Customer and employee accidents and injuries can be one of the most costly liabilities for a company. Aside from the financial cost, companies can lose employee morale and public reputation. The thing about safety is that in many instances, accidents can be avoided and losses minimized if not eliminated. A good safety program can assist in minimizing these losses and should contain the following elements:
1) An aware and concerned management team
2) An employee safety team
3) A monthly safety inspection
4) A safety check-off list for the safety inspection
5) Empowered employees
6) Monthly testing of safety devices such as fire and burglar alarms
7) Yearly service inspections of service equipment such as fire extinguishers, elevators and escalators
8) A good relationship with local authorities such as fire departments and police departments
9) A list of reliable and reputable locksmiths, alarm companies, glass repair companies, etcetera
10) Established and written safety procedures
These are the basics. This list can be extended and broken down into a much more complex plan but this is an excellent start to minimizing, if not eliminating, this type of cost. Here is an overview of what some of the elements listed above should / could include:
Employee Safety Team:
This can be as simple as having several employees who are given permission to meet once a month to help with the safety inspection and to discuss safety issues. These employees should be given an "open door" policy to communicate with upper management honestly and directly about safety hazards without fear of retaliation or punishment. Volunteers generally make better team members than appointed members and a rotating position can be utilized to keep perspectives fresh.
Monthly Safety Inspection:
A physical walk-through the employee and customer area of the physical property as well as the non-employee and non-customer areas. This should be done with a critical eye. Changing the starting point and varying the path every time may help in noticing concerns by preventing the walk from becoming habit or predictable.
Safety Check-Off List:
This should be a check off list that outlines each item to be inspected, what condition it is expected to be found in, what the standard is (example: all outlets in the fitting rooms will have child safety caps inserted), an evaluative section for each item (did it meet the requirement or not), a place for notes (items that need to be followed up on), a date for when the items not meeting the standard was corrected, the date of the walk and a signature line for the person completing the walk. This report should be filed away for future reference and can be useful as defense in litigation.
Established and Written Safety Procedures:
This can include activities such as handling cash, making bank deposits, leaving work late at night, selling expensive items, protecting employee personal information (such as last names, work schedules, etcetera), severe weather procedures, power outages, robberies, shoplifting (it is highly recommended that procedures for robberies and shoplifting include specific instructions for employees to not resist or detain anyone but to comply with directions given for everyone's safety), etcetera.
Monthly Testing and Yearly Service Inspections:
Service machinery such as elevators and escalators are probably required by local authorities to be inspected yearly. Calling a local contractor who is an authorized inspector by the manufacturer of the equipment should be used for these inspections. Always allow them to make corrections and repairs as needed to keep the equipment working properly. These inspection reports should be filed away to be used as defense in any pending litigation resulting from an injury sustained by the equipment. Monthly testing of alarms will help identify problem areas, will ensure that your system has not been compromised and will ensure that you are getting what you are paying for. It is HIGHLY recommended that you advise your local fire and police departments BEFORE and AFTER testing your alarm. False alarm calls may result in a costly fine to your business by these entities.
Allan Biggins Consulting
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Slip, Trip and Fall Hazards
Slip, trips and falls are the most common customer and employee accidents in many retail and other businesses. These can occur due to wet floors, icy sidewalks, frayed carpeting and uneven floor elevations. In any case, they are costly to a business and to employee morale. Smaller business may pay the price for such accidents in higher insurance premiums and costly court ordered damages to the injured. Larger businesses with multiple units often times pass the cost of the accident onto the particular unit where the accident occurred and have a liability department pay out damages and costs to the injured. Either way, accidents cut into the profitability of a company. The conditions that cause the slips, trips and falls, most often times, can be identified and corrected or avoided to minimize such accidents.
Having an accident team whose job it is to identify unsafe conditions is invaluable. In a larger business this can be a team of employees who have the luxury of reporting unsafe conditions directly to a top manager or other designee, usually someone who has the power to get things fixed. Some training and monthly meetings will go a long way. In a smaller business, this may be the manager or owner who takes a safety walk once a month to take an honest look at the physical condition of their business. The important part is having someone paying attention to the work environment. In either case, having a monthly "safety-walk" checklist will help to ensure that nothing is overlooked. I have worked for several very large and well known corporations and there was a safety team in every one of them.
