TLDR: I work at an outdoor pool that has had a wasp problem, the wasps have been slowly getting worse. Currently it’s to the point where they buzz around my head nearly every 3 minutes. Is this a workplace hazard, can I refuse to work over this?
I work at an outdoor pool. Since about the middle of the summer wasps have taken up residence somewhere in the area and have chosen the pool as the cafeteria. At first it wasn’t that bad, the wasps didn’t bug me-they were around eating the debris on the side of the pool and in the grass.
About 3 weeks ago the wasps suddenly got worse, my co-worker got stung and they would start buzzing around my head and coming up to me and inspecting me. I told my boss who had 2 wasp traps put up. It was okay for a bit until yesterday, it was sunny after a few days of rain. The wasps would come up to me very frequently to fly around me every 5-10 minutes. Today it was much worse, they would come up and buzz around my head nearly every 3 minutes. I’m terrified of bugs, for the past while I’ve been tolerating the wasps but today I just couldn’t handle it. There were multiple points where I was considering going to the bathroom to calm myself down so I wouldn’t start crying infront of a bunch of people. I’m scheduled to work in the afternoon tomorrow and possibly the day after, I don’t think I can do it. I’ve asked all my co-workers to cover my shifts and they’re all busy.
A friend is telling me the wasps are a workplace hazard and I can refuse to work. I’m worried this might be a sort of grey area or “it’s not bad enough yet” for me to refuse it, so is it true that I can refuse to work over a wasp problem?