It shouldn’t! An over-stacked roll cage is an unacceptable health and safety risk. Roll cages should be loaded in accordance with your company’s safe work practice guidelines.

If you’re given a roll cage like this, you should report it to management. If you do not report the problem – nothing will change. No one should be disciplined for following the company directive, regardless of what the floor manager says.

We get many members call our office about the workplace expectations for filling shelves. Members are told by management that they have a certain time limit to complete a task or fill a set number of boxes. This is called carton counting and its not acceptable. Members just need to work to the best of their ability and do the job correctly as per the training they have received.

Working too fast under pressure can create further health and safety hazards and taking short cuts such as leaving rubbish in shelves or not following established procedures leave you open to disciplinary action.

Your employer is responsible for providing you a safe work environment and this means rostering enough workers and time to do the job you’re assigned. If this doesn’t happen, it’s not your responsibility to make up the shortfall.

You should not be staying late, skipping breaks or ignoring safety precautions just to get the job done – and you shouldn’t ignore it if others do it either.