Contribute to Workplace Health and Safety

This article discusses workplace health and safety legislation, hazards that place employees and customers at risk, and ways to eliminate or reduce these risks. It covers topics such as the purpose of health and safety legislation, hazards in supermarkets, and how to control and reduce hazards. The article also provides information on stress, workplace bullying, and loud noise hazards, among others.

CONTRIBUTE TO
WORKPLACE HEALTH
AND SAFETY

Table of Content.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Purpose and aim of health and safety legislation that applied to supermarket............................1
Hazards that are place employees and customer at risk...............................................................2
Eliminate or reduce the risk of each hazards which cause harm to the employees or customers:
......................................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Workplace health and safety is also explained as the occupational heath and safety. It is a
regulation and procedure used to prevent accident and injury at premises or environments. This
help to protects employees, consumers and visitors at workplaces. These measures are used to
maintain and protect the mental and physical well being of workers and visitors. These are
provide a safe place of work, safe equipment, proper facilities and carry out risk assessment
(Black, (2019)).
MAIN BODY
Purpose and aim of health and safety legislation that applied to supermarket
The purpose of health and safety legislation is provide the safeguard the welfare of those
employment and not put other or themselves in danger. Supermarket should follow the
Occupational Safety and Health 1984 as well as The Food Act 2006. In 1984 Australia establish
Occupational Safety and Health Act to provide health and safety to employees and visitors. The
purpose of this act is identify the hazards and and provide appropriate control measures are
implemented to protect employees and visitors from risk to their safety, health and welfare. In
the supermarket there is also applied The Food Act 2006 and it is the main food safety legislation
in Australia. The main objective of the aim is ensure that the sale of food is safe and suitable for
human consumption. It is used to prevent deceptive conduct in relation to the sale of food. It is
help to regulates the egg, meat, dairy product, vegetables and sprouts (Erimia, (2018)).
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission plays a crucial role to regulates
supermarket. It is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority which regulates to enforce
the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. It is developed a series of additional laws, promoting
competition, fair trade and regulates national infrastructure for the benefit of the Australians. The
Australian Consumer law also protect against business that make false claim about grocery items
(Eisler, & Smith, (2021)).
According to the Occupational Health and Safety 1984, there is section 19(1) and section
19(2) which describe the hazards id the duties of the employees. According to section 19
supermarket should maintain and provide system of work to employees that are not exposed to
hazards. It is provide the information, instructions and training to the workers which are
necessary to increase their performance and decrease the hazards exposure. It is explain that the
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cleaning, maintenance and disposal of plant of the supermarket. It is help to promotes the
profitable efficient operation, use and investment in infrastructure and help to determine the
marker failure. This is also includes the handling, processing, storage and disposal substances
which are carried out at superstores (Campbell et. al.,(2019)).
The supermarkets are divided into sections such as diary, bakery, frozen, meat, fruits and
vegetables along with the general grocery which includes packaged goods, cleaning supplies and
personal hygiene items. The supermarkets are free to set their prices and discounts on their
goods and services and they must set their prices independently of their competitors. Prices
which displayed by any supermarket must be clear, accurate and not misleading to the customers.
There are some major issues that are faced by supermarkets. It includes inventory loss, injury to
customers, property damage and injury to workers. The Australian Consumer Laws are regulates
the accurate prices. According to the this the prices of the goods must be display clear and
accurate. Certain supermarket retailers are display unit pricing on their shelf labels. According to
The Australian Consumer Law, If incorrectly priced item mislead to the customers, this is serious
offence of the supermarket. There are some challenges faced by super stores and includes
modern marketing, maintain customer base, internal communication, maintain consumer base
and effective retail and digital marketing.
The Occupational Health and Safety assessment is monitor the premises condition to
determine and eliminate hazards. This is help to identify, assess and control hazards within the
premises. This is developed personal protective equipments and gives emergency plans and
procedure. This is assist in the ensuring appropriate investigation and review of action taken by
person under this act (Freidlin & Korn, (2019)).
