working in un-sanitary conditions

RoyalMarine

well i went to work today. and my foreman told me he needs me to run the stores at work bcos the store manager is not in today. so fine nd dandy i didnt mind.
untill i got there..

the stores had flooded!!

but it wasnt water...
it was urine from the bathrooms at work that had blocked up the day before.

i told my foreman i didnt want to work there but he told me i had no choice.
so i did.
all day long i walked through human urine about 3" deep.
my clothes all stink, my work boots leaked and my socks and feet got soaked in urine.
i feel soo ill over this and i wasnt able to eat anything as it made me sick to my stomach.

is there anything i can do?

is this a violation of health and safety?

please any comments are appreciated.
oh, my job is an apprentice electrician.

Litcagral

This appears to be a once-off incident so there is probably little you can do.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 you employer is expected to act "so far as reasonably practicable" although Section 8 Part 2 Subsection (i) states

"where risks cannot be eliminated or adequately controlled or in circumstances as may be prescribed, providing and maintaining such suitable protective clothing and equipment as is necessary to ensure as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his employees".

I would have expected to at least be supplied with a pair of wellingtons.

azezil

Same thing happened to me in a previous employment, but wasn't just urine...
The toilets overflowed and went pouring down the stairs and I was expected to run in and out to keep the "water" level under control.

It was no surprise to anyone when I quit soon after.

drdre

RoyalMarineComm wrote:

well i went to work today. and my foreman told me he needs me to run the stores at work bcos the store manager is not in today. so fine nd dandy i didnt mind.
untill i got there..

the stores had flooded!!

but it wasnt water...
it was urine from the bathrooms at work that had blocked up the day before.

i told my foreman i didnt want to work there but he told me i had no choice.
so i did.
all day long i walked through human urine about 3" deep.
my clothes all stink, my work boots leaked and my socks and feet got soaked in urine.
i feel soo ill over this and i wasnt able to eat anything as it made me sick to my stomach.

is there anything i can do?

is this a violation of health and safety?

please any comments are appreciated.
oh, my job is an apprentice electrician.

what did you get paid for the day.i would have got up and left.and gone back in the morning to talk to someone proper.as thats just crap making you walk in piss.you were just the easy target

RoyalMarine

no wellie's supplied

im a 1st year apprentice so i got about 40 quid for d day..
spoke to a few m8's over d weekend about this nd they all said let it go not much u can do about it..

so i guess ill have to bite the bullet nd do nothing.

thnx for d comments.

andy1249

That is entirely illegal , you should report it to the health and safety , and do it regardless of how long ago it was , as long as your boss is not pulled up on it he will continue to treat people like this and will end up doing somebody some lasting harm so it is your duty to report him.

Urine is acidic ,classed as a chemical spill , and it is a health hazard , and under the current health and safety regulations your employer must make every attempt to have the area cleaned before asking anyone to work in that area , telling somebody that they have to work in an area contaminated by any kind of chemical spill is illegal , its a criminal offence .

The above posts about protective gear only apply to chemicals normally used in relation to a particular job , say for instance , heavy duty cleaning gear , and not to people who would otherwise work normally in the area without protection.

Make sure you report this , its the only morally right thing to do.

andy1249

Also , should your boss give you any hassle whatsoever in relation to reporting him , get legal advice immediately and sue ,

You have a cast iron case here of gross negligence on the part of your employer , you have a case anyway , so I would look for a solicitor and sue regardless of what happens ,

Sometimes the only way to wake up these cowboys is to hit them in the pocket.
Just about any solictor would jump on this on a no win no fee basis , I promise you !!

RoyalMarine

i was told by several people that going to a solicitor isnt the best way. nd i wouldnt have much of a case.
basically because i didnt refuse to work in the area.

but i do agree with what you said about it being "contaminated" and yeah i looked it up that urine is classed as a chemical spill and should be treated as such.
the health and safety officer is on site monday's only. so ill talk to him about it.

as for a solicitor should i at least talk to him about it just so i know where i stand on the matter?

when i go back to work tomorrow morning, im not going to be in the stores and im pretty sure the urine will be cleared away.
not saying it wont happen again, but it feels like a dead end.

andy1249

Im not talking about reporting it to your sites health and safety officer , Im talking about reporting it to the national health and safety office , they will send an inspector , you can do it online , here is the link , by law your obliged to report this by the way ,

https://webapps.hsa.ie/CIRW/

The urine will have left undeniable evidence , unless its been professionally cleaned like it should have been before your boss asked you to work in it.

Your friends dont know what they are talking about , you dont have to refuse , you just have to have been told to work in an unsafe area by your boss /manager / etc.
These are the new health and safety rules , they are strict and tough , and are enforcable anywhere in Ireland.

