Quick question: I was unloading the produce/meat truck and had to take a pallet with a hand jack into the meat cooler. The problem was that the pallet was leaning, and it fell over while I was in there. To be honest it was a loooong night, and was a few minutes before my shift had ended, and I figured that the meat department would just re-stack the boxes. The next time the night shift guy came in, he showed me a picture of it and asked if I did it. I (regrettably) lied and said no and the truck driver had no clue so she agreed with me. My question is: If he can prove it was me, what (if anything) will happen? I've worked here for about a year and a half and have had no issues with anything up until this.
You better hope you weren't caught on camera. Just how bad did it fall over? Did all the boxes fall over with everything spilling out on to the floor or did they remain intact? Either way, you shouldn't have left the mess for someone else. If it was time for you to leave and if you were going to be on overtime, and by overtime I mean real overtime and not working a few minutes over on a six hour shift, then you should have alerted someone to come help you or alert management and let them know the situation. I would have restacked the pallet or if that wasn't possible, I would have stacked the stuff that had fallen off on to either another pallet or a truck or pan dolly. It would have only taken you a few minutes. I know because it's happened to me.
It was like half of the boxes on the ground and the rest still on the pallet, and I agree I should have re-stacked it. What would happen if I was on camera? I have great relationships with all the managers, especially my grocery manager and supervisor.
lol, what a dick move.. Good grocery clerks know denial is the most important rule when something goes wrong.
I would have tried straightening and rewrapping the pallet before I moved it. I might have wrapped the pallet to the pallet jack guard depending how bad it is. If it still fell over, I would have thrown the fallen cases on another pallet.
The right thing to do was page a store manager and explain to them that you need to stay over for 15 minutes to clean up a spilled pallet. If no store manager available, clean up the mess and leave. Let a store manager know asap you needed to stay over 15 minutes to clean up an accidental spill.
**** happens. Don't sweat it.
I don't think you will get in big trouble. If someone asks you to come near the meat saw, I would go the other direction tho.
What that does is start a chain reaction bad day. Generally, other departments are always looking for something another department did wrong to bitch about. You made it too easy. First, they need to clean up the mess before they can start working. Then, they are 30 minutes behind for the rest of the day. By the end of the shift, they will have wasted 2 hours telling everyone that will listen about the mess they started their day cleaning up. The store manager would rather pay you for 15 minutes to clean it up than to listen to that person gripe and have them waste 2 1/2 hours that shift.
Do you know anything about this mess I had to clean up before starting my regular work?
I hate sorting dented cans and that is my aisle dammit.
You know they knew something wasn't right when they strapped them in with three straps...
I showed this pic to a coworker and told him to unload the truck. He begged me to let him keep working on his aisles instead. He had enough to do and these are his aisles' products.
I cleaned up this mess a couple of years ago. He thinks I cleaned it up a few nights ago. lol.
Nothing to worry about OP, those kind of accidents just happen. They are accidents. If it was me, I would've stayed over, however long it took, 15-30 minutes, to clean it up. I don't care about asking management for 15-30 mins overtime for something like this because I know if I don't do it, other people will be forced to, or worst yet, people just walk right by it and say it's not their mess to clean up. So on a rare occasion you could be leaving a pallet of produce, meat, dairy, or frozen just laying in the backroom for 2 hours before somebody is available to pick it up. Plus, in my store, management would rather somebody use the OT legitimately than to come into the backroom and see a mess and nobody around to take blame or help.
Protip: 15-30 mins OT is nothing. If management ever complains, tell them to look on camera. If you are doing legitimate work that HAS to be done, there's really not much they can do. If they threaten you, just say next time you will leave on time and let your department or accidents remain behind you.
You know they knew something wasn't right when they strapped them in with three straps...
I showed this pic to a coworker and told him to unload the truck. He begged me to let him keep working on his aisles instead. He had enough to do and these are his aisles' products.
I cleaned up this mess a couple of years ago. He thinks I cleaned it up a few nights ago. lol.
those two pallets should've been turned sideways so they'd fit more snugly against the trailer walls. That is some piss poor stacking.
