Employee Caught Walking On A Moving Belt

Kraetos

Preload, Loader
Couple days ago we had a rough and unusual day at work. A few delays caused serious back up on our belt and for the first time in at least a year, we needed at least 5 additional employees to help us get a foothold on the mess.

A part-time preloader who was one of the additional employees helping a loader, chose to walk across a clearly moving belt to get into one of the cars. He did this because the walkway was blocked high by mountain of packages do to all the backup at the end of the belt. My PT supervisor didn't see this, but by a rare case the head honcho of the preload the top manager second only to the center manager saw this, immediately yelled at my PT Supervisor and pointed to the employee walking across the moving belt.

The PT Supervisor quickly called out the preloader's name and said no walking on the belt, the preloader quickly yelled back I had no choice. That was the end of the incident. No one further talked to the employee. This employee is non-union and has been at UPS for about 7 months.

Is UPS that desperate for employees that an act that used to immediately result in termination goes unpunished now?
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
Yes and no.

There are some managers that actually value employees, and will work with them to make them better at what they do. They also understand that the regular walkway was blocked due to what ever reasons there might have been. They could have fired him on the spot.

Now, if all they did was to do some yelling and all was well, then they also did not do their jobs either. As a member of management, they have a responsibility to stamp out unsafe work situations when ever they see it. At the very least, there needed to be some sort of verbal follow up on the matter.

The fact that the person is union or not really has no bearing on the conversation. The part timer did something really stupid and unsafe. Management needs to follow up on it.

d
 

deathracer

Well-Known Member
i love walking on moving belts its great exercise and doubles as my walking machine lol j/k. i try no to walk on moving belts when supervisor or someone that cares is looking cause i hate hearing a speech about working safely, do i do it yes but only if i cant stop the belt and if i have no choice cause of stuff blocking my path. some supervisors look the other way and so do some employees that way they dont get in trouble also. i have never heard of anyone in my hub getting fired or in trouble for walking on a moving belt, doubt i ever will.
 

tworavens

JuniorMember for 24 Years
i love walking on moving belts its great exercise and doubles as my walking machine lol j/k. i try no to walk on moving belts when supervisor or someone that cares is looking cause i hate hearing a speech about working safely, do i do it yes but only if i cant stop the belt and if i have no choice cause of stuff blocking my path. some supervisors look the other way and so do some employees that way they dont get in trouble also. i have never heard of anyone in my hub getting fired or in trouble for walking on a moving belt, doubt i ever will.

I guess you have never heard of anyone being killed or maimed because of walking on a moving belt, either? One of my fellow p/t supes fell to his death from a moving belt. Don't do it.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
Walking on a moving belt is not a union vs management issue, its a safety issue. And part time sups are some of the worst offenders.

Its plain and very simple. If its moving, stay off. Period. No exceptions.

The only way to cross a moving belt is to cut it on, wait for it to stop, then cross, and restart the belt.

Anything else will get you unemployment or at the very least, a warning letter if the management team is doing its job.

d
 

bluehdmc

Well-Known Member
I guess some people like playing Russian Roulette. Maybe you get away with walking on a moving belt 99 times but that 100th time could hurt or kill you. In that case the company would probably try to fire you for working unsafely. Of course if your dead it won't matter.
 

ptloader

New Member
Had a full time supe walk on a moving belt during a safety audit on a friday. The head honcho saw it and fired him right there....He got rehired on Monday.
 

deathracer

Well-Known Member
I guess you have never heard of anyone being killed or maimed because of walking on a moving belt, either? One of my fellow p/t supes fell to his death from a moving belt. Don't do it.

i heard of an employee getting maimed saw the picture of his hand, i understand why its a safety issue.im not saying im right and its justified to walk on a moving belt but im going to have to do it sooner or later anyway depending on the circumstances.
 

