Don’t Slip Up

If you’re running a pub you will no doubt be aware of the various health and safety laws affecting you.

Though these might not be at the front of your mind given the torrent of issues hitting pubs at the moment, such as soaring business rates, inflation and the national living wage, they still form a vital part of your operations.
So you might be interested to know that the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has published results from its latest study into the UK’s food and drink industry.

You might not be too surprised to learn that the most common injury is ‘slips and trips’. This concurs with information from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) showing that occupations most affected are: kitchen assistants, chefs and waiting staff.

Your simple four step solution
Obviously it is impossible to ensure that accidents never happen on your premises. After all, you are working in an environment that has many different tripping hazards, not to mention one that uses large amounts of liquids each day. And if you have a kitchen, these liquids will often contain high grease or oil content and leave slippery residues on your floors.

That said, you must ensure that your employees and anyone else who could be affected by your work (such as visitors and members of the public), are kept safe from harm.

With that in mind, here are some tips for avoiding slips and trips on your premises.

• Elect a competent person
  One of the first things you need to do is choose an appropriate person to manage your health and safety process. If you are the licensee, that person will likely be you.
• Carry out risk assessments and routine inspections
  Ensure that your walkways, work areas and customer areas are free from spills and obstructions. Risk assess your areas and decide on the frequency that each needs checking.  It’s a good idea to establish a ‘see it, sort it’ rule with your teams which will help you keep on top of any potential issues. 

  If you are unsure about how to produce a risk assessment here is a useful link to an HSE example for a pub: http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/casestudies/pub.htm

• Record everything
  Record all accidents and near misses and have these signed by the person reporting them. This will also enable you to see patterns for problem areas. Keep these records safe as you might need to refer to them should any incidents arise.
• Training
  Your staff will need to be trained in all the potentially hazardous tasks they are likely to undertake. Make sure this is documented. This can include items such as changing barrels, dealing with broken glass and hazardous chemicals.

And you must have an emergency first aid kit and at least one appointed person to take charge of your first aid arrangements, which includes keeping your kit properly stocked.

You should also ensure your teams are aware of your first aid process.