Importance of Safe Work Practices in Woolworth NZ

This study discusses the importance of safe work practices in Woolworth NZ and the elements related to it. It also explores safety supervision and its requirements to ensure safe work practices.

MGT227 Project 2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Summary of health and safety management system...............................................................1
What is safety supervision and its requirement to ensure safe work practices......................2
CONCLUSION (200)......................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Safe work practices are concerned with practices of work which involves and reduces
that risk for individual performing task to minimum. This is very important for organisation and
there are several reasons for this. This present study will discuss about importance of safe work
practices and some of the elements related to this in context of Woolworth NZ. Woolworth NZ is
second largest company in NZ in Grocery industry. Formerly the company was known as
Progressive Enterprise and is a subsidiary company of Woolworth Ltd (Humayun, 2016). The
company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered at Auckland, New Zealand. Products of the
company are Countdown, FreshChoice and SuperValue. To manage all these products and
functions of the company Woolworth NZ has employed around 18000 employees. The company
operates under retail industry and as it was started as Progressive Enterprises later became
Woolworth NZ under its retail operations there are 184 Countdown supermarket stores, 40
SuperVAlue which are convenience supermarket stores and 30 FreshChoice high quality
supermarkets with large range are operated by Woolworth NZ. This report will discuss about
safe work practices and regarding Woolworth NZ it is governed by Health and Safety Workplace
Act 2015 (Haskins and et.al., 2020). This act consist several regulations and safety measures
which are required to be followed by Woolworth NZ to ensure safety of all the employees at the
workplace. Followed by this the report will discuss about safety supervision and what are the
requirements of the safety supervision. The requirements are several and some of them involve
performance standards, safety training, illness rate, KPI, absenteeism and some others. These are
all important because this not only involves safety from legal issues but also ensure high
performance standards of the Woolworth NZ. This is because all the operations which are carried
out by the employees require that they are healthy and safe to carry out the tasks.
MAIN BODY
Summary of health and safety management system
In the context of occupational health and safety management practices it can be analysed
that it plays an important role and it is important for all small and large level of organizations to
implement and follow all practices. It is all related to ensuring and providing safety to all people
work in workplace and is involved with the company directly and indirectly. It has also been
summarized that by implementing HSWA act 2015, Woolworth NZ is protecting their
1

employees and all involved people against injury and harm and making them sure that they are
safe at their workplace which is helping them out in increasing staff retention rate. Health and
safety workplace act (HSWA) 2015 require management of active participation, leadership and
accountability for keeping people safe Neal, (2017).
Under this act there are several practices which has been identified as they all can support
Woolworth NZ in accomplishing their goals of making their employees productive by keeping
them safe and healthy. Safety and rehabilitation policy according to which manager of this
company are working in order to encourage early reporting about any illness harm related to
some work so that all the early options for treatment are provided to protect heath of people.
They also focus on keeping their informations safe as it is also a type of safety Cooper & Lacey,
(2019).
Communication and training is other main practice of this retailer as proper
communication and training increases skills of employees and they try to keep themselves safe at
their own. They try to identify extent of risks and causes at their own and by proper
communication they also interact with others and make them know about causes and effects.
Utilization of lagging addition to leading indicators also play an important role as it allows
Woolworth NZ in analysing all incidents which have had occurred in the past along with taken
actions. It helps them in forecasting about injuries and planning about appropriate actions. So,
overall it can be said that practices of health and safety plays an important role in preventing
employees against injuries, ill health and improving retention.
What is safety supervision and its requirement to ensure safe work practices
For preventing employees and others involved with company in an effective manner it is
important for companies to supervise safety after implementing all practices in order to know
whether their planning and practise are effective or not. By safety supervision, Woolworth NZ
can identify that if it is on the right track and all employees are completely safe at their
workplace or not. For understanding importance of safety supervision it can be understood by
different ways of supervision and managing safety at workplace such as:
Safety supervision: Safety supervision is a process of determining effectiveness and quality of
safety measures which are being set up to prevent employees against injuries. People who
complete this process is known as safety supervisors as there is requirement for having skills and
2

