dangerous goods

[doug3030]

We had a quick detour to Woolworths on the way home to pick up a few small items:

A 4-pack of 500ml V-drinks
Milk
A single place set of plastic cutlery
Hair dye
dishwasher tablets
bananas

We left through the self service checkout. When I tried to pay for the items a warning message came up on the screen:
"Assistance required - proof of age may be requested."

The assistant came over and did her thing and told me it was all good to go. Of course I was wondering why this happened. What item in our shopping required proof of age?

Was it the dishwasher tablets or the hair dye because of the caustic chemicals? Or maybe the V-drink, having heard stories of adolescents making themselves sick or even dying from caffeine overdoses? :?

Well no. It was the plastic cutlery set! :oo: Seriously, what damage can you do with plastic cutlery that you could not do worse with a stick you can pick up near any tree? I bet I could inflict more damage with the bananas and milk than I could with a set of plastic cutlery. The nanny state strikes again.

Cheers

Doug

[bryn23]

mmm so plastic knives are classed as 18 plus now.. this is just stupid... when is this crap going to end.


Hair Dye??? Just for Men:D

[Kuffy]

the plastic knives are probably poorly categorised with other actual kitchen knives. The cops probably got stuck into the local merchants asking them not to sell knives to minors. Because wth does a minor need with a knife anyway which he can't ask his mother or father to borrow one of the family kitchen knives.

[bueller]

Yeah Kuffy is spot on. I'm a software dev and I can almost guarantee this was just a result of lazy programming.

[doug3030]

Yeah Kuffy is spot on. I'm a software dev and I can almost guarantee this was just a result of lazy programming.

But, I feel the question remains as to whether the program (legislation) is poorly written, or whether the operating system (the supermarket management) are interpreting the "program" in the way it was intended. Maybe there is a sub-routine in the operating system which calls for being over cautious at all times lest they get into trouble.

Cheers

Doug

[ian]

to be a cynic

you are responsible.
you're eligible to vote.
Pollies want your vote.
Law and Order (or "Lauren Order") is a too easy message to sell.
knives in the hands of juveniles are dangerous weapons -- if you lived in Sydney, the Daily Telegraph would provide near daily proof of this.
kerching! The Pollies will demonstrate to you that they on the ball and looking out for your safety -- so they "act" by restricting juvenile access to knives (they've done the same with cans of spray paint)
cutlery sets (even plastic ones) contains knives.

join the dots

[Grumpy John]

When working for Bunnies we were often visited by "secret shoppers" sent in by the local council to check on the sale of "restricted" items.
One day a particularly attractive lady purchased 2 cans of spray paint. She had to get someone from the paint department to unlock the cage before she could proceed to the register. Turns out the lady was 17 yrs 10 months old and dressed and made up to look 25. the lass on the register was fined $300 by the council. Bunnies probably copped a fine too, but we didn't hear anything about it. To their credit Bunnies paid the girl's fine.

[doug3030]

One day a particularly attractive lady purchased 2 cans of spray paint. She had to get someone from the paint department to unlock the cage before she could proceed to the register. Turns out the lady was 17 yrs 10 months old and dressed and made up to look 25.

Grumpy John, can you remember what the procedures Bunnings had in place for the restricted items. Having the restricted items under lock and key is a good idea, but should the person who unlocked the cage have been responsible to check the eligibility of the customer before handing over restricted goods?

The checkout operator actually processed the transaction so I guess that legally she was responsible and therefore able to be fined but are the staff trained for this or is the store relying on the person with the key to make the call and once they have the goods the checkout staff assume that they have been checked? I think there is a strong possibility that the secret shopper was exploiting a known loophole in the system which has hopefully been fixed.

Either way it is good that Bunnings paid the fine.

Cheers

Doug

[Gabriel]

Sounds similar to when I was working in hospitality (yep, I used to be nice to people for a living).

Waiters/waitresses were allowed to take alcoholic orders, and if I remember correctly, they could serve them, but not take money at the register for them as it was deemed at the point of sale the person had to be over 18.

My memory could be vague in this but I'm pretty sure that's how it went.

