Something REALLY terrible happend at work & I need advice :(.

[andyjee86]

I have been managing my anxiety really well recently thanks to paroxetine/counselling but today...

I broke a £50,000 laser scanner :|. I was operating it on my own and whilst setting up some other equipment it blew over in the wind and smashed on the concrete! I saw it falling and ran and dived to stop it, but just hurt myself in the process... It smashed up real bad.

I've told the people our company hire the gear from and I've been told we are responsible for insuring the equipment.

I've spoke to my boss, and I'm not convinced we're insured for such a high value instrument!

I've struggled with anxiety, mainly at work since I was 16... I'm now 26 and I was beginning to feel that my charisma, confidence and assertiveness was finally beginning to outweigh my anxiety symptoms which have been holding me back for so many years at work. I've finally settled in to a job that excites me, that I look forward to doing, and also feel appreciated and rewarded for doing (thanks to help from the GP that I should have got 10 years ago)... but now I've blown it...

I've made it clear that I'm a liability for the company.

I'm worried I'm either going to A. Lose my job. B. Have to repay all the money (somehow), or C. Revert back to my old ways of uncontrollable sweating and stuttering and not knowing who I am or why I'm acting this way...

Worst still, I'm worried I'm going to do all 3!



What should I do? What is going to happen to me? It's such a large amount of money I cannot afford!

Please help.

[insights]

but now I've blown it...

I've made it clear that I'm a liability for the company.

Okay, take a couple of deep breaths and calm down.

You are not a liability for the company. Accidents happen and your company should be insured for such eventualities. If it isn't then whoever is responsible should be concerned about his/her job, not you. It is not as if you set out to damage it. And please stop insisting it was your fault. From what you've written, it wasn't.

I'm worried I'm either going to A. Lose my job. B. Have to repay all the money (somehow), or C. Revert back to my old ways of uncontrollable sweating and stuttering and not knowing who I am or why I'm acting this way...

I'm pretty sure that UK labour laws are similar to ours so you would probably have a good grounds to sue for unlawful dismissal over A, and I doubt a judge would find in the companies favour if they tried to make you pay for the damage. C is very much up to you. I don't see that you have an grounds to beat yourself up like this. Accidents happen to everyone. They certainly have to me, and much more costly ones at that. It is your company's responsibility to protect itself from the consequences of those that happen in the course of conducting its business.

What should I do? What is going to happen to me? It's such a large amount of money I cannot afford!

Relax. I doubt anything will happen to you. It definitely shouldn't.

Ian

[andyjee86]

Hi Ian,

Sorry I took so long to reply to this. I just wanted to say thank you for your response and support.

Currently as it stands the equipment is being repaired in Switzerland, and our company is battling it out with the insurance company to determine if we were covered or not. Fortunately, my boss is very much on my side about the situation and when I raised concerns about losing my job, he said it wouldn't happen.

Sorry that I came on here all hot headed, but it helped me to get out my feelings and I really appreciated you getting back to me. Your points are sensible and valid, and I am confident that everything will be OK. It was awful though, I felt like I'd been involved in a serious car accident or something, but looking back - nobody was injured, and even though it's a LOT of money, it's just plastic and metal at the end of the day.



Thanks again Ian.

[Marilynj28]

hey andy!
glad to hear things are working out and your boss has given you some much needed reasurance. i know how you feel. at work i carry around a device thats worth about $9000 and i constantly think 'what if i drop it?!' lol i havent yet, but im sure i would be feeling the same way as you did if i ever do. 

[JustWant2bWell]

I was figuring the company would take care of it and also do a drug screen that day by protocol but that you wouldn't be responsible financially.

Glad to hear it worked out for you and that the support here was prompt and reassuring ^_^

*btw I've done much worse with starting a topic in that I cannot take it back or delete it.  For differing reasons mind you, I have vented or expressed concern for my own well-being (or lack thereof) and afterwards looked back in embarrassment and ashamedly as if no one could understand or that ppl've judged me bc of it.   What's done is done and I cannot change it as far as that goes.  You didn't seem that way, or hotheaded whatsoever for what it's worth.

Hope things continue to go well for you!