Risk Management in W Supermarkets

This report provides an overview of the risk management strategies and policies of W Supermarkets, a leading Australian retail chain. It discusses the hazard identification, risk assessment, and control measures implemented by the company. The report also includes recommendations for improving risk management practices. The research methodology involves the collection of secondary data and primary data through employee surveys. The report highlights the importance of WHS policies, procedures, and programs in ensuring a safe work environment. It also examines the role of the PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking) in health and safety legislations.

Running head: RISK MANAGEMENT
Risk Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Executive Summary:
An overview of the report shows that W Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain listed
on the ASX. The retail chain is headquartered in Sydney, enjoying presence in Canberra, Perth,
Brisbane and Melbourne. This means that the company is finanancially strong to adopt strong
hazard management policies. An analysis of the current hazard management policies of the
supermarket chain leads to uncovering several key facts. First, it is clear from the discussion that
the risk management strategies of W Supermarket Ltd are efficient. Secondly, the risk
management procedure of the company follows its established hierarchy of the control. Thirdly,
the hazard management procedure of the company enables employees to report hazards
identified by various modes like emails. Fourth, the hazard management policies of the retail
chain is effective. The discussion also leads to putting forward four recommendations. The first
recommendation is that management of W Supermarkets should conduct internal risk
management audit. The second recommendation is that the management should provide training
to employees. It can also be recommended that, the management should restructure the safety
installments and supply chain of the company.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary:........................................................................................................................1
Part one. Introduction:.....................................................................................................................5
Purpose of the report:...................................................................................................................5
Company profile in brief- W Supermarkets Limited:..................................................................5
Structure:......................................................................................................................................5
Number of employees:.................................................................................................................7
Name of OHS Act applying to the company:..............................................................................7
Nature of work performed (Business):........................................................................................7
Research methodology:...............................................................................................................8
Part two. The body of the report:.....................................................................................................8
A. Identifying hazards, assessing risks and controlling risks:.........................................................8
Part A(a). WHS policies, procedures and programs:......................................................................8
Part A(b). Hazard identification:....................................................................................................9
Part A(c). Risk assessment:...........................................................................................................10
Part A(d). Risk control:.................................................................................................................10
Hazard identification:................................................................................................................10
Hazard assessment and control:.....................................................................................................11
Hazard control implementation:................................................................................................11
Hazard control monitoring:........................................................................................................11

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Role of hierarchy of control and evaluation of effectiveness of control:..................................11
Part A(e). WHS consultation:........................................................................................................11
Part A(f). Specific WHS hazards and their associated risks:........................................................12
Part A(g). WHS training:...............................................................................................................12
B. Role of the PCBU:....................................................................................................................13
PCBU’s legal responsibilities in health and safety legislations as per health and safety
legislation:......................................................................................................................................13
Duties of supervisors/team leaders in providing care to workers etc. in the work place:.............13
Legal responsibilities of workers (including section number of WHS/OHS Act):.......................13
The extent to which workplace policies, procedures and programs as well as the culture of the
organisation support the supervisors / team leaders in implementing their WHS/OHS
responsibilities:..............................................................................................................................13
Training level of employees:.....................................................................................................14
Systems, policies, procedures etc. assist supervisors / team leaders to implement safe work
procedures and practices:...........................................................................................................14
Recommendations:........................................................................................................................14
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................14
Bibliography:.................................................................................................................................15

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Part one. Introduction:
Purpose of the report:
The aim of the report would be exploring the legal compliance, regulations and codes of
practices companies operating in the Australia have to ensure in the area of work health and
safety. The researcher in order to conduct the research would take into account W
Supermarkets Limited, a fictitious retail chain operating in multiple locations in Australia.
Company profile in brief- W Supermarkets Limited:
W Supermarkets Limited is a retail chain listed on ASX and headquartered in Sydney.
The company operates in multiple locations in Australia and markets a wide range of products.
As far as size of the supermarket is concerned, it is a large-scale retail chain giving tough
competition to the leading retail chains in the country like Coles. The retail chain was established
in 2014 in Sydney. W Supermarkets Limited has expanded its operations to Canberra,
Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, thus emerging as one of the fastest growing retail chains in the
country. The product umbrella of the retail chain consists of food products, apparel products,
skincare products and electronic products. The banking partner of the company is
Commonwealth Bank of Australia or CBA which handles its online financial transactions
including payments to suppliers and receiving payments from customers.
Structure:
W Supermarkets Limited operates in multiple locations in Australia including
Sydney, its headquarters, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. The management of
the company functions under the leadership of the CEO who leads the board of directors. The
board of directors consists of five members. The directors supervise the managers who in turn

