SCENARIO

You have recently moved to a new job. You are now responsible for health and safety at a large, busy retail store that is located on the outskirts of a large town served by good roads. The store sells do-it-yourself (DIY) and hardware goods, such as tools, equipment, and hazardous chemicals, to local businesses and the general public. The organization that owns the store has 100 stores nationally and 10 in your area.

The main part of the store is open to customers to view and buy goods. At the back of the store, through an automatic-opening door, is a large warehouse, where stocks of goods are arranged on racks of shelving. Only store workers are allowed in the warehouse. Warehouse workers use forklift trucks (FLTs) to move goods from delivery trucks into the warehouse. When the store is closed to customers the goods are moved into the main part of the store to restock shelves.

You report to the overall Store and Warehouse Manager. The warehouse workforce consists of:

- 20 workers (including 2 shift supervisors) split equally between two 12-hour shifts (08:00 – 20:00 and 20:00 – 08:00) on a rota basis of 4 days on, 4 days off.

Since you started your new job, you have seen a lot of examples of rule-breaking in the warehouse. For example, you have seen goods stacked in aisles and blocking designated walkways. Workers have to avoid many obstacles as they walk through the warehouse, causing them to step into vehicle routes. Workers have told you that there are frequent near-misses between FLTs and workers, and collisions with products causing damage and spillages. There are no written records of any of these.

There have been many injuries recorded over the years. Most recently, a repeat of a more serious collision occurred involving a young FLT driver. The brakes were applied too late, as the driver was distracted by their mobile phone, the FLT skidded on an oil spillage and knocked goods over onto a passing worker.

On this occasion, the worker’s leg was broken, which required urgent hospital treatment. The hospital is 5 miles (approximately 8km) away from the store. The worker is expected to be off work for six weeks to recover from the injury. The injured worker is seeking legal advice to make a compensation claim.

Worker absence and turnover are high in the warehouse. There are no health and safety worker representatives. Warehouse workers have told you that they have complained to management about working conditions many times. They rarely see management in the warehouse. You cannot find any written records of complaints.

You have tried to convince the overall Store and Warehouse Manager that something needs to be done to improve health and safety in the warehouse. You are told that there is no money for ‘that kind of thing’, and even if it were available, it would cause too much disruption to the business.

s a result of the recent FLT collision, you were visited by a labor Inspector who has made a formal order that requires workplace changes to improve the health and safety of the workers. The Inspector thinks it is only a matter of time before workers are more seriously injured or even killed in the warehouse. The Inspector also observed that the written risk assessments are too general and do not reflect the actual risks in the warehouse. The Inspector wants to see a more effective health and safety management system at their next visit.

You have discussed with the Inspector possible improvements to health and safety in the warehouse. The proposed solution involves segregating FLTs and workers with barriers, pedestrian walkways, designated crossing places, and separate entrances for workers and FLTs. In addition, you tell the Inspector that you will review health and safety performance, internally and externally, to make comparisons.

Task 1:- What financial arguments could you use to justify your proposed recommendations to segregate FLTs and the workers?

Task 2:- You email a report to the overall Store and Warehouse Manager, in a further attempt to convince them that safety needs improving. The report contains unsafe behavior that you have observed, unsafe behavior associated with historic incidents, and unsafe behavior relayed to you from other workers. Also, the report contains voluntary feedback on safety given to you by workers and managers. (a) what unsafe behavior would be included in the report? (b) what voluntary feedback would be included in the report?

(a) Report on unsafe behavior would include

(b) Voluntary feedback was given by workers and managers could include

Task 3:- When selecting the external contractors, what would you consider when assessing their competence?

Task 4:- To satisfy the expectations of the Inspector, you have developed a formal safety management system in line with ISO 45001.  Based on the scenario only, what are the likely benefits to the organization of having this formal safety management system?

Task 5:- What are the negative indicators of safety culture at the warehouse?

Task 6:- What do you need to consider so that first-aid needs are realistic and proportionate for the warehouse workers?

Task 7:- Decide what level of investigation (minimal, low, medium, high) is appropriate in this case, clearly justifying each step you take that leads to your decision.

Task 8:- What individual human factors could have negatively influenced the behavior of the young FLT driver?

Task 9:- The investigation into the recent accident, when a worker’s leg was broken, is now focusing on management failures.  Based on the scenario only, what management failures could have contributed to this accident?

Task 10:- (a) Based on evidence from the scenario only, comment on how the organization is performing in the following areas 

(i) active and reactive monitoring. 

(ii) the adequacy of current risk assessments.

(iii) operational procedures and rules. 

(iv) compliance with legal requirements. 

(b) Based on evidence from the scenario only, what sources of benchmarking information could be used?