Hazard Identification
Australia has stringent requirements to ensure the safety of people including identifying hazards. Our workplace health and safety laws cover not only employees but everyone else who comes on to the premises. Being able to identify what and where the dangers are, is the first step to assessing the risks and preventing accidents and injuries.
As no two retail premises are the same, the information at the links below is very general. However, it will give you guidance on which areas to look at and how to address the issues that you might find.
Preparation
NATIONAL
Safe Work SA – Game (This game from SA is great for your younger workers to identify hazards in a variety of work settings).
ACT
NSW
NT
Qld
SA
Tas
Vic
WA
During
Hazard identification should be an ongoing part of the job for all team members. Actions such as checking equipment before its used and taking action as soon as a hazard is noticed are effective strategies to reduce accidents and injuries. All team members should be aware of how to report and mitigate hazards in their workplace.
The below links have examples of hazard checklists. Using checklists like these on a regular basis to check your workplace, may identify a potential hazard before any damage is done. Of course, identifying the hazard is only one half of the solution- the hazard needs to be removed or dealt with correctly as well.
Recovery
Once a hazard has been dealt with, records should be kept of the event for future reference. If the hazard is one that reoccurs then a different resolution may need to be found. Monitoring the effectiveness of all solutions should be a part of your strategy. Keeping current and accurate workplace health and safety records will help with this.
If a serious hazardous incident has occurred, you may be required to report it to your regulator. The link below will give information about is deemed a “notifiable incident”. Contact details for the local regulators are at the link if scroll down the page.
Contact our team
David Stout
Director Policy
National Retail Association
David is a highly-respected senior executive across a wide range of retail sectors including corporate affairs, operations, customer insights, finance, procurement, risk and regulation, stakeholder engagement, community and supply chain. He is favourably regarded as a bipartisan and ethical operative in best practice across retail and corporate industry, regional and urban councils, local and state governments, and is currently involved in multiple advisory groups / committees.