Hazards that are place employees and customer at risk
Hazards is a phenomenon that cause loss of life, injury and cause other health impact,
property damage, social and economic interruption and environmental degradation. Hazards are
mainly caused by natural environmental factors as well as human environmental factors. There
are some hazard which are present at the supermarket. Common hazards includes demanding
customers, irregular shift work , working alone, sustained awkward positions, lifting and moving
heavy objects and long hour standings. There are also sexual harassment and cold storage are
hazards. It will cause frostbite, fear, emotional stress, anxiety and physical illness.
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Lifting and Handling Material : Improper techniques of lifting, actuation, pulling and
wriggling can cause tension, pain and cause other serious injury in the body. There are some
issues that are contribute to cause potential risk. These includes improper techniques, physical
capabilities along with pre existing conditions.
Over exercise and injury : Over extension, stress is a major cause of inflammation of
joints and ligaments that care cause by the excessive physical activity. By these it may cause
pain, discomfort, swallowing and some debilitating.
Workplace Violence : Workplace violence is explained as the threat of violence, ranging
from verbal abuse to physical attempt directed toward person at the premises. Workplace
violence includes direct physical attempts, written, verbal threats and physical harassment. It is
reduce the productivity, increased turnover, decrease staff morale and it reduce the quality of
life. It can affect the employees, customers, contractor and other visitors.
Box Cutters, Knives and other sharp things : Sharps and needles may only cause small
wounds or injury on the skins. There instruments come in contact with the skin or blood and may
cause infection in the body. This is cause cuts, impairment, stabbing wounds into body or arm
and increase joint and nerve pain from repetitive motion that can a sign of permanent crippling
injury (Lu, Liu & Shu, (2019)).
Stress at working area : Employees feel stress when the condition of their job are
excessive greater then their capacity. That will cause mental problems and sometimes workers
suffering from prolonged stress that can cause serious physical health problems. These health
problems includes cardiovascular disease as well as musculoskeletal problems.
Workplace bullying : Workplaces bulling is explained as the mistreatment form other at
the premises. These can cause physical and emotional harm and it can includes such tactics as
verbal, non verbal psychological and physical. This create a risk of health and safety of the
employees. Sometimes bullying behaviour often involves an abuse and misuse of power, create
felling of unprotected and undermines an individual's right to dignity at work.
Loud and Intermittent Noise : Tools and that equipments which are vibrate and make
loud noise can cause hearing loss and other serious injury in the body.
Forklifts and Pallet Jacks: The condition of the forklift working area can present a
number of hazards including debris, puddles, unstable ground and floor obstructions. Wet and
slippery floors can cause a forklifts to skid. These are mechanical hazards are caused bending,
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punching, pulling and crush accidents that can cause break of bone and other serious injuries
(Yagoub & Al Yammahi, (2022)).
Eliminate or reduce the risk of each hazards which cause harm to the employees or customers:
Worker or employees should control to eliminate or minimize the risk of injury. Workers
should identify the health and safety risk and should design the solution of the risks. This process
is known as risk assessment and sometimes require to carry7 the laws and legislation to manage
risk and injures. In the risk assessment there is no need to create any paper work but it is require
to identify the sensible measures to control the risk in workplaces. These are the necessary steps
which are taken to protect the employees or workers and visitors. Risk assessment help to
decides the all needs of the premises and workers. To reduce the hazards there is need to identify
the potential hazards at supermarket. Hazards control programs consist the all necessary steps to
protect the workers from exposure to the a substances. There are some training programs and the
procedure are require to monitor worker exposure. There are chemical, material and substances
and noise as well as vibration are the hazards which cause serious injury in the body and cause
mental illness (Nnaji, & Karakhan, (2020)).
To control hazards evaluate and select temporary and permanent control is require for the
risk assessment. There are some process which can use to reduce hazards. It includes
elimination, substitution, engineering control, administrative control along with personal
protective equipment. Elimination is the process to remove the hazards from the workplace on
the other hand substitution is the process to replace the hazardous material and machines with the
less hazardous material. Engineering controls includes design and modified equipment,
ventilation systems and processes that reduce the sources of exposure. Administrative control is
explained as the way of the work is done including timing of work, policies, rules and
regulations. It is also includes the work practices which includes standard operating procedure,
training, housekeeping , personal hygiene practices. Personal protective equipments are use to
reduces the exposure of hazards such as chemical and noise. Personal Protective equipments
includes the face mask, gloves, shoes, face shied, PPE kit, respiratory protector, eye protector
and ear protector (Byock, (2020)).
