Forecourt health & safety specialist Suresite Group has launched a risk assessment service for convenience stores.
Neil Simms, the group’s Health and Safety Manager said many convenience store owners still did not fully understand their responsibilities under health and safety law, especially the implications of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
He highlighted the responsibilities employers have towards groups at risk including temporary workers, young people and new and expectant mothers, adding that many owners greatly underestimated the potential for risk in their workplace.
According to the most recent Labour Force Survey, the combined injury and illness rate in retail is only 1.5% lower than in construction (4.7% per annum compared to 6.2%).
“Convenience store owners have a duty of care not only towards their staff, but to customers, contractors and any suppliers on site,” said Simms.
“While there is no legal requirement to bring in an external risk assessor, it can provide the retailer with the confidence that their risk management is being supported whilst allowing them to go about their day to day duties.
“Whilst only business owners with five or more employees are obliged to record the significant findings of a risk assessment, smaller businesses will find it brings them peace of mind, knowing they are in line with best practice.”
A risk assessment takes a couple of hours to complete via a local assessor and is carried out during business hours without causing disruption. A further review assessment is recommended after 12 months, or when a business undergoes a significant change.
In 2017, a major retailer was fined £400,000 after a pensioner slipped on water leaking from a chiller cabinet at a store in Truro, Cornwall, hitting his head on the floor and later dying in hospital.
And in 2015, the owners of an independent Slough convenience store were ordered to pay £96,000 in penalties after an employee fell down an open lift shaft.
More information call Suresite on 01772 790 901 or email customerservice@suresite.co.uk.
