I just have to vent this out. I work at a Michaels store as a cashier. I used to be a supervisor at the same store, but stepped down due to health issues and a busy schedule with starting my own business and doing freelance work.
When I returned as a cashier, I noticed a weird smell toward the front of the store. Sort of like a mold smell. One of the other employees works with resin and said it smelled like resin, which there were bottles of it locked in a cage near the front. He remembered the previous manager left a leaking bottle of resin in the cage about a year earlier. I mentioned this to the new manager a few times, and eventually was able to convince someone to remove the leaking containers. The smell continued and I brought it up a few more times over months. I was told that there was probably mold in the wall and there was nothing they could do. The building had a leaky roof for as long as I've lived in the area (11 years now), making mold a real possibility. I have asthma, so of course this was a major concern for me.
This past Tuesday, I finally had enough. I kept getting headaches and would feel nauseous if I was anywhere near the area, including if I was on the register farthest from the entrance/exit doors. I kept getting sick and my throat would feel itchy on days when the smell was stronger. After a headache so bad that I felt like my head would implode, I filed a complaint with OSHA. Even though I did so anonymously, my boss knew it was me because of how many times I brought up the issue. I admitted to it when he asked, standing by my actions.
Coincidentally, the employee who thought it was resin had to move inventory around in the cage. As he worked, the smell got worse. He discovered the shelves were coated with resin, and so he removed them as it is toxic if you are exposed to it for long periods. Cashiers were unknowingly breathing this in for over a year without management doing a thing about it; not even investigating if it was resin or mold.
The very next day, I was told to clean the areas near the locked cage. The cage still smelled strongly of resin, so of course I was breathing it in again, only it was not as bad since the shelves coated with it were removed. Supposedly, the district manager said the entire area had to be scrubbed because of the complaint. I was told another cashier had started it, but I don't know if it was true. As far as I could tell, I was the only one cleaning: the one who was already having adverse health effects because of this toxic substance and the one who filed a complaint. Sure seems like retaliation to me.
I am still debating complaining to human resources or filing another complaint with OSHA. I used to be a manager at a Joann and took this kind of stuff very seriously, so it pisses me off when managers with ire resources than I had do nothing about employee safety. I had already taken off the next three weeks from Michaels, so I have some time to cool off before I return. I am torn between just getting another job and leaving, or staying to make sure employees are safe. One of them was thankful that I had an answer for why she was always congested at work and that I actually filed a formal complaint with OSHA to protect us.
A very frustrating and rage-inducing situation.
TLDR: don't work at Michaels because they don't take employee health and safety seriously.