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Chief Executive Officer
CFO, Director of
finance
Director of
marketing
Director of HR Director of
Operations Director of
Technology
Manager, Store
marketing
Manager Online
marketing
Manager, Outdoor
marketing
Manager, Bills
payable
Manager, Bills
Receivable
Manager, asset
manager
Manager,
Sydney
Manager,
Canberra
Manager,
Melbourne
Manager,
Perth
Manager,
Brisbane
Manager,
WHS risk
Manager,
SHRM
supervise the assistant managers. The company in order to ensure dynamic decision making
in crucial areas of decision making like risk compliance and management follows a flat
structure.

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Number of employees:
W Supermarkets Limited employs more than a hundred and fifty employees located in
the five locations. The management of the retail chain in order to ensure smooth operations,
ensure that a minimum of twenty employees in each location.
Name of OHS Act applying to the company:
W Supermarket Limited complies with several work, health and safety laws applicable to
workplaces in Australia. The central legislation on with which the company has to comply is
Safe Work Australia Act 20081.
Nature of work performed (Business):
The nature of work performed at W Supermarkets Limited consists of marketing a wide
range of high quality products acquired from a wide range of suppliers. The suppliers of the
company consists of both local suppliers, especially in terms of acquiring organic food products.
The suppliers of the company also consists of international companies, especially in terms of
apparel products, skincare products and electronic products. W Supermarkets Limited markets
products using three main marketing channels. They are physical outlets held by the company,
ecommerce portal attached to official website of company and third party ecommerce portals.
The authorized ecommerce partner of the company is Amazon.com. The work environment of W
Supermarkets Limited is safe and secure. This is because the management of the supermarket
complies with the WHS laws in power in Australia. The organizational culture of the
supermarket weaves diversity management and risk management into its fabric. The
management of the supermarket ensures that the employees are not harassed and/or bullied on
1 ."Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au", Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/>

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the grounds of cultural back and gender. The management of the company has established risk
management policies, which involve both the internal as well as external stakeholders.
Research methodology:
The process of collection of data for the conducting the research would involve collection
of secondary data and primary data. The secondary data collection of data analyses consists of
analyses of secondary sources of data like official websites of the Government of Australia and
Safe Work Australia2. The secondary sources of data would also consist of books, articles,
newspapers 3.The secondary data would also consist of specific codes, current workplace policies
pertaining to OHS and methods in which companies can apply them. The primary research
approach which has been adopted to conduct the research consists of survey of employees.
Part two. The body of the report:
A. Identifying hazards, assessing risks and controlling risks:
Part A(a). WHS policies, procedures and programs:
The work, health and safety policies of W Supermarkets Limited state that the the retail
chain is committed to provide safe work environment by adopting a number of policies which
include training of the employees of all designations on WHS risk management and consultative
committee headed by the manager, WHS risks and the Director, HR. The WHS policies of the
supermarket chain also consists of SafeWork procedure implementation, hazard identification,
2 ."Australia.Gov.Au", Australia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.australia.gov.au/directories/australia/safeworkaustralia>
3 Potter, Rachael E., Maureen F. Dollard, Mikaela S. Owen, Valerie O'Keeffe, Tessa Bailey, and Stavroula Leka.
"Assessing a national work health and safety policy intervention using the psychosocial safety climate
framework." Safety science 100 (2017): 91-102.

