Paperwork Is A Pain — In More Ways Than One

I’m one of the store’s first aiders, and there are times when I am the ONLY first aider working that particular day. My colleagues are used to me having to dash off if the phone rings; I’ve left mid-transaction at the till with someone else finishing.

One time, I had to help a customer who had fallen over on the stairs. Luckily, she was okay. Per company policy, I took her details, and then when her daughter arrived to take her home, I went to the computer to enter her details into the system. This is company policy, and I think it also covers us legally if, say, she decided to sue us afterward. This information must be put into the system as soon as possible, and questions are asked if this is not the case.

I sorted the stuff out on the computer and then went back to my job. I’d been away for about forty-five minutes, and it had been busy. Then, [Duty Manager] came up to me.

Duty Manager: “You took way too long to deal with that. That woman was okay; you didn’t need to put it in the computer. You should have come straight back here to get the queues down.”

I tried explaining, but he insisted he was right and that I wasn’t being a team player, blah, blah, blah.

When the health and safety officer came in next, I told him about this and checked just in case the policy had changed. Nope, I was right, and [Duty Manager] was in the wrong.

I heard no more about it, but I have still had the odd glare from [Duty Manager].