Tesco's Safety and Health Initiatives

This assignment provides an in-depth examination of Tesco's efforts to ensure the safety and health of its employees. It highlights the company's success in maintaining a safe workplace but also recommends implementing new techniques and tools to address changing safety needs. The analysis is based on various articles and sources, including books, journals, and online resources.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1 Challenges of safety and health at workplace.....................................................................2
2) Analysis..............................................................................................................................4
3) Critical analysis of Safety and health issue at Tesco.........................................................6
SUMMARY:....................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Tesco is a British multinational grocery merchandise retailer with the headquarters in
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK. It is the third largest retailer in the world in
profits and 9th largest retailer in revenues. It was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen. It is listed on
the London Stock Exchange and FTSE 100 Index is a constituent of TESCO. Tesco is operated
by 476,000 employees. Vision of the company is to become most highly valued company by
customers it serves, it wants to be a growing and innovative company and also wants to win
locally and apply their skills globally. Tesco's mission is to make a better product together.
Alison Horner is a HR human resource manager of Tesco Plc. Organisational structure of Tesco
is given below:
Hence in the above diagram it is clearly shown that Regional Manager is the head of the
department and store manager is leading by regional manager. And there are three different
department managers: Food tracking manager, Non-food tracking Manager and Personnel
Manager.
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Increasing evidence that obesity and overweight
Article 1: This article was taken from AJPH. So according to Paul A. Schulte, there is increasing
evidence that obesity and overweight may be related in part to adverse work conditions. Hence
risk of obesity may increase in high-demand, low-control work environments and for those who
work long hours.
Tesco is still implicating several new ideas to improve its workplace environment. Some of the
implementations of Tesco at workplace to improve safety and health are as follows:
 Gym at workplace: Tesco has attached gym at workplace and also it invites the
employees to consume their ideal times in gym to overcome from the health issue like
Obesity. Normally people get obesity because of long hours sitting (Clarke, 2010), but
now in Tesco people can avoid obesity by utilise their ideal time in doing exercises and
by walking on trade meal. So it is the best alternative, which a Tesco has implemented.
 Activity between a work: As Tesco's employees are at the stage of facing
Musculoskeletal disorders problem. It has decided to carry out some activity by which
employees can do something new. Because the main reason of this disorder is repetitive
work at work place (Dollard and Bakker, 2010). Tesco usually utilises 1-2 hrs. for the
activities like dumb-mash, table tennis, meditations, etc. It has made separate indoor
game room, so that employee can break the sequence of repetitive work like typing,
quality checking, etc. This indoor games help the employees in overcome from stress due
to pressure of work.
 Allotted a Safety Team: Tesco has made separate team, this safety team will be
responsible for taking care of all the issues related to the health of workers like slipping
floor, sort circuiting, fire, etc. So the role of these team member is to examine the
condition of workplace regularly, to avoid the situation of any misshapen during work. It
works to avail safety tools like ambulance, first aid box, etc. at the workspace. Team keep
in touch with surgeon and doctors who can reach the Tesco workplace within 15 mins, in
case of emergency.
 Settlement Team: No company can avoid violence at their office or at production unit.
Because lots of workers from different countries and having different cultures can be get
into fight. There are still lots of people who are jealous of other employees and tries to
harm them. This issues can result in big fight, thus to avoid such critical situation Tesco
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has made a separate team called settlement team. Which works to settle the dispute and
conflicts if any. Mainly it done it work in two ways either in open or either by hiding
themselves from employees. In first case, it controls the dispute by inviting the
employees to complaint against the convict. So team will be in action against the person
who is harassing the other employees or the person who has done physical attack. In
another case, where settlement team hides themselves from employees, done their work
through spies who work with other employees and become familiar with them. These
spies alert the team before any big incident is going to happen.
 Putted banners and signs: Many visitors who visited Tesco for audit, checking or for
making college project are unaware of the condition of the location. So now Tesco has
putted posters and signs which guides the visitors about the places where they are
restricted to visit. And a person is appointed by the Tesco who works as a guide. Guides
role is to teach about the meaning of the signs and alert them about the areas where
visitors don't have authorization.
