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Physical attacks/threats on staff.

Started by fatty, 04-11-07, 03:17AM

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CJ

Hi Guys and Girls,

Not sure how to use this site as new here so apologies if I have posted in the wrong area, anyways I just wanted to get some advice from colleagues regarding a issue, so recently I have had a injury at work due to a faulty oven at work, I work in a express store and mainly work late shifts so I don't normally bake apart from one day, now I have reason to believe I don't have any formal training on the bake off area and when I searched on click and learn I don't have the bake off training or the food prep area signed off or even a percentage completed, I had just been going by what the shift leaders have told me informally which was basically you press this button and that and that's it wait till the timer runs out, now the other day I went to close the bakery oven and the glass had shattered all over me I sustained some injuries but luckily enough they weren't as bad as they could have potentially been! Anyone know what are the specific requirements for someone to bake in a express store, all advice would be much appreciated

Sherwoodforest

@chjatt was it faulty before you used it?if it was,why did you use it?if it wasnt then the glass shattering then made it faulty surely,never used bake off myself but if its just pressing a button like you would on a kettle,microwave etc id of thought thats just click and learn which you could easily do,
Tesco Finest Karma,best served bent over💩

lucgeo

@Chjatt

Firstly has the incident been logged and the broken door been reported?

Do you have a H&S rep in your store? If so have they been informed, and have they spoken to you?

Is using the oven recognised as part of your job description role/ routines? In that you have allocated time to perform the task? Do you have specific PPE designated to you to use the area, I.e. safety bakery shoes and uniform? If not and you have just been told to do it as an extra, by whom?
Do others also operate the machinery? Are they trained and signed off?

Are you a member of the union, and do you have an instore rep?

A bakery oven is a big piece of equipment, and you should have been signed off as having been fully instructed in its use...if it just comes down to being told to do it, then you need witnesses to state that it is on a verbal instruction only!

Trust me, you need to have this reported for your own protection. As any future health concerns you may endure due to this incident, or claims will result in Tesco taking the stance of " why were you there? Why were you operating machinery without proper training? You are not authorised to use it, so it is solely due to your own negligence by operating machinery you shouldn't be!" Tesco could also go down the road of you, as an unauthorised user, have damaged company property and the repercussions from this could result in them covering their own liabilities by passing the buck onto you!

Make a note of who told you to do the job, who verbally told you to just press a button, dates and any others instore who have been given the same verbal instructions!
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

CJ

The incident was logged a few days later and the door reported, the person who normally bakes has told me he has been chasing up the matter with management for over a year and I'm not sure who our h & s rep is in store you know and like I said I have not had training on the bakery stuff like so so I'm not sure about the Ppe, I've just been told by shift leaders to go and bake ! I am 100% sure I have not been signed off or trained as so, as I would remember for sure, I would have thought so too that if we get signed off on training on basic things such as taking in deliveries I would have assumed that they would have provided a similar format for the bakery area considering it is a food prep area etc I mean there are no witnesses on verbal instructions but if they were to look into my training records and training they would see nothing has been done there so that should suffice to say I have not had the correct formal training ? Well I have had this reported as I am currently speaking to solicitors as the accident could have been a lot worse, I mean they could play the card of down to my own negligence but then ultimately it comes down to why are management telling me to bake ? After all it's a catch 22 situation, if I go bake I risk my own health and safety and if I refuse then I risk my livelihood and there's actually a couple of people that I know have never had any formal training in that area

lucgeo

The person who normally bakes...is he the baker? Does he wear bakery safety shoes and whites? If he does then so should you, you should have your own whites and shoes allocated to you only, for your own personal use.

Ask your manager who is the instore H&S rep? Also if you're a union member get them onboard...even if you're not, your USDAW union rep should give you the name of the H&S rep, who isn't necessarily an USDAW rep, as they are separate roles.

If untrained, then refusal is not a disciplinary matter, as you're refusing an unreasonable request.

Your solicitor will be looking into this, so any proof and clarification ( ideally in writing)  from other colleagues regarding the normal practice of the store, other non trained doing the baking, the baker having reported it in the past and not been fixed etc...will help in your case and speed things along.

