the heart of health and safety A

the heart of health and safety

A nation of shopkeepers? Health and safety in retail and distribution

What did you have for breakfast this morning? - Fruit juice? Tea, coffee or hot chocolate? Porridge or cereals? A fry-up or kippers? Toast and butter or spread? With marmalade? What else? SO MANY CHOICES! You don’t all want the same. Did you grow all the ingredients yourself? Let’s get real; how did it get to your plate? - THAT’S RETAILING AND DISTRIBUTION

Retailing - In 2010 UK retail sales were over £ 293 Bn, through 286680 retail outlets. The UK retail industry employs about 2. 9 M people, that’s 11% of the total UK workforce More than a third of consumer spending goes through shops (internet sales are about 8%)

Distribution - Virtually everything you buy has passed through a complex distribution chain from the manufacturer or farmer. Some retailers do their own distribution, much is done by specialist contractors. The logistics providers do much more than run lorry fleets. Employment and business statistics are harder to capture in distribution but here are some indications: Typically distribution warehouses are about 50, 000 m 2 (7 soccer pitches). Asda have about two dozen of them with about 1200 trucks servicing the business.

What makes retail and distribution different? - Most Enforcement at retailing premises is by local Environmental Health Officers not HSE only deal with off-premises activities (e. g. roadside deliveries), CDM (e. g. Store fit-outs and revamps), hazardous cargoes and COMAH sites Diverse locations (some a long way away) The 24/7 economy means night and weekend working Seasonal and peak hours contracts and staff turnover Short shelf-life products (who wants to buy a Christmas tree in January? ) Public perception of unskilled workforce Relentless pressure to innovate and reduce costs

Primary Authority Problem: Who coordinates inspections and advice to multi-site LA-enforced businesses? Historically, no one! This is now being tackled through the Primary Authority scheme: - Now run by Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (previously BRDO) - Primary Authority is the defined link in to the Company's HQ - Uses agreed Inspection Plans prepared by one Primary Authority. - Wider than just H&S (e. g. B&Q has Eastleigh as Primary Authority for H&S and Hampshire for Age-restricted sales, Animal feed, Consumer credit, Explosives licensing, Fair trading, Metrology, Product safety) - Over 400 businesses now signed up to scheme

Retailing – common problems - The Great British Shopping Public. We can’t pre-select customers so have to allow for young, old, disabled etc. Staff turnover, shifts and geographical spread Slips, trips and falls, particularly customers (e. g. grapes, nylon banding, empty pallets in aisles, any sort of spillage, roof leaks. . ) Safety of displays and falling stock Work at height (e. g. picking from racks, putting up POS) Manual handling (virtually all stock is handled somehow, some is seriously heavy) Aggressive and violent behaviour by customers Fork lift and pallet trucks. . even shopping trolleys Escalators and travelators (falls, buggies, trolleys)

Distribution – common problems - - Distribution centres - Pedestrian/MHE segregation e. g. order picking - Loading dock and trailer incompatibility - Drive-aways from loading bays - Overloaded inbound containers Customers premises - Lack of space - Town centre deliveries onto the pavement Home deliveries - Problems with location - Delivery to point of use, not just front door

Shopping Centres Let’s not forget the problems associated with shopping centres – many people do! - Lots of retailers, all doing different things, run by managers whose safety knowledge/competency varies widely; - Wide variations in safety competency of the tenants’ head office operations; - Integrating fire safety systems for all tenants; - Integrating service yard and back of house activities; - Various shopfitting and maintenance companies coming in, not just new lettings but revamps and routine works; - And the public using thoroughfares, football crowds, wet floors, management of complex building systems, car parks, work at height putting up decorations, etc. . .

IOSH Retail and Distribution Group - We represent more than 1, 000 IOSH members working in retail, warehousing, road transport and distribution and also allied trades like catering, premises design and refit. Our members often find themselves working alone under circumstances where networking is difficult. We organise networking events on common problems. We use webinars extensively, which we find EHOs viewing as well as our members. We work with other Groups like Construction on common issues and other trade bodies like FTA and BRC.