Throwaway because I have anxiety.
I work at a fast food place with fryers, been working there for a couple months. I usually work late shifts and am typically in charge of filtering the fryers after a certain point in the night. Usually the process results in a little bit of oil left on the floor, which is, of course, a slipping hazard. As soon as I put the filtering machine away I always make sure to clean up the oil, and will always warn my coworkers about there being oil so they are aware and don’t step in it.
Last night I had finished up and was going to get the cleaning supplies when I stopped my coworker, a new hire, and told her to be careful of the oil. She looked at me, looked down at the oil where I had gestured, and says "Oh, there’s oil on the floor? Okay. I just need to grab the broom." I tell her I’m about to clean it up, and not to step in it or sweep through it, but she’s already talking to another coworker. I go to the back of the store to get the mop and degreaser, turn around, and she is sweeping through the oil, still talking to the coworker.
I call out to her to tell her to stop, but I guess she didn’t hear me? So I called out again, and got closer, but she moved and started sweeping a different spot. At that point I was a bit frantic, because I didn’t want her spreading the oil, and called out to her again. She stops, turns around. and exasperatedly says "What is the problem boo?" which I didn’t appreciate, but I explained what was going on and how she needed to clean the broom now so she didn’t spread oil everywhere and she looked at me like I was stupid. At that point the coworker she had been talking with and another coworker had also stopped to look at me.
I got her to clean the broom and got the oil cleaned up, mopped the spot and where she had swept, but she was kind of rude to me for the rest of her shift. I admit I may have been a bit forceful, but I’m not good at confrontation and I was worried she’d spread the grease and cause someone to slip. I also worry that I overstepped by telling her to stop and clean the broom, that maybe I should have gotten one of the managers involved instead to give her direction? Since she’s brand new and I’m also relatively new.
I also don’t want her to think I was being mean or harping on her. I don’t want her to be cold towards me during shifts going forward because of this – we had been joking around before that, but this was only the second time we’ve worked together.
At the same time, I feel like this whole thing was avoidable. She acknowledged the presence of the oil before sweeping, but I guess maybe she didn’t know or didn’t think about it? She is a high schooler/teenager.
I don’t know, I feel bad and like I stepped out of line, but I was also concerned about safety. Am I the asshole for telling her to not sweep oil, and then telling her to stop when she kept using the broom after sweeping oil? Or was I overreacting? Should I make my manager aware of what happened?
NTA, but you must have a manual or something on how to deal with oil spills. And is this person still being trained? If cleaning processes aren’t being followed, speak to your manager.
I have no idea, honestly. I know that one of the first trainings I did was on safety and cleaning, however I don’t know how much of it she has completed. I assume she is still in training – I checked the schedule and this was her 6th shift, and I know I was still doing training on my 6th shift.
I think the funny, or rather concerning, thing is I’m not supposed to do any cleaning in my role – that’s the role she was hired for. I was trained on how to do cleaning, that including the fryer area, so I’ve just gotten used to doing it myself since we are supposed to clean up slipping hazards immediately. But usually, if the fryers are busy or if someone in her role is available, my shift leads have had me pass the job on to that person.
Who df sweeps oil
honestly, my exact reaction afterwards. but the way she reacted and the way no one else stopped her made me feel like I was in a parallel universe where oil isn’t a slipping hazard and I was just overreacting!
Teenagers at their first job
Hmm yeah might’ve been nicer if you’d stopped her / said not to worry because you’ll look after it *before* she started sweeping. Also your tone when asking her to do things would’ve made a significant difference – which we can’t tell from just reading the post. I know I’ve certainly not enjoyed being harshly critiqued or demanded of things at work.
Because of her reaction, it seems an apology / explanation might be helpful, to set the tone that *you’re* not holding anything against anybody, and hopefully with friendliness at future shifts this can be glossed over.
You’re not wrong for wanting proper practice to happen, and I don’t quite understand why she’d sweep oil, but she probably had an extended internal thought process and reasoning and was doing what she thought was best just like you were.
A bit of extra kindness always comes in handy.
That’s the thing, I did tell her not to sweep the oil when she said she was going to sweep, but I don’t think she heard me because she started talking to someone else and kind of just blew right past me. Like, that is part of the reason I’m frustrated. I DID warn her about the oil, I DID say not to sweep it up and that I needed to mop first, and yet she STILL swept through it!
I understand the necessity of kindness – I’m anxious and neurodivergent, trust me I would cry if I was in her shoes. but the thing is, it felt like she either didn’t listen or didn’t want to listen to me. I wasn’t mean when I told her to watch out for the oil, and when I explained I was in the process of cleaning it up. IF I was in her shoes, I would be mortified and embarrassed if I did something like that, even if I felt like my thought process was reasonable, but she acted exasperated, like I was bothering her. she didn’t take accountability or apologize or anything.
I should also clarify that I did check my tone. I did apologize and explain where I was coming from when I was getting her to clean the broom. I was frazzled af but I’m not purposefully unkind, and I’ve been there – I’ve made dumb mistakes at work, and I told her it was okay. but again, it was like I was just inconveniencing her because I felt like it. she didn’t seem to be taking it seriously at all, even when I was being kind about it.
Ah then yeah sounds like a typical entitled teenager unfortunately
I hope she grows nicer!
NTA, next time, get a manager involved.