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pharmaciststeve's blog
Inadequate bathroom breaks
9 Comments
29 CFR 1910.141
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owares.do_search
I read/hear a lot of Pharmacists working for corporate pharmacy complain about not getting time to go the restroom.
According the information that I have been told .. it doesn't make any difference if an employee is hourly or salaried.. if they have a supervisor who controls their work time.. then the employee is covered under the OSHA statue.
What's worse - for the employer - if the supervisor is made aware of this violation - like putting a copy of the statue on their desk .. and continues to be restrictive about bathroom breaks... the fine that OSHA will impose will be TEN FOLD of what it would otherwise be... for KNOWINGLY continue to violate the statue.
Comments
Location: Hoosick Falls, NY
Posts: 3
Nobody has the right to tell another person if/when they can relieve themselves; this applies whether the individual in question is a health care professional, a first grader, or a cahsier at McDonald's. When I feel the urge to go, I GO. If a patient is offended by the fact that my physical needs caused them to wait two more minutes, they are more than welcome to seek pharmacy services elsewhere. I have yet to have a patient chastise/question me in regards to a bathroom break. Plain and simple, it is our right as a human being to go when we have to; it's also a matter of health.
Location: city,
Posts: 25
I have worked up to 13 hour shifts and although I usually have a slow moment to catch my breath and even sit down and eat something it is usually a short break and I'm always rushing to get back to work. I think the only real effective way for a break to actually occur is if the pharmacy actually closes and locks up. Because honestly, right now even if I stop and take a break for myself, I have work continue to pile up while I'm on break and then guess who is stuck being behind and must catch up, that's right it's me! If the pharmacy remains open then the prescriptions just get backed up and I am only hurting myself by trying to take a break. It is sad really that working conditions have gotten so bad. I feel like I should have a big S on my chest sometimes because I think I'm expected to be Superman!
Location: New Albany, IN
Posts: 181
The question is ... how far where you behind before you took your break? Does your tech(s) take breaks? If they are entitled to a 15 minute break .. do they come back early - or skip their break - because the pharmacy is behind?
Call a doc's office and ask to speak to the doc - he/she may call you back at the end of the day... try to talk to someone at the office during their "lunch hour" - lots of luck... If you call a doc's office and want to request a refill - you either fax it in or leave it on a recorder .. some offices tell you up front - 48 hrs to turn a refill request around... patient don't have enough meds to last that long... they don't seem to care .. why do we ??? ... I suspect that the doc's office using this to "train" their patients as to what is expected - FROM THE PATIENT... yet we encourage the patients not to be responsible... we just "loan" them a few doses... so that they don't have to be inconvenienced.
The insurance company refuses a refill .. pt has got a new drug card .. and doesn't have it... and on and on ... and we take all the time necessary to compensate for their laziness/stupidity
Maybe if we handed the patient the phone .. or told them to go home and call their insurance company to get this issue straightened out... maybe we would have more time for a couple of necessary breaks and not always be trying to see if there is a counter under all that clutter.
IMO... individually and collectively we have allowed the general public to tell us what is expected... The general public only cares about safety .. when we make a mistake... then we should have taken our time and been more pro-active about error prevention!
We tell them it will be 15 minutes.. when we know good and well it will be at least one hour... so we make them mad.. by lying to them.. IF we suspect that it is going to be one hour... shouldn't we tell them that it 1.5 hrs .. give us a little wiggle room for the unexpected.
Personally, I would rather get their meds ready 30 minutes quicker than I thought than 30 minutes more than I told them.
If most of your competitors take a 30 minute lunch .. if you tell the pts that your Rxs will not be ready during the same time frame ... where are they going to go ?
Location: clackamas, OR
Posts: 830
A former DM said to me :" As part of management, the company is not required to give RPHs a 30 minute lunch break." I was furious and soon after, I left that company. That company have RPhs work 12 hour-shift with no breaks. That company is still in operation and using the same work schedule. Are there any truth to what my former DM said?
Location: New Albany, IN
Posts: 181
According to OSHA... if a company/supervisor "controls" a salaried employee's time then - in regards to adequate bathroom breaks - the employee's rights come under OSHA rules/regulations and the company is obligated to comply or risk fines.
IMO, most companies consider it more important not to have a single "unhappy" customer.. even if the customer's expectations are unrealistic than to have a unhappy employee.
When I look back on some of the things that I capitulated to when I was a student/newly minted RPh... I must not have had a backbone or "a pair" at that point in time. I am sure that I was under the "influence" of what was good for my store and the company. I now know that that type of goodwill, with the large companies, has a half-life of about 8-12 hrs.. within a few days .. it has all but vanished !
Any time I meet a person that has retired from a large company after 30-40 years with the same company... the only thing that I conclude is that here is a person who never said NO or asked WHY ! Irregardless of what was asked of them.
We all come out of college well informed about all the DEA/STATE/FED pharmacy laws/regulations BUT .. even our state/national associations never help us to become informed on our rights under the state/fed labor laws. Of course, that could be, in part, because these same large pharmacy employers provide a source of revenue to these associations.
Location: clackamas, OR
Posts: 830
Thank you very much!
Location: New Albany, IN
Posts: 181
So you put the "WANTS" of the store's customers ahead of your health NEEDS ?
Location: clackamas, OR
Posts: 830
I work an 8 hour-shift; with a 30 minute lunch break. I use the bathroom prior to my shift; during my shift if I need to go to the bathroom I go. At times it gets busy if I can wait till lunch break, I go then. But if I cannot wait, I tell my techs to give me a minute and I go use the bathroom.
Location: clackamas, OR
Posts: 830
My company allows us to go to bathroom as many times as we want; however, we get so busy that it becomes difficult to go as many times as we realy need to go.