%20to,within%20it%20are%20conducted%20safely

Bradden

Alderbank said:

35har1old said:

Whitebeast said:

Hi I work for a family owned retail store in devon, and I work on the shop floor as a retail assis, putting stock out and making it all look neat ect, But now they are telling me I need to pull in HUGE heavy pallets from the warehouse when shop is closed on to the shop floor, Im a 5ft female in my 60s and I have health condetions with my joins, they said I have no choice in the matter and I have to do it. they tried getting me to do it tonight and I refused, My Question is, Should I have to be quailified or trained in to use of a pump truck before I even touch it as others have had no training or anything and already been doing it, Do I need special shoes ect, and can they make me do it. I been there 4 years, I give anything a go but I just wouldnt be able to saftley do this cause of my health condetions.

Any advice would be great thank you x

Should provide training 

If you want a one-liner, it ought to be 'should carry out  risk assessment.'   

I agree that in many cases one of the control measures resulting from the risk assessment would be to provide training.

However, trainers aren't miracle workers and the conclusion of the OP's risk assessment, given what she has told us, could well be that no amount of training could make pulling those HUGE pallet trucks safe for the OP.

This is the best advice. Ask to see the rick assessment and safe system of work. I suspect they haven't carried one out or the would have identified the need to issue safety footwear.

swingaloo

There should be a risk assessment and training to use a pump truck. However once trained properly thy are not difficult to use and far easier than lifting and carrying boxes constantly.
Im a 5foot 1inch female and used a pump truck in my last job before I retired at 68. They are not hard to use and the weight is taken by the truck. I would expect though that you should use safety shoes.

Baldytyke88

swingaloo said:

There should be a risk assessment and training to use a pump truck. However once trained properly thy are not difficult to use and far easier than lifting and carrying boxes constantly.
Im a 5foot 1inch female and used a pump truck in my last job before I retired at 68. They are not hard to use and the weight is taken by the truck. I would expect though that you should use safety shoes.

Years ago I used to use these trucks, no training and no problems, just a matter of being shown what to do, if unsure.

There are the larger battery-powered trucks, more expensive, would that be ok for this small employer?

Where I used to work there were also forklift trucks, even some of those were used without official training.