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risk assessment and control, evacuation procedures and safety audit. The audit takes places both
internally and external. The WHS policies of W Supermarket Limited are listed below:
1. The risks management policies should involve all the employees.
2. The risk management policies should aim to mitigate or at least minimize the risks in order to
ensure minimum damage to the operations of the retail chain.
3. The risk management policies should be aligned with the legislations of Australia pertaining to
WHS employees in power.
4. The company would provide training to the employees to enable them to established risk
management policies.
5. Any breach of the policies should be dealt with strictly.
Part A(b). Hazard identification:
The following is the hazard identification process which the company follows:
1. Lower level employees should report risks identified to the apex management
2. The hazards identified and reported by the lower level employees are analyzed and prioritized
by the management. The management of W Supermarkets take into considerations the factors
like likelihood and their impacts on the business. For example, if the two risks identified are
WHS risks like slippery floor and lack of sufficient fire extinguishing system and revenue risks
due to possible entry of a new retail chain into the Australian retail industry, the former would
get priority over the second. The management would first take steps to deal with the WHS risks
and may seek consultation of experts.
3. The risk assessment of the supermarket chain includes use of risk matrices and risk registers.

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4. The management should form risk management strategies by analyzing the risks identified.
5. The lower level employees should implement the strategies.
6. The management should conduct risk audits.
7. The management should maintain all records of WHS issues and obtain consultation whenever
required.
Part A(c). Risk assessment:
The documentation to be used is risk register. The work team is consulted at all phases of
risk management.
Part A(d). Risk control:
The process used to control hazard would follow the hazard control procedures
mentioned above. The hazard control mechanism of the company should involve both the
management and employees. The following are the hazard control processes which management
should implement in the organisation:
Hazard identification:
The lower level employees should identify their hazards and report the same to their
respective reporting managers or skill level managers immediately in form of an official email.
The hazards may include but not limited to concerns like WHS risks, asset thefts and information
loss detected in the database of the company.

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Hazard assessment and control:
The management of W Supermarkets would assess the reported hazards on the grounds
of their consequences and likelihood. The management of the company should form strategies to
control the hazards.
Hazard control implementation:
The management of the company should outline the hazard control implementation. The
employees should implement the hazard control as per the directions of the management.
Hazard control monitoring:
The hazard control monitoring consists of the monitoring of the outcomes of the
implementation of the hazard control implementation functions. The management would take
further steps to strengthen the hazard control methods4.
Role of hierarchy of control and evaluation of effectiveness of control:
The entire hazard management should proceed under the direction of the management.
The hierarchy of control at W Supermarkets is effective in hazard management and involvement
of work teams. The use of hierarchy of control of risks which takes place in W
Supermarkets depends on the types of risks identified. For example, the risk identified is
legal risks due to changes in laws. The hierarchy of control used here is administrative
controls. The supermarket aligns its policies as per the new laws. Again, if the risk
identified is risk of fire during the a broken wire, the broken wire is substituted with a new
wire. The hierarchy of control used in this case is substitution. Again, if the risk which the
employees identify is slippery floor owing to oil spilt on the floor accidentally, the oil is
4 "Business.Gov.Au", Business.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) <https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/health-
and-safety>

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cleaned and the portion of the floor is dried. Hence, the process of hierarchy of control here
is elimination. Engineering is used to comes to play while maintaining the risk management
systems like advancement of the firefighting infrastructure PPE or personal protective
equipment like gloves are provided to employees involved in activities like cleaning the
premises which involve use of corrosive cleaning agents. Thus, it can be established that
processes of hierarchy of control is heavily used in hazard management of W
Supermarkets. The management of the supermarket also consults risk management firm if
the risk identified appears to be complex.
The hierarchy of control is effective in control hazards at the W Supermarkets. The
outcome of adoption of the risk management process using the hierarchy of control enables
the retail company to manage risks efficiently to the feasible extent. The work team is
informed about the results of the risk assessment and the risk controlling processes.
Part A(e). WHS consultation:
The WHS consultation mechanism involves maintenance of detailed records of the past
WHS issue records and gain consultation of third party firms5. The consultation mechanisms
used are face to face meetings and video conferencing. The retail chain also uses procedures like
emails, training, start-of-day talks or huddles, committee visits and visits by Health and Safety
Representatives6. This enables real time reporting of the WHS risks, which contributes towards
5 "Safework.Nsw.Gov.Au", Safework.Nsw.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) <https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/safety-
starts-here/consultation@work/health-and-safety-representatives>
6 "Comcare.Gov.Au", Comcare.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.comcare.gov.au/preventing/governance/health_and_safety_representatives_hsrs>

