MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Upon my arrival at work last night, I was told that we (the staff) are no longer allowed to store our bicycles in the boiler room... instead, we're expected to keep them outside the store, locked to the Sheffield stands provided for customers.
This made my blood boil because my 7 minute commute has become a 35 minute walk... there's no way i'm going to lock my pride & joy to a Sheffield stand in a dark corner of the car park; an area not covered by CCTV in a car park that's a thoroughfare.
I have a very chunky chain and lock... but as we all know, even the chunkiest chain doesn't stand up to the average bolt cropper and I reckon a Sheffield stand could be hack-sawed through in around a minute. I don't take my lock to work so last night it was stored in the boiler room, but I was told next time to bring my lock and leave the bike outside between 6pm and midnight (or later depending on when we finish).
Apparently the Regional manager visited and they didn't like seeing staff bicycles stored in the boiler room... I get that the boiler room isn't ideal, the clutter of three or four bikes can be annoying and some folk don't park their bikes very sensibly, but they're not obstructing a fire escape and don't cause any H&S issues (providing they're parked in a sensible position).
I've asked my area manager for the regional manager's email address because I need to explain why the Sheffield stands outside the store aren't secure, especially in the hours of darkness when the store is closed. But rather than just ask for the boiler room back... i need to word my email in a way that states what secure storage is, and hints that the boiler room is the only secure place for staff to store our bikes until something better is provided. There's been talk of a secure cage being built, but that was mentioned over two years ago and nothing's happened yet (and it won't happen in the near future either).
Points against the Sheffield stands:
Another point i'd like to make is that the company offers the cycle to work scheme and promotes it as a 'great employee benefit'. But without secure bike storage at work, I feel that I cannot use my bike for the purpose it was intended for, which is cycling to work.
Anyone successfully argued with their employer for secure bike parking?
This made my blood boil because my 7 minute commute has become a 35 minute walk... there's no way i'm going to lock my pride & joy to a Sheffield stand in a dark corner of the car park; an area not covered by CCTV in a car park that's a thoroughfare.
I have a very chunky chain and lock... but as we all know, even the chunkiest chain doesn't stand up to the average bolt cropper and I reckon a Sheffield stand could be hack-sawed through in around a minute. I don't take my lock to work so last night it was stored in the boiler room, but I was told next time to bring my lock and leave the bike outside between 6pm and midnight (or later depending on when we finish).
Apparently the Regional manager visited and they didn't like seeing staff bicycles stored in the boiler room... I get that the boiler room isn't ideal, the clutter of three or four bikes can be annoying and some folk don't park their bikes very sensibly, but they're not obstructing a fire escape and don't cause any H&S issues (providing they're parked in a sensible position).
I've asked my area manager for the regional manager's email address because I need to explain why the Sheffield stands outside the store aren't secure, especially in the hours of darkness when the store is closed. But rather than just ask for the boiler room back... i need to word my email in a way that states what secure storage is, and hints that the boiler room is the only secure place for staff to store our bikes until something better is provided. There's been talk of a secure cage being built, but that was mentioned over two years ago and nothing's happened yet (and it won't happen in the near future either).
Points against the Sheffield stands:
- No CCTV coverage
- Customer's bikes have been stolen in the past when the store is open and car park is busy.
- Inadequate (no) lighting in that area after sundown
- The car park is a thoroughfare and used by pedestrians at all hours, our bikes would be noticed by would be thieves or vandals who, when the store is closed, would have plenty of time in that gloomy corner to either steal or damage our bikes
- Even the most secure bicycle lock can be breached in seconds with a decent pair of bolt croppers.
- The steel used in the manufacture of the Sheffield stands is less than a millimetre thick* and could be hacked through in minutes.
- There's three Sheffield stands which means six bikes can be locked at any one time. By making the staff take up three or four of these spaces all day, everyday would reduce the number of available parking spaces for our customers when the store is trading.
Another point i'd like to make is that the company offers the cycle to work scheme and promotes it as a 'great employee benefit'. But without secure bike storage at work, I feel that I cannot use my bike for the purpose it was intended for, which is cycling to work.
Anyone successfully argued with their employer for secure bike parking?