Conditions and situations that are common in slips, trips and falls are: wet floors, uneven floor elevations (including steps), icy sidewalks or parking lots, frayed, torn or wrinkled carpet, elevator thresholds that do not line up evenly with the floor, escalators with moving hand-rails that move at a different speed than the escalator steps, low shelving, obstacles or displays below knee level, door thresholds, unsafe or broken ladders or step stools, employees or customers who climb on shelves to reach items, differences in floor surfaces (walking from carpeting to tile) and in-floor outlets that are missing covers that have covers that do not close tightly. There are many more but these are the most common and should be considered during a safety walk as well as during construction planning.
Correcting these conditions and situations are pretty common sense and straight forward. I have been successful in making low cost corrections by painting the edges of stairs or loading docks with a durable bright orange or yellow paint. This is available at most hardware stores and is often referred to as "safety yellow" or "Chromium Yellow" paint. Having elevators and escalators serviced once a year usually avoids any problems with them and having employees that are aware and who can react to wet floors and trip hazards usually minimize these as being tripping and slipping culprits.
Falls often occur after a slip or a trip but also occur with unsafe practices. These include employees or customers that are in a hurry, the improper use of ladders or step stools or the use of broken ladders or step stools and the lack of using these two items when they are required. Broken ladders and step stools should be replaced; it is never advisable to try to make repairs to these items. The inspection of ladders and step stools should be part of the monthly safety inspection. Most importantly, talk about safety with your staff weekly if not daily. Remember: "What gets talked about gets done".
For more on retail safety, please see my other postings under this blog.
Allan Biggins Consulting
Having an accident team whose job it is to identify unsafe conditions is invaluable. In a larger business this can be a team of employees who have the luxury of reporting unsafe conditions directly to a top manager or other designee, usually someone who has the power to get things fixed. Some training and monthly meetings will go a long way. In a smaller business, this may be the manager or owner who takes a safety walk once a month to take an honest look at the physical condition of their business. The important part is having someone paying attention to the work environment. In either case, having a monthly "safety-walk" checklist will help to ensure that nothing is overlooked. I have worked for several very large and well known corporations and there was a safety team in every one of them.
Conditions and situations that are common in slips, trips and falls are: wet floors, uneven floor elevations (including steps), icy sidewalks or parking lots, frayed, torn or wrinkled carpet, elevator thresholds that do not line up evenly with the floor, escalators with moving hand-rails that move at a different speed than the escalator steps, low shelving, obstacles or displays below knee level, door thresholds, unsafe or broken ladders or step stools, employees or customers who climb on shelves to reach items, differences in floor surfaces (walking from carpeting to tile) and in-floor outlets that are missing covers that have covers that do not close tightly. There are many more but these are the most common and should be considered during a safety walk as well as during construction planning.
Correcting these conditions and situations are pretty common sense and straight forward. I have been successful in making low cost corrections by painting the edges of stairs or loading docks with a durable bright orange or yellow paint. This is available at most hardware stores and is often referred to as "safety yellow" or "Chromium Yellow" paint. Having elevators and escalators serviced once a year usually avoids any problems with them and having employees that are aware and who can react to wet floors and trip hazards usually minimize these as being tripping and slipping culprits.
Falls often occur after a slip or a trip but also occur with unsafe practices. These include employees or customers that are in a hurry, the improper use of ladders or step stools or the use of broken ladders or step stools and the lack of using these two items when they are required. Broken ladders and step stools should be replaced; it is never advisable to try to make repairs to these items. The inspection of ladders and step stools should be part of the monthly safety inspection. Most importantly, talk about safety with your staff weekly if not daily. Remember: "What gets talked about gets done".
For more on retail safety, please see my other postings under this blog.
Allan Biggins Consulting
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