Need advice...

[Kittyhawk]

Im stuck...

An old injury from a bin I had in on a Northland ride back in 06 has flared up...

Last week I was off work sick with a niggly shoulder pain and a head cold gave my manager a med cert saying that I'd return to work 3rd of March. When I phoned in sick wednesday the grocery manger said "you better come to work tomorrow I want to go have lunch with my daughter before I fly out next week" and here I was in bed crook and with no voice.

Stocktake for the store was on 2nd march and this notice had been advertised in the staffroom for about 3 weeks which was kicking off at 1900 and going till around 2200.

Last Thursday I was told by my grocery manager that I had to attend stocktake, and that its compulsory for all staff to attend. Ok I thought thats alright as a couple of hours helping out at work wont really bother me. But he then said on Thursday "you have to start at 10am Sunday morning" I said no I will be starting at 7pm as stated from the notice the store owner had put up in the staffroom, but no this was not acceptable.

He also threatend and bullied other staff on Thursday that they had to be there Sunday 10am.

I thought the legal requirement/law for a change of hours is minimum 7 days notice??

So I turn up at 10am knowing I had 12 hours of work ahead of me, he paired me up with another lady who is in her late 30's early 40's and told me that I was counting stock...At this point I had no objections but he made it very clear I was to be counting..not sure why. He made us start off doing the petfood isle, and by the end of that I was feeling like I was on a downward spiral with my head cold, then after that he said we had to do the drinks isle. It wasnt the stock on the shelves it was the stuff above shelves stored in the boxes...most boxes would be easily over 12 kgs and doing this for most fo the day killed me...

He gave the guys the easy isles, confectionery etc which are piddly little boxes of stock to count. Which looking back now I dont find that very fair at all giving us the heavy work. Of all isles in a supermarket!

As a result my right shoulder is pretty much farked, I have pain down my arm it hurts to move my wrist etc, been to the doctor and she has made me get bandaged and put it in a sling...also she said I have to go to a shoulder specialist to find out whats wrong.

The original injury when I binned back in 06 was put down as a shoulder sprain, and I havent really had any major issues. Had an injection done to it last October and it worked wonders, never had a problem since, until after stocktake.

Friends have suggested to complain to the store owner, as the grocery manager is overseas for 6 weeks, or take it up with employment disuptes etc..but I dont really know what action to take.

Any suggestions?

[hellnback]

Employment Relations Service

I'd be making a complaint for sure! Also take it up with the OSH person/HR.

[vifferman]

As a result my right shoulder is pretty much farked, I have pain down my arm it hurts to move my wrist etc, been to the doctor and she has made me get bandaged and put it in a sling...also she said I have to go to a shoulder specialist to find out whats wrong.

The original injury when I binned back in 06 was put down as a shoulder sprain, and I havent really had any major issues. Had an injection done to it last October and it worked wonders, never had a problem since, until after stocktake.

I'm not a doctor or physio, but it sounds to me like either a rotator cuff injury (did my right one in when I had a fall, then lowsided onto it when it wasn't quite healed, and now it is arthritic), and/or nerve damage in your shoulder or neck.

[Ixion]

OK. Your first action is to lodge a claim with ACC. Like, now. Today. Right now. Immediately. Post hast. Pronto. As in, now, soonest. Make sure that it spells out in really really really clear simple words that your shoulder is stuffed because of work. And that the previous (preexisting) condition was also an ACC injury (I'm assuming that you had an ACC claim for the old bin injury). make it really simple, ACC staff are mentally challenged. They're not stupid, just fools.

Then either get onto your union , if you have one (everybody should !), or, failing that, the employment relations service mentioned below.

You have suffered injury in the course of your employment. So you will be off on ACC for a while (I'm assuming you can't do other work where the shoulder is not a problem ?). BTW you can't easily be sacked while on ACC for a work injury - it is possible but your boss, if he wants to do it, had better REALLY know what he's doing.

Did I mention to get that claim in right now. And make it very simple words ?

[Kickaha]

I'm not a doctor or physio, but it sounds to me like either a rotator cuff injury (did my right one in when I had a fall, then lowsided onto it when it wasn't quite healed, and now it is arthritic), and/or nerve damage in your shoulder or neck.

I was diagnosed with a rotator cuff injury, but after three months of physio it got no better and I ended up having a MRI and now there is surgery in the very near future

Whatever you do, don't wait do it now, and get it sorted, it's not worth putting up with the aggravation the injuries cause, errrrrrrr unless of course you have important stuff like racing and that going on

[Edbear]

What they said!

[Usarka]

And wot 'e said.

[vifferman]

I was diagnosed with a had a rotator cuff injury, but after three months of physio it got no better

Yeaahhhhhh....
Mine got worse, and I think the physio is what was responsible for developing aaAAARRRRRthritis. I reckon in hindsight that leaving it alone would've been more beneficial. Of course, this is anecdotal, and just my opinion, but I believe it just needed to be given time to heal, whilst being subject to no further aggravation. Instead it got hammered with deep tissue massage, ultrasound, manipulation, stretching, etc., and I got hammered with pain, and the taxpayer got hammered with hundreds and hundreds of dollars in bills.

Doctors have the old "Hippocratic Oath", which states as part of one of the basic tenets: "I will try to avoid doing harm". Unfortunately, a lot of physio seems to have as a basic tenet: "To try to fix what is damaged by inflicting as much torture as possible". Several physios I have spoken to have admitted that there is no scientific basis for almost all of their treatments, and that any evidence of efficacy is entirely anecdotal.
It's very hard, of course. To 'prove' that a treatment worked,m you'd have to have either multiple sets of identical twins with identical injuries, and treat each injury differently, or have patients with say both rotator cuffs injured EXACTLY the same, and treat each one differently.
Quite impossible, of course.

I think if ACC were to look very, very hard at the effectiveness of physio for sporting and other injuries, the country could save hundreds of millions in ACC levies.

[scrivy]

I was diagnosed with a had a rotator cuff injury

Come on Kick...... you've been diagnosed with more than that.......

[Usarka]

Mine got worse, and I think the physio is what was responsible for developing aaAAARRRRRthritis. I reckon in hindsight that leaving it alone would've been more beneficial.

Best physios i have seen have not even touched my injuries but focused on core stability, posture, etc etc....

thanks madeliene @ olympic