knowledge as how to supervise and measure effectiveness of implemented policies and practices.
Or in other words it can be said that it is a function which can be delivered by either 1 or more
than 1 people in a team Nian & et.al., (2019)
. And in the safety and health term, it is directly engaged with people or workers who perform
several task of company. In this context one of the main responsibilities of safety supervisor is to
making sure that all workers are following implemented safety practices and deal with hazards
before it injures workers.
There are several other responsibilities of safety supervisors such as: to enforce safe work
practices and procedures, making sure that all employees are following all practices and are well
known that how to identify unsafe as well as un-healthful workplace conditions at their own. So,
it can be said that by safety supervision, Woolworth NZ can prevent their employees against
injury and can make their workplace hazards and accidents free. It can also help them out to
attract skilled workforce and retaining them with them for the long run Zhao & et.al., (2017).
There are several ways by which safety supervisor of Woolworth NZ can supervise and
measure quality of safety measures such as:
Performance standards: There are several tools are available which can be used in measuring
safety at workplace and also forecasting risks of accidents for taking appropriate actions and
eliminating causes of risks completely. Using safety performance indicators is one of the best
and effective ways of managing safety and preventing employees against accidents and
workplace hazards. By preventing employees, employers or manager of Woolworth NZ cannot
only increase employees’ retention rate but can also prevent themselves against any lawsuit for
not preventing people Li & et.al., (2018). Numbers of safety audit conducted, % of substandard
conditions are some indicators which can help safety supervision in determining that their
implementation of safety practices are effective and working as per the planning and help them
out in accomplishing goals or not.
Safety training: Safety training is one of the best way o managing safety and supervising it. For
safety supervision it is important for safety supervisor of the company to take an active
participation in safety training program in order to acquire knowledge about risks and hazards in
their area of responsibility Banda & et.al., (2016). Training allows them to do this in an effective
manner. For measuring effectiveness and safety supervision by safety training, supervisor can
3

determine if all employees are working in an appropriate manner and are able to identify hazard
and solve them at their own.
Health and ill rates: There are some performance indicators and standards by which company
can measure and identify the total number of employee with illness and health risks. This rate
and number of illness can help them out in identifying the main cause of their health and illness.
If they found that most of the illness numbers are occurring due to their working environment
which mean they need to take appropriate actions for eliminating risks and improving workplace
safety. This rate not only affects health of workers but also effect on productivity and
performance of the company so, it can be said that safety supervision should be one of the main
function for Woolworth NZ in order to accomplish goals and taking competitive advantages.
Ensuring accountability: Improving accountability can also help safety supervisor in measuring
effectiveness and quality if safety practices and managing safety at workplace in an effective
manner. There are some steps by following all, company can ensure accountability and
determine safety at workplace such as: having an effective conversation by using communication
modes, addressing poor performance, knowing feelings of employees towards their company and
workplace where they spent their a lot of time, setting smart goals by following up the whole
process.
Absenteeism rate: Absenteeism rate is one of the best way of knowing ife employees are
satisfied at their workplace or not. If they feel safe at workplace or not,. By knowing total
absenteeism rate of employees, safety supervisor can know all reasons of their absenteeism and
by knowing if there is reason of lack of safety, they can take measurement and take better actions
for managing safety Ehliar & Wagner, (2016). Feedback is one of the best ways by which
Woolworth NZ can know that how employees are feeling and if they feel safe at their workplace
or not.
KPI: Key performance indicator is one of the best and the most used tool for measuring health
and safety at workplace. It is one of the effective performance standard and ways of measuring
effectiveness and quality of health and safety practices which are being implemented by
company at their workplace. With the help of health and safety key performance indicator,
Woolworth NZ can measure lost time injury frequency rate. For identifying this rate there is
requirement for safety supervisor to have knowledge of measuring it as for this they need to
multiply the number of lost time injury with 1,00,000 and then divide that outcome or number by
4

