Archived Possible Repercussions?

[doxiemama]

I took out a pull yesterday. Some idiot in the backroom balanced a case on top of the bar of the 3 tiered cart so it was half on the product underneath it and half hanging in the air, if you can visualize it. Went I went to push it, the case fell towards me, right onto my wrists, forearm, and then rolled to my upper arm. I'm not horribly bruised but you can see where it fell and my wrists and forearms have been sore ever since. At first, I wasn't going to do anything, but I spoke to our AP guy who normally oversees such things. He said he would talk to the LOD then get back to me, but he felt it would be best for me to have some documentation and suggested I complete and incident report.

I continued to work, although not very effectively. When I never heard back from anybody, I went to the new LOD (this took place right before the changeover) who happens to be a real jack ass. When I told him I wanted to file an incident report, he gave me one of those looks that'll kill. He then told me it was going to take him 45 minutes and the tone in his voice was rather hostile. I got the standard "if you go to the ER, Target requires you to get a drug test", spoke to the nurse and received instructions on what to do, then was told to go clock out. He actually made the call to the nurse for me and I guess she asked him what was wrong and his answer was "she's got superficial bruises". I know I didn't look as if I had broken any bones, but there was no way he knew what the level of pain was.

Anyway, I went home feeling as if he was judging me and thinking that it was my fault. In fact, I had made a comment to the woman who oversees the backroom that some of the carts are dangerously overloaded and her comment to me was that somebody must have knocked in the cart and that's why the box was balanced so weirdly. Nobody bumped into that cart. The guy who loaded it was just trying to put as much merchandise into it as he could. But when you can't see around a box (that was how high it was loaded), and you have to balance cases that don't fit in, wouldn't that suggest you should put some of the stuff in another cart?

I can understand that Target doesn't want to assume any blame. I can't prove the box was balanced in such a way that it was probably going to fall. Nobody saw this happen. I have the bruises to show it happened, but anybody could just as easily claim that I knocked it over or that I shouldn't have taken the pull if it looked that risky. But I don't feel as if it would go over very well if I refused to take out a pull.

I have no plans to pursue any action. I called in today just because I need to put a little space between me and Target. I'm off the next two days. I'm hoping that when I am next scheduled, this will all be forgotten. But I still don't want to have to take pulls out that are too high to see. And I don't know how to communicate that without seeming to be uncooperative. More than that, I'm concerned that some of the ETLs are going to wonder about my integrity or write me off as a whiner. I don't want to give up my job. I have other jobs that require I change my schedule from time to time. Target has always been great about working with me. I enjoy the people I work with. I love to work with guests (most of the time). But I'm feeling weird about all of this.

Are store leadership trained to be very cold and detached when working with a possibly injured team member? Is there any chance that they could use this as a basis to give me a lot less hours? I know if that happened I could call the hotline, but I fear that might lead to even greater fallout. I just don't trust hotlines.

 

[commiecorvus]

You are right not to trust the hotline especially if you haven't run this by the STL and HR first.
Yes, the ETLs are trained to handle accident reports with a certain amount of distance, it actually makes sense up to a point.
You can do that without being an asshole.
It is possible to show compassion and be a professional at the same time, I see it every day.
Are you still hurting?
If you have to go to the hospital make sure you let them know that it's a WC claim and keep copies of everything.

 

[doxiemama]

I'm bruised. Advil is handling the pain. I can function, but not sure I could easily push or lift 50 pounds right now. I don't think this is at a level that requires urgent care. The nurse basically said as much on the phone but did tell me to call back if anything changed. So, I'd just as soon forget this. But I would hope that there will be a little more care given to overloading the pulls. And I'm not thrilled about having to deal with one again. In fact, one of the LODs spoke to the backroom a couple of weeks ago about not loading the 3 tiers so full. But the next day, they were so high they were going to topple over if you weren't careful. One of my biggest concerns is that because they are so high, you cannot see anything in front of you. I just know that one of these days, a guest will step out of an aisle and there might be a collision because the tm pushing the cart couldn't see anything. Next time I see a pull that high, I plan to take a few pictures. I am just not sure who I would show them to that might lead to a safer situation.

 

[commiecorvus]

There should be a TL, usually AP who is safety captain.
They are responsible for making sure TMs and customers don't get hurt.
Show them the pictures.

 

[HairyToothpick]

Were the boxes piled so high that you couldn't have reduced the pull to a more manageable height? Why not just remove the problem and then work the pull? Or just grab a different pull?

 

[IHeartCarts]

Get better, always pay attention. The backroom is a dangerous place.

 

[RetailWorld]

There is a literal height limit on stacking product on wheels. When people do their safety walks....once a quarter I believe...whoever does the backroom has to check pallets and wheels to ensure it's not stacked too high and safely. Sounds like it was stacked too high.

 

[signingminion]

If you can't see to push it, split it into another vehicle and come back for the second after you finish the first. Don't let them pressure you into pushing it, don't pull it so you aren't trying to see over/around it.

We have a neon tape stripe marking six feet, which is the max height. But since I can't see that high, it needs to be lower for me.