 CCTV cameras has been installed: Tesco is dealing in groceries, so the chances of theft
is more. To avoid such a situation, it has put CCTV cameras near the place where the
probability of theft is more. The security guards of the company doesn't authorize any
person to bypass into the factory of TESCO without their permission.
[Source: Paul A. Schulte, 2017. Title: Increasing evidence that obesity and overweight]
Discussion: According to this article adverse work conditions increases the health problems like
obesity and overweight. And its common health issues facing by Tesco. Obesity can may also
raise the risk of asthma and cardiovascular disease that can impact workers by increasing their
stress and weaken their immune systems. To overcome from this issue, company can attached
gym at workplace and also it can invites the employees to consume their ideal times there.
Work related musculoskeletal disorders
Article 2: This article was taken from Science Direct, Title of the article “Work related
musculoskeletal disorders”. In this article, the general discussion on musculoskeletal disorders
been done by author. He relates this disorder with repetitive work environment.
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[Source: David H. Wegman, 2017. Title: Work related musculoskeletal disorders]
Discussion: his disorder also known as MSDs, it affects the human body's movement and also
effects musculoskeletal system which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, blood
vessels, reflex actions, etc., common MSDs include carpel tunnel syndrome and tendinitis.
Hence to overcome from these issues it is necessary to pause from the work and do some other
activities to break the repetitiveness. This is can very dangerous because of its hazardous
symptoms.
International Journal of Health Services
Article 3: This article describes about challenges at small workplaces for the promotion of
occupational health and safety. Articles tells about relation of health and safety matters to social
organisation of work.
[Source: Joan M. Eakin, 2017. Title: International Journal of Health Services]
Discussion: Author has told several challenges which is faced by small workplaces for the
application of occupational health and safety. These issues and discussion on these issues are as
follows:
 Slipping and Tripping: In this condition company may face challenges in safety due to
accidents at the floor of workplace. Because if there is a liquid fall on a slippery floor,
than it can be hazardous to the employees as it can impact into accidents. This issue is
minor but its impact can be major. Factory is using non- slip strips on stairways but take
the time to wipe it is also a good practise. And its employees duties and responsibilities to
take care of their health by making awareness at the time of climbing up and down the
ladders so that the situation of accident due to misstep on a ladder may not arise.
 Workplace violence: According to the AFSCME, violence in the workplaces is not only
physical harm but verbal abuse, sexual harassment and bullying may also included as
illegal activity at workplaces. This can impact company by increasing in the sick leave,
falling in productivity and lost of revenue to the company. It can also impact the
company in injury and death of employees due to attempting suicide in depression. This
situation can be handle by the firm through proper counselling by human resource
managers. Any complaints related to abuse, harassment and physical attack should be
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taken seriously. Human resource managers have to take part by involving them to prevent
violence at workplace.
 Electrical Dangers: These dangers are normally related with electric shocks and short
circuiting at workplaces. As every workplace has some sort of electrical service that
makes health and safety issue for workers. It is been proven by Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention that some workers are not aware of their working conditions.
Because some of the places are comes under potential hazards due to electrical wiring
which is not known to the employees. So Tesco can overcome from these issues by
educate employees on the safe use of electrical equipment like extension boards, power
strips and generators. Company should encourage employees to analyse and find the
dangers due to electrical sort circuiting and light sockets.
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Interview with HR:
Interview date: 1st November, 2017 HR manager name: Alison Horner
Questions:
1. What has changed in term of depth and scope of the safety and health at the workplace
of Tesco?
Ans. Tesco overcomes from these issues by adopting several rules and regulations at
workplaces. It started focusing on employees health and safety because it realised that a
healthy employee can be more productive than unhealthy worker. Tesco has done several
researches on safety of employees. It has also applied the pre-post affect tool, in this tool it
calculates the cost to the company before application of safety measures and after
application of safety measures.
2. What are the safety and health issues faced by Tesco?
Ans. Tesco has faced several health issues like obesity, Musculoskeletal disorders, Slipping
and Tripping, Workplace violence, Electrical Dangers and Theft.
