the title sounds so dramatic but the more i think about it the more true it is. i work for a retailer which offers a tailor service. the salespeople pin slips onto the suits for the alteration people which could just be stapled onto the clothing tag (some staple, some pin). they use push pins for this. i need to write on the slips and need to be very careful not to jab myself on the pins bc salespeople leave them sticking upwards almost. then, when customers come to collect the altered clothing, i must bring them the clothing and remove the pins and slips etc. hope this makes sense.
basically, i’m concerned because a lot of staff members (myself included) regularly prick their fingers on these pins. it’s unlikely that other staff members would have blood borne diseases but they could and then several people couod be pricking themselves on the pins one after the other technically. i just feel this is an un-necessary risk that isn’t needed since staples do the same job as pins and it seems to be a salesperson preference. i can’t find any laws on this. technically we are all getting needle stick injuries on the same pins which can’t be good for healthy and safety. can i do anything about this? (the boss is stubborn and likely will refuse to change the way they do things off his own back). everybody in the workplace seems to just accept this and not even consider the health and safety issues with it. in the unlikely case somebody was to have, for example, hepatitis, it can live on metal for days. this could be transmitted within the workplace. i don’t find this risk acceptable especially for a minimum wage job. am i overreacting?