the total number of hours worked in company. It allows company in knowing total injury rate
and by doing so they can take appropriate actions. There are several other measurements which
can be measured in regards to safety and healthy which include:
Equipment breakdown: It is other main measurement or performance indicator which can help
Woolworth NZ in identifying total number of safety and other equipment breakdown which may
cause injury to workers. By identifying this number, company can identify the main cause as
well as capacity of equipments as how long it lasts, they can take appropriate actions for
reducing this number and improving safety and health for workers at workplace. In this context it
can also be said that when critical equipments breakdown then there is a loss of activities which
direct affects productivity of an organization. So, it can be said that it is one of the strong lead
indicator that play an important role in reduction of injuries and incidents as it is reported since
many % of incidents happen because of the state of the equipment used Health and Safety KPIs,
(2018).
Satisfaction with environment score: It is other main indicator which allow safety supervisor
in identifying and measuring satisfaction level of employees at workplace with environmental
factors. It can be identifying or measuring by getting feedbacks by employees on several levels
in knowing that to which extent they all are satisfied with their physical surroundings like noise
level, desk, building, toilets etc. High score shows that workplace environment of the company is
effective and safe and low score indicates issues or risks which can affect health of employees
Haas & Yorio, (2016).
Fitness Assessment: For improving health and safety, company implement effective health and
safety practices and they also require to measure and supervise safety. One of the best ways of
safety supervision and managing safety at workplace, Woolworth NZ can offer free health
monitor and checks for their employees which can give several effective outcomes and results to
the company. By making an effective independent assessor, they can make their members
beneficial from reviews. By using appropriate indicators, company can also measure or assess
effectiveness of fitness of workers.
Average overtime hours per person: By knowing average overtime per person at workplace it
can be analysed by the company as workers are safe, satisfied and healthy at workplace or not.
This average of overtime hours is known as one of the great KPI. If company get lower number
in this context which indicates and shows that company is effective and have ability to manage
5

workload in a successful manner and decreasing the chance of fatigue in workplace. There is
requirement for safety supervisor to have skills and knowledge of using this KPI as it is not
applicable to all types of organizations. But by using this in an effective manner, Woolworth NZ
can manage and supervise safety at their workplace Hickey, (2017).
Rather, all above discussed measurement and key performance indicators there are several other
ways by which safety supervisor can manage safety and can also supervise in their workplace.
Some other key performance indicators related to health and safety include: % of productive
days, monthly health and safety prevention costs, average time to resolution of risks and % of
management trained in health and safety, So, it can be said that by using all these indicators or
appropriate indicators they can measure satisfaction level as well as quality of safety at their
workplace.
Culture of consequences (Positive): In this content it can be said that it plays an important role
in motivating employees and measuring effectiveness. Positive reinforcement refers something
which can motivate people. For example: on the basis of excellent performance or desired
outcomes of supervisor and employees, employer can provide them rewards. It is known as
positive reinforcement. By making use of it, healthcare providers can motivate other staff
members and make them able to improve productivity. There are some examples by which these
elements of positive reinforcement can be developed at workplace such as rewards, financial
motivation, and appreciation. These entire reinforcing stimulus can be given to employees at
workplace for making them able to get positive outcomes and accomplishing goals.
Negative reinforcement: Whereas, negative reinforcement refers a way which is being used to
help and teach specific behaviours with something unbearable and uncomfortable. It includes all
those ways which worsened situations and poor working environment or culture of company. In
this context it can be said that companies and healthcare organizations that make use of
punishment rather rewards for getting work done by employees is known as negative stimulus.
These methods do not help companies in getting effective or positive results because nowadays
employees seek fro attractive rewards and other things which can motivate them. It decreases
behaviours and relation with employees and also makes culture poor. It can also be said that
increasing restrictions and keeping eyes on employees all the time and control them is a way of
negative reinforcement.
6