Talk to a solicitor, it cant hurt , it wont cost you anything , I bet anything they will be interested. These guys specialise in health and safety at work , call them and see ,
Or pick someone local , its up to you

http://www.farrellsolicitors.ie/index.asp?ref=bar&n=healthandsafety

The reason Im pushing this is that your boss will do this again sometime unless he is pulled up on it , and he will end up causing someone to be hurt , so you need to do this.

RoyalMarine

well the prob is thats kinda dobbing them in.
if they did get investigated they could find out it was me if i did pursue it.
then they would sake me.

say i turn up after break 5 mins they just stand there and say its not good enough sorry.
or if my work wasnt good enough etc.
i dont know if i could risk loosing my job

lostexpectation

strange, eh, was the first priority not to clean up the urine? which involves anybody and everybody who has any responsibilty mucking and sorting he situation out, bot having you wade through all day?

andy1249

Should you be sacked then thats also illegal , and they can be sued for that , a very hefty sum would come your way ,

They wouldnt dare sack you after you made a report , that would be way to obvious ,

What you need to be thinking about is do you want to be in a situation where you are illegally ordered to work in unsafe conditions ( and piss ) or do you want to stand up for yourself and assert your legal rights.

What about others that work there , do you think your boss has the right to treat people like that !!
The question is , are you going to stand for it , and are you going to continue to let that boss of yours treat people like that , what happens when someone is hurt ?, what happens if you are hurt ?, and you end up listening to him deny all responsibility ?

The way I see it , you have no choice , if you dont do something , you will be treated like crap all the time , if that were me , I think Id rather be unemployed than treated like that !

RoyalMarine

i agree totally. im in work this morning but all weekend ive been vomiting.
i think its because i was inhaling a large amount of amonia.

on the boot issue, i found the name of the boots and i checked their website etc.
the boots are apparently corrosive proof.
so i dont think the urine corroded my boots and soaked my feet. i guess the boots were worn out a small bit.
none the less a pair of wellies would have been nice.

im waiting to see a doctor in 1 hour 20 mins.
next door in the internet cafe.

anyway, when i went to work this morning the regular store man was back.
i asked him has the place flooded on a regular basis.
he said no, but it has once or twice before.

but normally there is just a large smell of urine around the place.
outside the store's door, the urine is still there. but now there is pallet's covering it up so people dont have to walk in it.

the main concern i have is that im sick.
as for being treated like that by my foreman, well he's a nice fella usually.
then again he shouldnt have put me in that position without the proper safety gear ( wellies or something ) well, he shouldnt have put me there anyway!

when i see the doctor soon i will tell her what happened and see whats wrong.
ive checked it up on the net and it looked like exposure to amonia.
not too severe but then again there are diseases everywhere nowadays.

im going to see what i can do on reporting it to the national health and safety
office.

still not sure about going to a solicitor or anything like that but ill see.

if i did put in a claim / sue them for this, say 3 weeks later im 5 mins late or something they could sack me over it.
i dont really need that on my work record that i was sacked etc.
espically if im going to continue my apprenticeship, and if i need to find a new company they can easily contact my current company and ask why i was sacked.. and if they hear its bcos i was late or something it could stop me getting another job!

anyway thanks a mill for all the advice.
hopefully i can get this all sorted soon.

andy1249

Once you put in a claim or make a complaint , any disciplinary action against you by the company will have to be cast iron or any court is going to see it as harassment , they have a better chance of sacking you now than they do after a complaint ,
For the company not to look bad they will have to treat you nice after the complaint , you will be effectively untouchable !!

RoyalMarine

*if* i was to decide to put a claim in, do you think it would be worth while?
i dont want to waste anytime or piss anyone off if its going to be not worth the time and hassle over it.

andy1249

To answer this accurately your going to have to talk to a solicitor , that wont cost anything and as they'll be working on a percentage they wont go ahead unless its worthwhile , ( its usually about 10% or so , costs usually awarded by the court so your money stays as is ! )
In this case the odds are that you'll be looking at 3-5K and the case is highly unlikely to go to court as it would make the papers and most companys would not want it known that they order their employees to work in Urine !!
In short , your company will settle , and probably pretty sharpish as there is no denying their responsibility here.

Mandoon

Andy,

How do you know this is illegal. Going by the times of your posts you obviously dont work so you obviously are not a lawyer. I take it that you are either unemployed or a pensioner. Stop giving the OP terrible, terrible advice. Reading your other post you are very opinionated and have way too much time on your hands. Maybe take a walk down to the job centre? Instead of dicking about on the internet all day every F**kin day. Dont think I havent noticed.

MANDOON :rolleyes:

andy1249 wrote:

That is entirely illegal

Mandoon

Andy,

You seem to know an awful lot about claiming settlements from companys. I bet that you've up to these tricks before. I'm sick and tired of leechs like you sitting on the dole claiming invalidity benefit and encouarging others to make fraudulent claims. You should hang your head in shame leech.

MANDOON

andy1249 wrote:

In short , your company will settle , and probably pretty sharpish as there is no denying their responsibility here.