To think this is ridiculous and refuse to do it?

[goddamnandblast]

I work in a small cafe on the high street, we have tables and chairs but not a lot of indoor space so most of our seating is outside.

Because people in the town will steal these if they are left outside overnight we have to load all of the seating and stuff into and out of the shop when we open and close. Tbh it's already a massive pain in the arse because we are very busy getting the place ready in the morning and it's one more job that takes time we don't have. 99% of the time we are lone working at this point so we can't get on with things while someone else does it. Chairs stack together and are quite heavy, tables are heavy too but all this is just about doable at the moment.

Cue me coming in today to a load of extra stuff that the managers have decided to add to the outside area - essentially it's a bunch of wooden pillars with rope between them to section off our seating area from the street. These wooden pillars are huge (about 6in square and 4ft high) with thick, solid marble bases. They easily weigh 20kg+ each. If you imagine one of the big weight plates on a barbell in the gym the bases are about this size. I'm pretty strong but these pillars take the absolute piss and I can barely lift them because they are so ungainly, there's no safe way to lift or hold them and we are just supposed to get on with it and load them in and out every day with everything else, which will take even more time we don't have, and potentially risk damaging ourselves doing so.

Aibu to think this is ridiculous and refuse to put them out? I already have sciatica which is very painful and makes lifting difficult but even if I didn't I'm just so fucking furious that we are expected to do this. This is not a place staffed by strong, burly men, we are staffed entirely by petite women, some as young as 16.

do many people like to eat outside in Jan?

why don’t you explain your back issues and say that it will be very difficult for you to do this

Absolutely ridiculous and you should refuse to do it.

I don't imagine there is a risk assessment or manual handling & lifting training? A barrow/chair carrier to move furniture around?

I think you should refuse on the grounds of safe working.

I wouldn't do it, back trouble can last a lifetime! It sounds like more than one person can do as it is, and not a very safe working environment for lone working.

Surely even a small cafe needs to adhere to H&S regulations - just ask for a risk assessment and explain you’re physically unable to lift these safely

Yanbu. Refuse to do it.

Cite health and safety and refuse to do it.

They should have done a risk assessment for it, bet a large amt of money they haven't.

Good quote-

Health and safety in the workplace is everyone's responsibility.

Tell them you can't safely lift it
Your employer is responsible for your safety in this case

Why don't they chain the tables/chairs so that they can stay out overnight? (doesn't solve the issue of moving the heavy barrier, but significantly cuts down on set up time)

I wouldn't be putting my back out for an aesthetic outdoor eating area.

Can they be chained down?

or do it once then call in sick for 2 weeks saying you have put your back out lifting them

In the storms

Do they have permission to essentially cordon off the pavement?

100% this.

Refuse to do it on the grounds of safe working, not because you think it's ridiculous or silly to be asked.

I know the types of things you're being asked to move on a regular basis. As the base is stone, it's possible that if they were to be rolled out on the edge of the base that the stone may in time crack and get damaged, so I wouldn't move them that way either.

If they're that heavy aren't they effectively permanent fixtures?

If you are able to put out the tables and chairs safely then I would do that and leave the rest of it for the bosses when they appear - tell them this is what you are doing.

This is completely unreasonable. You shouldn't have to manually lift things heavier than 16kg, especially if they are awkward and you have to repeat it.

Cite your back and H&S concerns.

https://www.beckettandco.co.uk/manual-handling-faq-weight/

They should have risk assessed it before purchasing loads of furniture let alone adding the heavy bollards.

Have you told them, in writing, about your sciatica?

If not, tell them now you've got a pre-existing condition and are struggling with the chairs already and the pillars are beyond your ability. You are well within your right to refuse.

Solutions to suggest:
Pillars that lock in place
Lighter chairs & pillars that can be easily moved
Provide appropriate manual handling equipment for existing
And manual handling training.

The weight chart above is a useful guide but there's no min or max - it's all down to the individuals capability.

@regenerate no they definitely don't like to eat outside in January 😂 So it makes the whole thing even more pointless but unfortunately we have no choice since they have deigned that we have to have these tables etc and there in no space elsewhere to store them. The whole shop floor is taken up with them overnight so we can't move around if we don't put them out.

It's partially my personal concern about my own health issues that makes me not want to do this but also partly the principle of the thing. I severely doubt that our 16yr old staff members are going to able to lift these at all safely and we have a very small team so that puts even more pressure on the rest of us. It's bloody dangerous and of course they haven't done a risk assessment. I don't think they care very much at all.

We have a licence to have on street seating and I think part of that stipulates that we have to have a 'barrier' of sorts around the seating but I don't think it specifies the type. We also have to put everything in and out at night according to this licence application, the high street isn't pedestrianised so delivery trucks trundle up and down in the evening so we can't chain anything down.

I'm very much of the opinion that these are not fit for purpose as we can't safely move them and therefore they will have to find an alternative.

Please don't lift these, I'm wincing just thinking about it.

Let the management lift them themselves if they're so keen.

Absolutely @SquirrelsAssemble, they should have risk assessed it all but they haven't bothered.

All this stuff just literally turned up on a massive truck where a guy with a pallet trolley dumped it outside the door. I didn't even know it was coming! I had to bribe him with free coffee to put it round the back for me as I knew I couldn't move it on my own. Same thing happened with the tables and chairs - busy day in the summer, all of sudden all this stuff turns up with no notice. We had a shop full of customers and no instructions as to what to do with everything.

They literally give no fucks and I'm so pissed off with it!

Our doorways are very narrow in the shop so we'd never get a trolley/piece of equipment to wheel them in/out through the door. We have to lift them.

If you have sciatica do not lift these outside and inform management you can't handle them alone. Even if you didn't I wouldn't recommend anyone do this, once you have back issues they are a pain for life!

They only come in once in a blue moon to audit us or tell us something else we have to do. They don't think about the practical reality of actual live humans doing things for them, they just place and order and tell us to get on with it. They don't care if we break our backs lugging these stupid things around.

This is absolutely a hill I'm willing to die or get fired on. I'm not doing it. I will write a strongly worded email explaining exactly why not if they insist.

Exactly this. Sounds like the management have no understanding of H&S and manual handling..if not just a complete disregard for it.

Do it but make it about health & safety, risk assessments and so on. Don’t say you think it’s ridiculous.