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AIBU?

Aibu - gross working conditions

60 replies

itsasecret1 · 08/11/2017 11:12

Hello all,

I am 31 weeks pregnant. I work in a small clinic (talking therapy) I'm the sole receptionist and secretary for 2 bosses.

We had rats outside the building and inside the walls/floor (its an old building) about a month ago and poison was put down for them. They all died and the smell was awful for weeks, enduring 8 hours a day in dead rat smell did not make me very happy.

Now the smell has faded thankfully but yesterday the whole of my reception room was filled with big gross flies, talking at least 20-30 of them throughout the day. I went out and bought fly spray because it was making me feel very uneasy and they kept landing near my water and on me while I was working.

Have since had to keep spraying fly spray every 1-2 hours to kill all the flies. Have no idea how they're getting in and I have blocked any holes around cables etc. Now I'm worried about the effects of the fly spray in an unventilated room (too cold to have the window open) I'm just fed up with this working environment.

V. tempted to go sick til my maternity leave starts in 3 weeks time. I'm exhausted and stressed and now this. AIBU?

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Cactusjelly00 · 08/11/2017 11:17

YANBU but since it's only a few weeks I'd be tempted to just grin and bear it.
Fly spray won't harm you unless you're sniffing it straight out of the can.
YANBU to be fed up though!

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clockworklime · 08/11/2017 11:19

Sounds horrid OP - I can’t be dealing with flies.. I would have done exactly the same thing

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SloeSloeQuickQuickGin · 08/11/2017 11:20

Wher are you working? Soweto?

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BarbarianMum · 08/11/2017 11:21

Maybe ask them to move the whole business to new premises. Because, well, you're pregnant and have no place in the real world and couldn't possibly open a window for 10 minutes. And yes, go sick when you're not - its important to reinforce the myth that pregnant women make flaky employees. Hmm

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Blodplod · 08/11/2017 11:22

We had dead mice in our loft (although we didn’t notice a smell). The only reason we knew we had dead mice was I came home from work one day and the whole upstairs was full of flies. I went round to my neighbours to see if their house was full of flies but it wasn’t so we concluded dead decomposing bodies was the culprit. This doesn’t help you much but I would be asking them to try and get in roof space etc to get rid of the now dead rats..

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parkerbean · 08/11/2017 11:25

I agree. I bet the flies hatched in the dead rats. Which means they will have crawled through the decomposing body so have dead rat germs on them. I would eat in your office in case a fly touches your food and only drink from bottled water. Keep the lid on your water. Hopefully once the dead rats are fully decomposed the flies will stop.

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Allthewaves · 08/11/2017 11:26

Flies are coming from the dead rats in the floors and walls. I'd go sick tbh.

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itsasecret1 · 08/11/2017 11:28

@BarbarianMum, its November and its an unheated office.

I don't think opening a window would help - as the rat bodies are out there under the street as well (its basement level)

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timeforabrewnow · 08/11/2017 11:32

yuck - go off sick - definitely. Rank

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GlacindaTheTroll · 08/11/2017 11:33

I'm amazed anyone walks past piles of decomposing 2 month old rat bodies to enter the premises.

If your firm occupies only the basement, why on earth haven't you been on to the building management about this?

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bullinachinacup · 08/11/2017 11:41

I'd take the early mat leave personally, since it's so close to the time that you're going anyway. I can't deal with vermin/flies etc and I'm not even pregnant. x

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ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 08/11/2017 11:41

Are these the same bosses who refused you AL for a funeral?

Sounds bloody horrendous. Were the rats dealt with by a professional?

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Candlelight234 · 08/11/2017 11:42

Ignore the posters taking the piss, that's quite grim. The building owners should be hiring a pest control firm to sort it out.

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CatastropheKate · 08/11/2017 11:51

I wouldn't use fly-spray in a confined space while pregnant. Just keep opening the door/window to get rid of them. Cold will also make them dozy and you might be able to hoover them if you get the chance.

I would not start maternity leave now.

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Fireinthegrate · 08/11/2017 11:52

Is this in the UK?
I don't know about in other countries but in the UK you should be contacting your Landlord or building management company to deal with these problems.
If your mat leave is only 3 wks away, try to stick it out. Open the window for a bit even if it is cold, get some fresh air blowing through.

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TonicandLime · 08/11/2017 11:53

Why are you not flagging up the dead rat bodies to your employer? Can't be nice for customers either.

then just get yourself signed off sick as you are too snowflakey to deal with real life now you're pregnant.

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CatastropheKate · 08/11/2017 11:53

In fact, thinking about it, are you even allowed to use fly-spray in the work place without risk assessment and training?

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SomethingNewToday · 08/11/2017 11:54

Just get some fly catcher strips and dangle around. They work ridiculously quickly, they'll be gone in a couple of hours.

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Kailoer · 08/11/2017 11:59

i'm really shocked that you'd just go off sick for 3 weeks for this

you're not sick

why on earth are posters encouraging you to deal with this fairly normal situation like that?!

surely you pop in for a quiet word with whichever one's your line manager when it's convenient, and sort it out (pest control, arranging a one off deep clean, getting a fly zapper electric thing)

are you about 16 OP? This sounds like the sort of thing a whiny teen would think / do for their Saturday job that they don't want to do, not a working adult Hmm

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itsasecret1 · 08/11/2017 12:00

Thanks everyone - its all been flagged to my employers many times - and yes they are the same bosses that refused AL for a funeral.

They've basically taken it all into their own hands and put poison down themselves without contacting the council (and paying £400) for the proper rodent pest control service.

I can't hang fly strips up I don't think - people would be very put off, if they aren't already. I agree, its terrible for patients coming in and very embarrassing but its their business, I can only advise! I'm more concerned about the wellbeing of my baby.

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itsasecret1 · 08/11/2017 12:02

@Kailoer I see where you're coming from, I am not one to go sick when not sick, but in the same instance - I'm trying to think of my baby.

No line manager / HR anything like that. Just me and two bosses.

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ThreeLeggedCat · 08/11/2017 12:03

Although the flies are rank they will only last a day or two. Flies/maggots go through rat bodies pretty quickly. Candlelight234 - putting poison down is exactly what a pest control company would have done, only in very rare circumstances do they actually kill the rats there and then, it’s mostly poison, and blocking access.

And rats are known for always dying in the most inconvenient places - not where you can access the corpse to get rid of it - but only in a place where you can’t get to it!

OP - stick it out, it won’t last too much longer.

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Oddmanout · 08/11/2017 12:05

"...fairly normal situation like that"

I don't know where you live or work, but decomposing rat bodies and flies aren't normal in my work place and I wouldn't stand for it either.

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ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 08/11/2017 12:09

I would not be happy about a DIY rat job. Someone in a communal block of flats I lived in took matters into their own hands with mice, and it was a bloody mess.

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berliozwooler · 08/11/2017 12:11

It is not a "fairly normal situation" at all. I have seen a mouse in the office before, but not anything like the OP describes.

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