Punishment- Punishment is one of the effective actions to managing supervising and safety. It
includes the necessary actions that have been taken by the organisation to maintain the better
workplace for employees or workers. It creates an essential fear in the employees so that their
work performances are also improved. It assists to healthcare organisation for getting operations
done by workers and improves their relation with them.
Extinction- It focussed on quenching an acquired behaviour by retaining a productive
augmentation. The Positive reinforcement among the employees improve their behaviour and
attitude towards the organization. It ensures that organization have safety supervision with
availability of extension factor.
So, from the above discussed all ways of safety supervision like performance standards, relevant
key performance indicators and ensuring accountability they can measure effectiveness and
minimise risks which occur due to lack of quality of safety practices which are being
implemented at workplace like rehabilitation policy, communication and training and others.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be concluded that Woolworth NZ is following all the
practices in order to ensure safety of the workplace. The standards which are followed by
Woolworth NZ are governed by Health and safety workplace act (HSWA) 2015. This provides
all the safety measures which are required to be followed by the organization operating in New
Zealand. As per this act for safety management at workplace Woolworth NZ follow and
complete all the requirements which are safety and rehabilitation policy, communication and
training concerned with safety at the workplace and regarding respective work of the individual
in the organization. This report also discussed about Safety supervision which refers to
supervising and managing that all the regulations regarding safety are followed. Along with this
it also ensures and contributes in completion of practices which are required for ensuring safety
at the workplace. These measures are safety supervision means determination of effectiveness
and quality of safety measures, performance standards. Safety training which means giving and
accommodating training programs for ensuring adherence to safety measures at the Woolworth
NZ. Some other issues discussed regarding this are health and ill rate, ensuring accountability,
Absenteesim rate, KPI, Equipment breakdown and fitness assessment.
7

REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Banda, O. A. V. & et.al., (2016). A method for extracting key performance indicators from
maritime safety management norms. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs. 15(2). 237-
265.
Cooper, K., & Lacey, N. (2019). Physical safety and Security: Policies, spending and outcomes
2015-2020.
Ehliar, L. J., & Wagner, T. (2016). Key performance indicators for the evaluation of an air
navigation service providers' safety management system.
Haas, E. J., & Yorio, P. (2016). Exploring the state of health and safety management system
performance measurement in mining organizations. Safety science, 83, 48-58.
Hickey, D. L. (2017). Supervisors As Leading Indicators of Safety Performance. Professional
Safety. 62(04). 41-44.
Li, X. Q. & et.al., (2018, November). Application of Text Mining Techniques in Railway Safety
Supervision System. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol.
189, No. 6, p. 062009). IOP Publishing.
Neal, B. (2017). Health and Safety at Work Act 2015: Intention, implementation and outcomes
in the hill country livestock farming industry. Victoria University of Wellington Legal
Research Paper, Student/Alumni Paper. (30).
Nian, G. & et.al., (2019, May). Commercial Vehicle Dynamic Third Party Safety Supervision of
Based on GPS/Beidou Technologies. In International Symposium for Intelligent
Transportation and Smart City (pp. 251-264). Springer, Singapore.
Zhao, T. S. & et.al., (2017). Research on the third-party safety supervision service pattern of
construction projects. Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection. 43(1). 84-87.
Humayun, S.H., 2016. Merchandising operation of Woolworths Global Sourcing.
Haskins, B and et.al., 2020. Coles and Woolworths have installed public access defibrillators in
all their stores: It is time other Australian businesses followed their lead. Emergency
Medicine Australasia. 32(1). pp.166-168.
Online
Health and Safety KPIs. (2018). [Online]. Available through
<https://www.executestrategy.net/blog/kpis-health-and-safety>
1