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making the WHS risk assessment and management mechanism of the company strong7. For
example, the employee identifies a loose wire; he must immediate meet the reporting
manager to report about the hazards. An evaluation of the hazards’ reporting system
shows that it is insufficient. The hazard reporting methods should include methods like
simply sending a text message or making a call to the manager, in case the hazard needs to
managed on immediate basis8. All the hazards are to be recorded in risk registers for
future references as shown excel attached.
Part A(f). Specific WHS hazards and their associated risks:
Attached in the list.
Part A(g). WHS training:
The safety training programs conducted at W Supermarkets consisted of training of all
employees. The training needs like lack of knowledge about hazards and how to deal with them
among employees were addressed. Safety training should be undertaken in order to enhance the
risk management capabilities of the employees9.
7 "Worksafe.Qld.Gov.Au", Worksafe.Qld.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) <https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/injury-
prevention-safety/managing-risks/managing-risk>
8 "Safeworkaustralia.gov.au", Safeworkaustralia.gov.au, 2019,
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/electrical-safety.
9 ."Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au", Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/

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B. Role of the PCBU:
PCBU’s legal responsibilities in health and safety legislations as per health and safety
legislation:
As per section 19 of the Guide To The Model Work Health And Safety Act, The
Persons Conducting a Business (PCBU) or Undertaking or employers are legally responsible for
maintaining WHS standards with the retail chain10. The primary responsibilities of primary
duty or primary duty of care of the PCBUs are to ensure legal compliance of the WHS acts in
power in states including Victoria11.
Duties of supervisors/team leaders in providing care to workers etc. in the work place:
The TLs are responsible for training employees and ensuring their operations aligned
with the risk management policies. The TLs are also responsible for mentoring the employees.
Legal responsibilities of workers (including section number of WHS/OHS Act):
The workers are legally responsible for following the WHS laws. Part 1, Division 3.
Subdivision 2 of Work Health and Safety Act 2011 deals with the PCBUs12
10 "Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au", Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/guide-to-the-whs-act-at-
21-march-2016.pdf>
11 "Legislation.Gov.Au", Legislation.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00305>
12 "Legislation.Qld.Gov.Au", Legislation.Qld.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2011-018>

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The extent to which workplace policies, procedures and programs as well as the culture of
the organisation support the supervisors / team leaders in implementing their WHS/OHS
responsibilities:
Training level of employees:
The employees are well trained.
Systems, policies, procedures etc. assist supervisors / team leaders to implement safe work
procedures and practices:
The systems enable supervisors to implement safe work procedures.
Recommendations:
Recommendations Responsible person(s)
The the management of W Supermarkets should conduct internal risk
management audit
Management
Recommended that the training should be provided quarterly. HR
Restructuring of the safety installments WHS risk manager
Restructuring of the suppliers Marketing manager
. It can also be
Conclusion:
It can be concluded from the discussion above that the management of W Supermarkets
should make its risk management strategies more stringent. The company should align the risk
management strategies with the organizational culture.

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Bibliography:
1."Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au", Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/
2."Australia.Gov.Au", Australia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.australia.gov.au/directories/australia/safeworkaustralia
3. Potter, Rachael E., Maureen F. Dollard, Mikaela S. Owen, Valerie O'Keeffe, Tessa Bailey, and
Stavroula Leka. "Assessing a national work health and safety policy intervention using the
psychosocial safety climate framework." Safety science 100 (2017): 91-102.
4"Worksafe.Qld.Gov.Au", Worksafe.Qld.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/injury-prevention-safety/managing-risks/managing-risk
5"Business.Gov.Au", Business.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) https://www.business.gov.au/risk-
management/health-and-safety
6"Legislation.Gov.Au", Legislation.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00305
7. "Legislation.Qld.Gov.Au", Legislation.Qld.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2011-018
6. "Safeworkaustralia.gov.au", Safeworkaustralia.gov.au, 2019,
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/electrical-safety.
7. "Comcare.Gov.Au", Comcare.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.comcare.gov.au/preventing/governance/health_and_safety_representatives_hsrs

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8. "Safework.Nsw.Gov.Au", Safework.Nsw.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/safety-starts-here/consultation@work/health-and-safety-
representatives
9. "Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au", Safeworkaustralia.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019)
<https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/guide-to-the-whs-act-at-
21-march-2016.pdf>