Old International

Now driving a Sterling
I've seen what a belt does to an arm. No way on god's good green earth am I gonna step on a moving belt. I don't even like moving boxes on/off a moving belt.
 

deathracer

Well-Known Member
deathracer...Your name suits you.....but with your attitude you'll not win the race! :dead:
i know what you mean, i doubt i will ever be made a driver at UPS, im sure they will look at me and be like NO!. if someone ask me if i play by the safety rules i will tell them not all them honestly, the pace they try to make you work at UPS its no mystery why accidents happen. you will always have management work ppl like slaves expecting them to work safe at the sametime something has to give sooner or later either the work pace or an injury occurs its a sure bet.
 

Kraetos

Preload, Loader
The rules I break are, I throw packages when I'm getting behind, because it's impossible to catch all of them sometimes when the flow is coming down crazy, and it's easier to just toss them behind the truck, wait for the flow to slow down, then catch back up. If I don't throw them, the preloader at the end of the belt yells at me, and the PT supervisor makes me go get packages I missed. That's one rule I break, throwing packages. Second rule I break has to do with the first, while tossing I create mountains on my walkpath, with an impossible obstacle to pass by. So I block my walkpath until I can catch up. Third rule, since I'm at the front of the belt, I split the small sort totes and have to throw those because I can't stack them anywhere, so I throw them to get them out of my area.

This is common, but varies with intensity all depending on the flow. Sometimes you have to break the rules, either way your damned if you do, damned if you don't, catch-22 anyone?
 

deathracer

Well-Known Member
The rules I break are, I throw packages when I'm getting behind, because it's impossible to catch all of them sometimes when the flow is coming down crazy, and it's easier to just toss them behind the truck, wait for the flow to slow down, then catch back up. If I don't throw them, the preloader at the end of the belt yells at me, and the PT supervisor makes me go get packages I missed. That's one rule I break, throwing packages. Second rule I break has to do with the first, while tossing I create mountains on my walkpath, with an impossible obstacle to pass by. So I block my walkpath until I can catch up. Third rule, since I'm at the front of the belt, I split the small sort totes and have to throw those because I can't stack them anywhere, so I throw them to get them out of my area.

This is common, but varies with intensity all depending on the flow. Sometimes you have to break the rules, either way your damned if you do, damned if you don't, catch-22 anyone?
dont get me started on stacking packages, one time i had 2 sups tell me not to stack them, so i told them i either stack them or let them go wich= miss sort, they looked at me and told me to stop the belt then i looked at them and told them but you just told me 5 minutes ago to not stop the belt so???
they finally gave in and sent me some help. one sup did not even have the guts to tell me he called another sup to go for him(heard them talking over walkie talkie),
 

killamjl

Well-Known Member
Would jumping in a tote and riding the belt from start to finish be bad as well...... :shifty:

Not that anyone would do that......
 

JaxUPSHub

Well-Known Member
Yeah it doesn't matter if he pays union dues or not. He's still "in" the union, or gets the same treatment as long as he isn't in management.

Is that true? If so, why did I just hand in my application for membership to the Teamsters? I dont quite understand, I thought there was some benefits of being in the Union. If there are benefits, what are they? Thanks.
 

deathracer

Well-Known Member
Would jumping in a tote and riding the belt from start to finish be bad as well...... :shifty:

Not that anyone would do that......
i have always wanted to do that, or get in a box and ride to the sort and scare the hell out of the sorters by jumping out with a scary mask on, if a
supervisor is there then it would be worth getting disciplined for just to see the look on their face:surprised:.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
i have always wanted to do that, or get in a box and ride to the sort and scare the hell out of the sorters by jumping out with a scary mask on, if a
supervisor is there then it would be worth getting disciplined for just to see the look on their face:surprised:.

You both need to go to Six Flags and get this out of your system !!:smart:
 

705red

Browncafe Steward
Is that true? If so, why did I just hand in my application for membership to the Teamsters? I dont quite understand, I thought there was some benefits of being in the Union. If there are benefits, what are they? Thanks.

There are tons of benefots from joining the union. Get involved meet you stewards attend meetings, you get out of it what you put in to it.
 
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