Benefits of Health and Safety in the Workplace

This report has been prepared for the Westfield Garden City Supermarket supervisor. The report will explore on the safety of employees and customers both inside and outside the supermarket. Again, the paper will cover key safety issues such as safety hazards and health hazards. Additionally, the report determines the importance of Westfield Garden City workplace health and safety. Alternatively, the report evaluates the available risk management techniques and appropriate risk management for the company. Finally, the paper offers recommendations that should be adopted for workplace health and safety of employees and customers.  

Westfield Garden City is located in Brisbane’s city twelve kilometers from CBD.  It is located at the junction of various major arterial roads.  Its location is adjacent to the Brisbane major bus terminus linking the city with the Gold Coast. It is in the suburb of Upper Mount Gravatt. The company has over 440 special stores restaurants, cafes, food vendors and other services.

The observance of health and safety in the workplace of Westfield Garden will have the following benefits for organization and employees.

Improved company reputation is a caring organization.

Productivity will increase.

Reduced insurance and health care costs.

Reduces litigations and court fines.

To the Employees

Job satisfaction increment.

A healthy and safe work environment will increase employees’ morale.

The QLD legislation on Workplace health and safety demands that employers and other workplace parties should cooperate and consult with the management of workplace risks.  This is meant to protect the safety and health of the employees and customers who are prone to risks of the workplace. The legislation of Work Health and Safety Act 2011 outline guidelines to guards the health, safety and the welfare of employees while at the workplace. It also provides provisions for protecting other people who may who can be affected while at the workplace of the company. 

The Work Health and Safety Regulation outlines how to reduce or minimize risk at the workplace. All employers must conform to the requirements of the regulation. This regulation purposes to apply the appropriate code of practice to ensure the workplace environment is healthy and safe. 

The responsibilities of the employees and the employer in ensuring workplace health and safety are outlined below;

Report work related risks to the employees.

Inform WHS in case the employer is not observing right workplace health and safety practices.

Should interfere with workplace risk guards such as machine protectors.

Key Safety and Health Hazards Inside the Supermarket

Adhere to safe workplace procedures

Train, orientate and supervise all employees to ensure workplace practices are understood, and conformance observed.

Provide appropriate facilities for the employees’ safety.

Comply with all workplace health and safety practices.

Common accidents and emergencies in supermarkets comprises;

Slipping as result of the wet floor.

Obstruction caused by falling items.

Food poisoning caused by rotten food or expired products.

Improper positioning and arrangement of the items in the supermarket.

Westfield Garden City is faced with several hazards that can contribute risks to both employees and customers. This report explores some of the keys hazards and the appropriate risk management approach to overcome them.

This report noted that inside the supermarket there are several stocking materials and pallets that are placed in some walkways. Additionally, some items fall from the shelves and block the walkways. This poses a danger to the employees and customers as they walk. They either fall or injure their legs they try to walk over the blocking items.

The build-up of the watery items such as grocery products in the supermarket ends up wetting the floor. Other contributors of slippery floor include spilled products and leaking pipes in the refrigeration departments. The slippery floor makes it risky for the employees and customers as they walk.

The report that Westfield Garden City special departments such as meat, grocery, and other perishable units are prone to bacteria. This is because bacteria can easily develop in this departments if utensil used such as cutting boards and knives are not properly maintained. The report found that these departments have the high risk of contributing to bacterial growth from the observation that knives used to cut meat can be kept for almost 15 minutes and they used again without being washed.

The report observed that the cleaning chemicals used to cleaning could pose health risks to the workers. This because employees to do not have appropriate preventive equipment such as cleaning gloves and mouth masks.

Despite various safety measures in Westfield Garden City, the report found that the company is still faced with obstruction problems. For example, there is a sustainable issue on obstruction both inside and outside the supermarket. The arrangement and positioning of the items in the supermarket prevent easy escape for the employees and customers in case of danger. Again, the construction and location of exits do not facilitate the easy exit from the supermarket. Alternatively, the parking area of the company is fully occupied, and it may create an obstruction to the employees and customers while exiting from the supermarket.

Appropriate Risk Management Techniques

In The Westfield Garden City There Is Appropriate Risk Management Of Moving Parts And Forklifts In The Warehouse The Employees Operating In This Department are well-trained to avoid the injuries to themselves or other employees. Again, the research found that the employees wear appropriate protective clothes when using the equipment. The report also observed the machines in the warehouse are regularly inspected to rectify any technical error that may result in injuries.

To overcome the problem of obstruction, the company should ensure that all materials are kept out of the walkways during working hours. Again, the company should ensure that the items are properly fixed on the shelves to avoid falling to block the pathways or it employee while doing their work. Finally, the employees should be on guard of hazards throughout the working process and take hasty action and prevent injury.  Bacterial hazards can be eliminated by monitoring carefully and cross-examining to ensure that high degree of hygiene is maintained.  The company should ensure that employees wear clean clothes and other special wears such as hand gloves to prevent the spread of external bacteria. The grocery store of the company should be properly sanitized to facilitate cleanliness in this unit throughout. All workers undertaking cleaning duties should be provided with cleaning gloves and breathing masks. Additionally, this report recommends that Westfield Garden City should expand its parking lot and make it more spacious to facilitate the movement of the customers and employees out of the supermarket in the case of danger such as fire outbreak.   Finally, this report recommends that Westfield Garden City should continue applying the same safety measures in the warehouse and other stores. In addition to the above mention recommendation, also finds it appropriate to train new employees on use to machines in the stores in the case of existing employees retirement or resignation. Based on the research on Westfield workplace health and safety, this report holds that a travel agent should open a store in this shopping center. This is because the company has largely conformed to the WHS health and safety workplace practices except for a few issues that can be less impactful.

Conclusion

This report suggests that Westfield Garden City should not be classified in the category of the worst supermarkets. However, a few workplace health and safety issues are arising and must be addressed. Therefore, the report calls for the observance of the key safety and health hazard issues raised in the report. These hazards can be eliminated by maintaining a clean floor throughout in store for the well-being of its employees. Besides, the employees in the store should be provided with slip resistance wear boots. This should be supplemented by the daily cleaning of the store to avoid the buildup of oil and dirt on the floor. Finally, the employees should be educated on the appropriate cleaning techniques and usage of the right materials to avoid the spills.

References

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Sultanie, Hayley. 2016. Retail experts back move to stop Westfield Garden City staff parking at the center during peak Christmas period. December 1. Accessed May 1, 2017.

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