I know there are better display options...

[Dreamstalker]

We have assorted cooking greeblies (tools, towels, etc) hung up on pegs in one of the aisles at about the 7-foot level. Most of the stuff is light and easy to reach, but if it lands wrong could still cause some injury and I dread having to reshelve anything there. Most of the pegs are overflowing because someone doesn't want ANY backstock and some items are too heavy for the pegs at that height.

And then we have....skillets, pans and cast iron mini-pots, on the same flimsy pegs, positioned in such a way that if someone is browsing the bagged coffee, said cookware is generally right above their head. Occasionally when I'm pulling tags, any movement on the shelf will cause the section of pegboard to wobble and the hooks are already leaning downward; partly because of the pegboard and weight, partly because there is a gradual slope in the floor toward the center of the building. It's inconvenient for customers too, as it's not easy to get at the pots without bringing something else down.

It doesn't seem like there's any other place to put the pans, even though a shelf would be a better idea. I've narrowly missed being hit by that crap more than once (and everyone on the night crew has gotten at least one black eye). Tempted to buy a hardhat and wear it, but I'd probably get yelled at.

[wolfie]

Tip off (anonymously, of course) the local ambulance-chaser that he might want to buy bagged coffee at your store, and explain why. Things WILL change after a customer gets hit by falling merchandise, and sues.

Go ahead and get the hard hat. Boss would be an absolute moron to take any action against you for wearing it, because if he wrote you up for it, in addition to asking the local branch of whatever agency enforces OHSA for advice, you'd use the "employee comments" section of the form to detail WHY you were wearing a hard hat. This would be a date-marked document showing that the store knew about the hazard - something that would be absolute gold to a customer who was injured by falling product after that date. Remember that any lawyer worth the paper their degree is written on would subpeona "All documentation the company possesses regarding the hazard which injured my client". If they turn over the write-up, they're basically admitting fault. If they don't, and it's found out later that it exists, they're in BIG trouble for failing to turn it over.

[bhskittykatt]

Daughter of a colleague recently got hurt when she was asked to pull a 200lb piece of equipment off an upper shelf which should have never been placed on an upper shelf! She didn't realize how heavy it was until it was too late and it fell and went crashing into her shoulder, so now she has lots of pain and restricted motion until it can heal.