Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Workplace Rhetoric


                I work at McDonald’s, which usually has a lot of signs that change every month but more for the employees than the general public. I see wet floor signs all the time when I walk into work. On their very first day every employee is taught how to properly clean the lobby. This includes mopping. We have two different mop buckets one for the back where all the grease is, and another for the lobby. We’re told that before we even fill up our mop bucket we need to make sure we’ve set up welt floor signs. They’re there almost every single time it rains and almost every time it snows, not only because people trudge in with their wet dirty shoes, but because we have to mop more often. These signs are not only important to the public, but to the employees. Of course we don’t want our customer’s to fall but if they happen to, and there is no visible wet floor sign they can sue us.

                I feel that the wet floor sign is very important because it protects both the employees and the customers of my work place. It brings the fact that the floor is wet to the attention of the customers, and helps us from getting in trouble. There is however one thing that I think could be changed about these signs to make them even more helpful. I feel like sometimes the signs are easy to overlook because not only are they all over the place but they aren’t in your direct vision. I don’t think that our only concern as a business should be getting in trouble; I think that we should try to make our environment as safe as possible. The signs are usually a really bright yellow color which does distract your attention, but if participatory design was used they would be digital or electronic, which I think would make people pay even more attention, since in today’s society technology is so appealing. People would be able to tell that a floor was wet before they even stepped on it and all we as employees would have to do is turn on the sign rather than remember to locate it and put it in a visible position.
-Breanna H.
(377 Words)

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