Have you been receiving a top up premium baker rate on the night you bake? If not, why not? Because you're not recognised as being trained to do the job? If you have, then where's your sign off training records?

Good luck  :thumbup:
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

CJ

No I don't have anything allocated for me as I normally work late shifts and from my experience the union and tesco are in bed with each other so there's no point involving them the corruption runs deep and I work in a express store so not heard about any top up premium rates etc and that's the thing after the above click and learn comment by someone else I've just realised that I my training shows 0/12 completed on the welcome to bakery and 0/56 on fresh food care and yes my solicitors are looking into it they've already got around 9/10 violations on Healthy and Safety on them through my claim

lackofinterest

good luck mate. in my opinion best option is look for job outside tosco

1982dave

It's literally health and safety for Tescos and management when it suits them never go on a dept that you're not trained on you will get zero thanks for it and now you have injured you're self I hope you get stuff sorted and yes I wouldn't be going anywhere near bakery with out training relevant saftey equipment .... Saying that I work in an extra bakery staff shop floor and a lot more zero staff wear saftey equipment even people moving pump trucks ... like I said it's when it suits the company

1982dave

Quote from: CJ on 21-12-23, 01:17PMNo I don't have anything allocated for me as I normally work late shifts and from my experience the union and tesco are in bed with each other so there's no point involving them the corruption runs deep and I work in a express store so not heard about any top up premium rates etc and that's the thing after the above click and learn comment by someone else I've just realised that I my training shows 0/12 completed on the welcome to bakery and 0/56 on fresh food care and yes my solicitors are looking into it they've already got around 9/10 violations on Healthy and Safety on them through my claim
hope you get the correct outcome like I've said it's health and saftey when it suits them now something has happend that's not you're fault I bet they will do what they can to blame you ... have to be fair working for the company for years and the care towards staff has just gone and the union literally zero point as you have pointed out they look after eachother that's a big reason why I'm
Quote from: CJ on 21-12-23, 01:17PMNo I don't have anything allocated for me as I normally work late shifts and from my experience the union and tesco are in bed with each other so there's no point involving them the corruption runs deep and I work in a express store so not heard about any top up premium rates etc and that's the thing after the above click and learn comment by someone else I've just realised that I my training shows 0/12 completed on the welcome to bakery and 0/56 on fresh food care and yes my solicitors are looking into it they've already got around 9/10 violations on Healthy and Safety on them through my claim
hope you get the correct outcome seems like this is a issue in a lot of stores sadly the care towards staff is non existent and the union lol what a waste of money ... working for Tescos for a good few years and in my old store a member of produce took grapes down the staff stairs instead of normal route and one of the girls on checkouts had slipped on a couple grapes fallen down stairs broke ribs etc etc she had put a claim in they made her life unbearable to the point she had to leave the store / company not long after thankfully she won her case ..

lucgeo

So just to clarify for anyone in doubt...

If you're asked to work in a department, which requires colleagues in that department to wear any sort of PPE, then you should be issued with your own set of PPE for your own PERSONAL use, not shared or secondhand.

HI-VIS clothing such as freezer coats or outside coats for yard or trolleys can be shared, but must be clean and fit for purpose, not some stinking thing that hasn't been professionally cleaned for years! The store should be having them professionally cleaned on a regular basis.
Bakers whites are professionally cleaned, so a clean bagged set and apron could be used, but they must be a suitable fitting size for you to wear. Not too tight, that they don't fasten or cover you fully, not too loose to possibly get caught in any machinery.

Safety shoes should be your own, so if you are asked to just nip outside and collect a few trolleys, then you need to be wearing proper safety shoes, supplied for your own use, not some ordinary shoe that you wear instore.

You are within your rights and MUST refuse to do any task asked of you if you're not provided the correct protective clothing to carry out that task, as it's an unreasonable request. You cannot be disciplined for that refusal.

I have seen crushed toes, from colleagues not being protected with safety shoes, and they have been told that they shouldn't have been doing the task and had no right to be doing it in the first place...they had a right to refuse and therefore the onus was on them...some were got rid of due to bad sickness records or were unable to work in their usual way after!
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

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