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Safety Net Journal Issue 10 |
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HSE, Retail and slips and trips
11,000 workers suffered serious injury as a result of a slip or trip last year. Retail is seen as a high-risk sector and is one of the targets in HSE's Shattered Lives campaign.
Shattered Lives has been a high-profile campaign from HSE to reduce slip and trip accidents in sectors such as retail, food manufactrue and construction.
HSE has also recently launched a new section on its website on health and safety in the retail industry which is linked to the Shattered Lives campaign.
A couple of recent prosecutions by enforcing authorities highlight the risks of slips and trips.
Asda has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £6,000 costs following a prosecution by Pembrokeshire County Council at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court. The worker who slipped because of a build up of ice on a walk-in freezer floor was off work for a month.
The incident came to light during a routine inspection. Council Health and Safety officers noted that the accident had occurred earlier in the year but had not been reported. The company was fined a further £650 for the failure to report within ten days as required under RIDDOR regulations.
On investigation the Council inspectors found an excessive build up of ice on the freezer floor as well as an emergency panic button blocked by shelving and stock and a broken internal safety release handle on the freezer's door.
The other incident involved Makro who were prosecuted after a 57-year-old shopper at its Kirkby outlet broke her arm.
The woman couldn't work for six weeks following the incident last year. When council inspectors visited the store they found a hole in the floor, which had been packed with cardboard and covered in tape. The tape looked very worn.
Makro pleaded guilty before Knowsley magistrates to two offences - under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations - and was fined £5000 with £2700 costs.
In the London area local authority inspectors are running a co-ordinated inspection campaign aimed at the larger retailers on slip and trip hazards.
To find out about slips and trips in retail and other priority targets for retail health and safety visit the HSE retail industry web pages at http://www.hse.gov.uk/retail/about.htm
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