Literally Taking Stock

In 1990, I was employed as a customer advisor in the UK’s largest DIY Company. I was doing the usual, advising customers on the shopfloor. We had shelving that was eighteen feet tall. The top two shelves had pallets holding stock. I should add that the pallets on the top shelves are supposed to be fastened to the shelving by zip ties.

A customer asked if I could get a ladder from the second shelf. I got the ladder down, but she decided it wasn’t what she wanted.

I started replacing the ladders, as I pushed them into place on the shelf, I caught the top shelf pallet. Normally, this is okay, but for some reason, the pallet had not been secured.

It was only when a scraping noise made me look up that I saw the pallet sliding off the shelf. I managed to push the customer to one side as the pallet hit me, knocking me out.

The customer ran and found another member of staff. The next thing I remember was being walked out of the store and into my line manager’s car.

She rushed me to the hospital, as it was just down the road. She sat with me throughout my being checked out and being admitted to a ward. She also contacted my wife and gave her details of what happened and which ward I was in.

I was in the hospital for four days. Every day, my manager came to see me and see how I was doing. On my discharge, she told me I had time off until I felt able to return to work. Every day she rang to check how I was doing.

After two weeks, I felt able to return to work; the only problem I had was that I felt uneasy on the shopfloor. My manager was able to relocate me to a customer service desk.

When it came to claiming compensation for my injuries, my manager backed me up regarding the unsafe pallet, as did the customer I was helping. The company settled within eight weeks.

I continued working for the company for the next five years before moving into a new profession.

I still see the manager every time I go to the store for my DIY needs.