3. Why does this issue of Safety and health arises in Tesco?
Ans. This arises because in past, Tesco was only focused on increasing its turnover and
revenue. But because of several loses due to decrease in productivity and profit. We start
focusing on these issues.
4. How Tesco overcomes from these issues?
Ans. Tesco overcome from these issues by applying various methods like:
 Tesco has attached gym at workplace and also it invites the employees to consume their
ideal times in gym to overcome from the health issue like Obesity.
 Tesco has made separate team, this safety team will be responsible for taking care of all
the issues related to the health of workers like slipping floor, sort circuiting, fire, etc. So
the role of these team member is to examine the condition of workplace regularly, to
avoid the situation of any misshapen during work.
 Tesco has made a separate team called settlement team. Which works to settle the
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dispute and conflicts if any. Mainly it fulfils its responsibilities in two ways either in
open or either by hiding themselves from employees. In first case, it controls the dispute
by inviting the employees to complaint against the convict. So team will be in action
against the person who is harassing the other employees or the person who has done
physical attack. In another case, where settlement team hides themselves from
employees, done their work through spies who work with other employees and become
familiar with them
5. What are the future plans of Tesco to solve the problem of safety and health?
Ans. Now a days there are several latest tools are available by which employees of Tesco
can remain themselves healthy and safe. Like:
 Scanners: This technique can help the company in scanning the workers before entering
into the factory. It will help in catch the person who is trying to get harmful and
unauthorized things into Tesco.
 Sensor Bands: Tesco can made a sensor bands which can be tie to the wrist of
employees. The role of this band is to examine the condition of the worker, so it will
alert the supervisor if some worker is facing critical health issue and proper treatment
can be provided to the employee before any miss happen.
6. How Tesco can overcome from the health problems like obesity and Musculoskeletal
disorders?
Ans. To overcome from Obesity, we worked on several factors like we put the gym and
indoor game facilities at work place and also started doing some activities which can help
the employees from these health issues. Because normally people get obesity because of
long hours sitting , but now in Tesco people can avoid obesity by utilise their ideal time in
doing exercises . They can walking on trade meal to reduce their fat. To deal with
Musculoskeletal disorders, we do several types of activities like dumb-mash, table tennis,
meditations, etc. It has made separate indoor game room, so that employee can break the
sequence of repetitive work like typing, quality checking, etc. This indoor games help the
employees in overcome from stress due to pressure of work.
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7. How much time does Tesco took to resolve the issue of Health and security?
Ans. We takes almost a year to implement all these techniques and tools. Because you
know Tesco is a big retail organisation, so it is not easy to change the structure as it. We
made strategies and planned about how to implement these changes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Hence on the basis of all findings from different articles I find that safety and health of
any employees are the major issue which Tesco have to take seriously. Till now company is
succeeded in maintaining the safe environment at work place but it is recommended to Tesco to
adopt new techniques and tools which are required to cope up with changing safety needs.
Because every security has some loopholes or some weak point by which security can be
breached easily (Patterson, 2012). Tesco should hire some IT experts to identify these loopholes
and rectify them by installing some effective tool. Employees are the backbone of Tesco, if they
are not getting safe environment than the company can't improve its productivity.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Baxter, P. J., and et. al.(Eds.). (2010). Hunter's diseases of occupations. CRC Press.
Blas, E., & Kurup, A. S. (Eds.). (2010). Equity, social determinants and public health
programmes. World Health Organization.
Brauer, R. L. (2016). Safety and health for engineers. John Wiley & Sons.
Carayon, P. (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of human factors and ergonomics in health care and
patient safety. CRC Press.
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Online
Work, Obesity, and Occupational Safety and Health, 2017. [Online]. Available
through<http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2006.086900>.
[Accessed on 3rd November, 2017].
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders: the epidemiologic evidence and the debate, 2017.
[Online]. Available
through<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050641103001251>.
[Accessed on 3rd November, 2017].
Sociological Perspective on the Management of Health and Safety in Small Workplaces, 2017.
[Online]. Available through<http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/DNV0-
57VV-FJ7K-8KU5>. [Accessed on 3rd November, 2017].
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