Arnica gel can help the bruising. We sell it otc right in the first aid aisle. It's by Boiron. $8 a tube, but its magic for bruises and muscle pain. The sooner you apply the better. I keep a tube in my desk.

 

[Kompa]

No offence. You must be extremely fragile for a box that fell of the bar to have the power to bruise you. At the highest point, the bar is only about a foot from the handle. This is just a case of sucking it up and moving on. BR has a quota and times to keep so it that means stacking one box in the rail, then it's up to the pusher to move it before they take it out.

 

[Ringwraith917]

No offence. You must be extremely fragile for a box that fell of the bar to have the power to bruise you. At the highest point, the bar is only about a foot from the handle. This is just a case of sucking it up and moving on. BR has a quota and times to keep so it that means stacking one box in the rail, then it's up to the pusher to move it before they take it out.

No offense, but you must be extremely ignorant of the possible weight of a box. A box of brown sugar for example weighs 20lbs, a case of the largest detergent weighs more.

 

[LadyCynide]

Be careful with any type of injury, whether it's your fault or not. I got lectured for about 20 straight minutes once while I was crying my eyes out because i went to push open the backroom door with my tub and someone had left a small box between the hinge and the door stop, so it bounced back and smashed up my hand. I was told to start looking behind doors before I go through, even though there was no physical way to see the box unless you were already in the back room.

Your leads may be mad at you a for a bit, but they'll get over it. They like to whine when anything happens, but in the end, what matters is your safety.

BUT, like others have said, learn from this and do not take any vehicle stacked higher than your line of sight. The Backroom doesn't always have enough time to make it fit all pretty, so before you push it, fix it.

 

[Firefox]

No offence. You must be extremely fragile for a box that fell of the bar to have the power to bruise you. At the highest point, the bar is only about a foot from the handle. This is just a case of sucking it up and moving on. BR has a quota and times to keep so it that means stacking one box in the rail, then it's up to the pusher to move it before they take it out.

It doesn't take a lot of force to cause bruises, especially if the item falls from above. Plus, there are quite a few heavy things in each department that could cause some serious damage if dropped onto your person. OP said that it's painful and that it is effecting their work, I'd say that it's a bit of a big deal if the store is breaking safety guidelines and TM's are getting injured because of it. This time it might be just a bruise, but next time it could be more serious.

 

[Kompa]

No offense, but you must be extremely ignorant of the possible weight of a box. A box of brown sugar for example weighs 20lbs, a case of the largest detergent weighs more.

I work in the backroom. We walk cases of detergent 10+ feet up a ladder with one hand. I'm well aware of how heavy they are. Only thing that could of caused this imo is a box of weight or a irregular box. While I agree injures should be treated seriously, as a brtm this is something that happens all the time. Like, if it fell from a shelf into you than i guess but it had to be some freak occurrence from a 10 inch drop,

 

[ClearanceMaster]

If it's a constant thing, the backroom needs to work on that. If it happens here and there, everyone's under pressure but It doesn't make their timeframe any better than your safety. I would ask the be team to be neater about stacking the tubs and if they didn't I'd just backstock it all and say to hell with them.. they can pull it again neater Lol

 

[ClearanceMaster]

I had a lightweight box hit me in the face before and give me a bloody nose. If the corner hits you (mine certainly did) it could leave a bruise. And girls bruise way easier. I poked my tm in the shoulder and gave her a bruise. Her husband wanted to kill me.. lol

 

[doxiemama]

I'm not exactly fragile but if something moderately heavy hits you the wrong way, it's going to hurt. Imagine a 20 pound barbell landing on the top of your wrist. It's going to force your arm down at an angle that's just not normal. Then imagine that same barbell bouncing back onto your arms. Sure, people in the backroom are accustomed to geting bruised but I normally work in softlines. It's just not something I expect on the job. I was already in a bad mood - no vibing for me. But that was just enough to push me over the edge. When I first went back to get a pull, I took the one I did because they were all crammed full of stuff. It wasn't as if there was a less full cart to choose from. Yes, I could have moved the box, but there was no place to put it, except on another cart. I just never thought somebody would balance a heavy box on the edge of a cart. I just figured that whoever loaded that cart was smart enough to put something light there so if it did fall, it wouldn't cause a problem. My biggest concern right now is how management is going to react because I called in today. I don't have a doctor's note because the nurse and I concluded that it probably didn't warrant seeing somebody. But given how rude the ETL was yesterday and the fact that I was still a little sore, I just wasn't in a mood to deal with an LOD, rude customers, heavy, high pulls , etc. I suppose somebody might say something to me but my attitude is that they set this up in the first place by not overseeing safety standards. It would be rather rude of them to come after me because of something that could have been prevented if they were managing some folks better. To be fair, there are some good folks in the backroom who put together pulls that are organized according to the location the product goes and are not overwhelmingly full. But those good folks were certainly not there yesterday.

It's times like this when I feel that maybe it's time to move on. I don't mind the work. I can live with the pay. I actually enjoy helping guests and the majority of folks at my store. But if I don't feel safe, then that's a problem. I wonder if OSHA ever gets involved with these things (not a veiled threat - just curious).