To reduce the Forklifts and Pallet Jacks check the floor for ruts, bumps and other
imperfections. Guided them to never place feet under a pallet jack, never exceed a pallet jack's
load capacity. This can be reduce by the proper education and guidance from employees to
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reduces the accidents. It can also decrease by wearing PPE kits, always wear gloves when
handling pallets.
To reduce handling material hazards there is require to reduce ergonomic risk factor,
provide personal protective equipments, upgrade the equipments which are used at premises and
use the right equipments.
Stress at the workplace is major hazards it can be reduce by introduce wellness schemes
at work places. Employees and workers should spend a lot of time with their co-workers
therefore it is important to they get along with each other. It is important to keep employees well-
informed of the latest development and departmental changes. This can help to reduce stress and
anxiety. There are use mechanical lifting aids and equipments and providing training to ensure
lifting aids and equipments ate used correctly. Designing the store so it limits the need to push,
pull or carry the equipments (Yang et. al., (2018)).
Cold storage hazards are cause frostbite to reduce these hazard ensure that people cannot
be locked inside cold rooms and provide PPE to spend limit time in cold storage. Hazards can
also control by modifying working area and layout of premises and this can help in eliminate
double handling. There should be ensure that there should have proper space to access shelving
system, cold storage room, wash rooms and equipment to reduce twisting or work in
consideration postures. Supermarket provide the proper rest, breaks and working in rotational
shifts and ensure that there workload are appropriate according to physical capacity of workers.
It should also ensure that the floor and surfaces are maintained in good, smooth and clear
condition to promote the effective use of trolleys and reduce hazard of slips.
Administrative control is the last line of reduce and eliminate of hazards. This includes
provision of training, supervision and information. It may help to develop and guide the health
and safety procedures and policies (Kinnan, (2022)).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been concluded that the there are various risk hazards are
present at the supermarket. These are affect the employees, workers and visitors which are
related with the supermarket. Hazard control are the necessary to avoid the injuries, risks, illness
and help to remove incidents. These are assess employees and customers to working in safe and
healthful working conditions.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Black, R. (2019). Reforming biosecurity legislation in developing countries: increasing market
access or maintaining unequal terms of trade?. Journal of World Trade, 53(5).
Byock, I. (2020). Heroism and Hypocrisy: Seeing Our Reflection with 2020 Vision. Journal of
palliative medicine, 23(11), 1417-1418.
Campbell, R. & et. al.,(2019). Risking safety and rights: online sex work, crimes and ‘blended
safety repertoires’. The British journal of sociology, 70(4), 1539-1560.
Eisler, P., & Smith, G. (2021). Tracking incarcerated individual mortality in local jails. American
Journal of Public Health, 111(S2), S63-S64.
Erimia, C. L. (2018). Harmonization of the National Legislation on Cosmetic Products in the
Context of the Standardization of the European Legislation in the Field. European
Journal of Medicine and Natural Scinces Articles, 2.
Freidlin, B., & Korn, E. L. (2019). Methods for accommodating nonproportional hazards in
clinical trials: ready for the primary analysis?. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 37(35),
3455.
Kinnan, C. (2022). Distinguishing barriers to insurance in Thai villages. Journal of Human
Resources, 57(1), 44-78.
Lu, Y. M., Liu, S. H., & Shu, C. M. (2019). Evaluation of thermal hazards based on
thermokinetic parameters of 2-(1-cyano-1-methylethyl) azocarboxamide by ARC and
DSC. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 138(4), 2873-2881.
Nnaji, C., & Karakhan, A. A. (2020). Technologies for safety and health management in
construction: Current use, implementation benefits and limitations, and adoption
barriers. Journal of Building Engineering, 29, 101212.
Yagoub, M. M., & Al Yammahi, A. A. (2022). Spatial distribution of natural hazards and their
proximity to heritage sites: Case of the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of
Disaster Risk Reduction, 71, 102827.
Yang, X. and et. al., (2018). Impact of frailty on mortality and hospitalization in chronic heart
failure: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of the American Heart
Association, 7(23), e008251.
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