WWyd-work and health and safety related

[november12mum]

Hello mumsnetters,not sure if this is more of aibu,wwyd or just to hear opinions from more experienced/wiser mums regarding an work incident that happened to me.
I started to work recently for a well known food retailer in the replenishment section doing night shifts.The work is fast paced,very physical,involves a lot of manual handling,lifting and pushing/pulling cages with food/drinks.I was praised by my manager for how quickly I integrated in the team and he told me I did a very good job.All good so far,just that on last night shift he asked me to take a full cage of wines from the storage to the front of the shop and restock as much as I can.I went to do that and said cage was heavily loaded with approximately 20 boxes of wine,containing about 6 big bottles each,totalling a weight of about 100kg.How did he imagine I could physically do that I don't know as that is about twice my body weight.Thankfully a male colleague saw me next to the cage and he came and helped and even he agreed that was very heavy.Aibu to think the manager should have risk assessed the situation and not to send me do this task?As it was very close to end of shift I did not speak to the manager again,but what to do/say in this situation?I'm on a temporary contract,that will be extended based on performance if so.I want the job and I can do well in any other section of the supermarket but I will not risk my health for it.Plus on a personal level I think the manager was seriously out of order to give me that task.
Any comments are much appreciated,thanks.

Are you sure he expected you to move the whole cage as opposed to say taking a box at a time or something? It seems a bit ridiculous to ask you to lift 100kgs. Was there some equipment to assist in this task? I'd probably just have a nice quiet word with him saying you needed assistance with that work and is there something you missed or misunderstood with his instructions, something like that.

Thank you for replying,yes he did mean the whole cage as he has brought it himself with the lift from warehouse to shop floor level and he told me to go take it from there to the wines area inside the supermarket which in quite big,not talking of a few metres.the cages are on wheels but still it was difficult for a man to pull it.I was working in a different area when he came and told me so did not know exactly how big it was until I got next to it.

You should have manual handling training & there should be an appropriate risk assessment in place. This should identify the need for appropriate lifting equipment such as trolleys etc. How many employees are there? If more than 5 there is a requirement for a written health & safety policy.

I've done that job. It's not that hard once it's moving they are on wheels

I've done that job. It's not that hard once it's moving they are on wheels

But it was on wheels? If you physically couldn't move it that's one thing but lots of jobs involve heavy work.

I'm 50kg and could safely push a 100kg roll cage that was in good working order, along a flat surface.

I'm not saying you could... You are the best judge of that. But I wouldn't say he was wrong to think you could do it.

The training is important though. I note you say it took a man to pull it - is it not designed to be pushed? What training have you had?

Surely it's up to you to do the risk assessment and the result of that may be that you need assistance. Not a big deal.

Thank you for all replies,it's interesting that some of you who have done similar jobs say it's easy to do it.When I started the job I was told I will not have to do drinks at all but here we go.This particular type of cage if you push it you can't see properly in front so more often people pull it or if reasonable weight push from the side.I will look up their health and safety policy as there is a written one.As for risk assessment yes I have done my own otherwise I could have ended up straining my back in there.I knew the job was hard work before taking it and up till now I did very well in reaching my productivity targets and all.
Maybe I am biased as in the two months of being there I haven't seen any of the women colleagues to work on drinks area,it was always the men.

Have you had manual handling training? I think it was up to you to speak up and say that you could not move the cage on your own.

Individual employees are as much responsible for h & s as managers are. You should have spoken up & told your manager it was too heavy.

Individual employees are as much responsible for h & s as managers are. You should have spoken up & told your manager it was too heavy.

I'm a trained manual handling instructor. You should have had training.

The general rule is check the load and if you don't think you can manage it alone get help. Which you had. You should mention to your boss that it was too heavy to move alone so he can take it into account next time.

I'd assume this has been risk assessed as a load that will be pushed.
Without knowing the state of the trolley, the ground covering, slopes etc - internet randoms can't tell you if the RA is OK or not. But assuming you are trained, you saw you couldn't do it and someone helped you, your supervisor didn't tell you off for getting help, I don't see the problem. (I'm an ex H&S advisor)

I've done that job before and could move more than 100kg, over carpet, all be it not easily.

When you realised you couldn't move it safely did you let your manager know? Unless he was insisting you should move it alone against your better judgement, I don't see the problem.

I did a similar job for five years - if something is too heavy for you, just ask for help. There's always someone willing to give you a hand.

But having lugged cages around like that, I don't think it's unreasonable for him to expect you to manage it on your own - they're fine once you get them moving so long as the wheels aren't too wonky/bashed about.

You risk assessed it and decided another person was required, which you then had so I don't see the problem. (Manual handling trainer here)

Similar to others, I've done the job and pulled similar cages when put in BW&S. However if I couldn't do it I'd have had no issue asking a colleague to assist.

Have done sometimes similar in the past, but up/down ramps and in a busy high traffic area. I was also a lone worker. The cages were quite often loaded so you couldn't see over the top. I used to grab a spare cage and unload half, and push the cages, they were lighter and I could see. On the off chance someone happened to be around, I'd ask for help.

You should have manual handling training and a policy, follow the policy which should be designed so you don't have to put your health at risk.
I don't think your manager was out of order to ask, and ultimately, you got the help needed and the job done, if I were you and put in the same situation again, I would say you struggled with such a heavy cage last time, can you grab a colleague to help or split the load to 2 cages.
Good luck meeting your targets, hope you are kept on!

I think you're really over-thinking a shelf-stacking role. You asked someone to help, they did and it was fine.