[Grumpy John]

Grumpy John, can you remember what the procedures Bunnings had in place for the restricted items. Having the restricted items under lock and key is a good idea, but should the person who unlocked the cage have been responsible to check the eligibility of the customer before handing over restricted goods?

The checkout operator actually processed the transaction so I guess that legally she was responsible and therefore able to be fined but are the staff trained for this or is the store relying on the person with the key to make the call and once they have the goods the checkout staff assume that they have been checked? I think there is a strong possibility that the secret shopper was exploiting a known loophole in the system which has hopefully been fixed.

Either way it is good that Bunnings paid the fine.

Cheers

Doug

Doug, spray paints are locked in a cage as per council requirements (I'm guessing this could change from council to council), knives on the other hand are on open display.
Kuffy has made a good point re classification of items, whoever wrote the software was pretty lazy and used broad terms to identify restricted items. Stanley KNIVES are restricted, but replacement BLADES aren't. From memory scissors are restricted, but pruning shears aren't.
When scanning a restricted item a warning appears on the screen which the operator must acknowledge before proceeding. Young tradies get really stroppy when they are asked to provide ID when buying Stanley knives.
When I did my register training these laws weren't in effect, but I'm guessing it is all covered now. I know there was a lot of activity on the registers after the lass got fined.
Spray paints are a cut and dried situation, it's either spray paint or it isn't. Cutting implements are another thing altogether, for example, if a Stanley knife is included in part of a combo kit most likely it won't get flagged.
A better way to approach the situation is to include a classification in the barcode then it wouldn't matter what the description was all restricted items would be flagged at point of sale.
And yes the sales person who gave the customer the cans could/should have been more vigilant. There is a sign on the cage advising that sale of spray cans to under 18's is illegal.

[Grumpy John]

Sounds similar to when I was working in hospitality (yep, I used to be nice to people for a living).

Waiters/waitresses were allowed to take alcoholic orders, and if I remember correctly, they could serve them, but not take money at the register for them as it was deemed at the point of sale the person had to be over 18.

My memory could be vague in this but I'm pretty sure that's how it went.

I don't think it is an over 18 condition, I think that they must do a responsible service of alcohol (http://www.vcglr.vic.gov.au/home/liquor/education+and+training/responsible+service+of+alcohol/) course. Same thing at my local supermarket, anyone can show you the wines and beers, but only people who have done the course can actually sell it to you.

[rustynail]

I think you will find the item of concern was the dishwasher tablets.
To medicate a dishwasher would take some pretty potent stuff.

[doug3030]

I think you will find the item of concern was the dishwasher tablets.
To medicate a dishwasher would take some pretty potent stuff.

No, the checkout attendant confirmed it was the plastic cutlery.

[rustynail]

My daughter works with troubled young people. Plastic knives are quite capable of causing serious injury. One young lass cut her carotid artery with one.

[ian]

I think you will find the item of concern was the dishwasher tablets.
To medicate a dishwasher would take some pretty potent stuff.


No, the checkout attendant confirmed it was the plastic cutlery.I agree with Rusty, it must have been the "medicine" in the dishwasher's tablets

[bsrlee]

In NSW eating knives are specifically exempted under the relevant act, as are knives carried for religious purposes (one dozy constable got a good kick up the butt for harassing a Sikh taxi driver) and historical re-enactors. I believe Victoria decided they had to go 'one better' than NSW and included eating knives in the naughty list.

Again in NSW, only coloured paints are restricted, if you look around the corner from the paint cage you will find bays of clear spray finishes with unrestricted access.

[Bushmiller]

Spray paints in the Toowoomba Bunnings are on open shelves. It looks as though state legislation varies considerably.

I often ask at cash registers if they would like to see proof of age for restricted items, but I haven't had any takers: Pretty slack to my mind :rolleyes: .

Regards
Paul

[BobL]

Even in Bunnings in WA they seem to go by different rules for spray paints.

In most bunnings all the rust resistant spray paints like Epoxies (some of which are quite brightly coloured) are on open shelves but on one local branch even those are in cages.