The Health and Safety at Work etc.
Act 1974 is the legislation that
monitors health and safety management. The main objectives of this
legislation are:
To make sure employers know they have a legal responsibility to
ensure that employees, guests and other visitors work in a healthy and
safe environment.
To make sure you and all other employees understand you have a
responsibility to ensure your own safety and that of others.
Understanding health and safety law will give you a safe start. After all, they
exist to keep you, your colleagues and your guests safe.
Health and Safety inspectors and Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) will
periodically visit your workplace to check that everyone is following safe
working practices, or in response to a complaint or accident.
They will visit a workplace without notice and have a right to
enter the premises.
They can speak to staff and guests, take photos and request
documents and records.
They have the right to issue notices and prosecute for non-
compliance.
Following the reporting procedures in your workplace will help to reduce
accidents, illnesses and risks in the future.
All accidents must be reported to your manager, who will
then record the incidents in an accident report book, escalating
more serious accidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
If you identify any potential causes of accidents at work, then you must
report these to your manager.
When you're feeling ill, you should report this to your manager and
not come into work, as you could contaminate the workplace and
make your colleagues and guests ill too.
In order to promote good hygiene and welfare at work, you should have
access to the basic facilities you need to maintain your personal health.
These include:
clean drinking water you can easily access
a separate seating area where you can take your breaks
separate toilets and washing areas you can use
if required, a separate room to change clothes
clean and tidy premises.
Personal appearance and habits, washing hands properly and taking
altogether good care of yourself all play a part. You should maintain good
health and hygiene in these key areas:
hair
nose, mouth and ears
body
hands
uniform.
There are four key areas that can contribute to stress at work, which in turn
can impact your productivity and ability to do your job well:
conflict
bullying
lack of support
change.
If you think something work-related is elevating your stress levels, it's
important to try talking to somebody at work about it, ideally your manager:
Try and choose a quiet time to talk to ensure you’re properly listened
to.
If you have an ideal outcome, such as fewer hours, time off, or not
doing certain duties that make you feel worse, work with your manager
to see how they can help.
Further check-ins with your manager can also help you stay happy
at work.
Risk assessments are the best tools to avoid injury. Either an
individual or a team at your venue will be responsible for carrying them out.
The five steps are:
1. Identify the task and the hazards associated with it.
2. Decide who might be harmed and how.
3. Evaluate the seriousness of the risk and implement any precautions to
minimise it.
4. Record all significant findings and decisions.
5. Review the risk assessment, to ensure it is still effective and up to
date.
By making sure you understand the risks associated with your job and
following the correct guidelines, you'll be able to protect your colleagues,
your guests and yourself from harm.
A food allergen is an ingredient that could trigger an allergic reaction in an
individual. Allergic reactions can cause a range of unpleasant symptoms and
if left untreated, can be fatal.
People can be allergic to any food but there are 14 ingredients that need to
be declared as allergens by law:
Cereals containing gluten
Peanuts
Tree nuts
Sesame seeds
Mustard
Lupin
Celery
Soya
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
Crustaceans
Molluscs
Fish
Milk
Eggs
Before lifting or carrying any heavy loads, take a step back and assess the
job. Ask yourself the following questions:
Is the load too heavy for one person?
Will I need someone or some equipment to assist me?
Is the floor area free from hazards?
Have I been trained to carry out this task?
Should I consult my manager?
Once you've assessed the job, remember the following good lifting and
carrying techniques:
Stand as close to the load as possible, assessing its stability and
how heavy it is. Bend at the knee, grasp the load firmly and lift
using your legs and not your back.
Keep the load near to the centre of your body, ensuring that your
body is always turned in the direction you are taking. When lowering
the load, bend your knees, keeping your back flexible and relaxed.
Keep the load close to the body and ensure fingers and toes are
not below the object when putting it down.
Legionella bacteria can thrive in water systems that are poorly
maintained. This bacteria can cause Legionnaires' Disease which can be
life-threatening.
By maintaining water temperatures outside the danger zone (20°C-
45°C), the risks of exposure to Legionella can be reduced. Ensure your
venue has a robust water system management plan.
Being aware of the most common workplace hazards, how they can be prevented and the
risk minimised, is one of the ways you can contribute to health and safety at work.
Electrical hazards and flaws like loose wiring or overloaded plugs should be
reported to your manager immediately.
Using equipment incorrectly can put members of your team in danger. Ensuring
the right training and safety equipment is provided will minimise this.
Exits should always be freely accessible and fire doors should never be locked.
Workspaces should be properly ventilated, with storage to ensure guests'
belongings and workplace equipment are safely stored out of the way.
Broken glass and crockery should be wrapped in newspaper and disposed of
quickly and safely.
Spills should be cleaned up immediately and the correct signage used to alert guests
and staff to the area.
Body fluids can cause infection from bloodborne pathogens, so always take extra
precautions when carrying out hazardous tasks.
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations help make using,
handling and storing any hazardous substances safer. If these are not followed, the effects of
bad practice could lead to skin and breathing problems and even poisoning.
Managers should ensure they have completed the necessary risk assessments,
produced controls and provided the required training and equipment to ensure
everyone is safe while using hazardous substances.
Suppliers should provide an up-to-date safety data sheet on the substances they
deliver, which includes information on handling, storage and emergency measures.
Comply with any information, instruction or training that is provided. If you are
unsure, you can ask your manager for assistance.
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations help make using,
handling and storing any hazardous substances safer. If these are not followed, the effects of
bad practice could lead to skin and breathing problems and even poisoning.
Managers should ensure they have completed the necessary risk assessments,
produced controls and provided the required training and equipment to ensure
everyone is safe while using hazardous substances.
Suppliers should provide an up-to-date safety data sheet on the substances they
deliver, which includes information on handling, storage and emergency measures.
Comply with any information, instruction or training that is provided. If you are
unsure, you can ask your manager for assistance.
Fire can be harmful in three main ways:
smoke and fumes
heat and flame
structural damage.
However, there can also be fire hazards that you come into contact with in
the workplace throughout your day. Identifying any hazards and
risks and ensuring they have been minimised is the core of fire prevention.
Examples of these are:
blocked fire exits
flammable liquids
candles
faulty sockets and loose wiring
overflowing waste bins
equipment.
Your workplace will have fire exits and a planned, clear route by which
everyone can exit quickly and easily. These fire exits will be well signposted
and kept free from obstruction. In the event of a fire, keep the following steps
in mind:
Raise the alarm.
Warn management, staff and guests.
Assess the fire.
Tackle the fire if it is safe and you feel confident to do so.
Assist others to evacuate the building.
Leave the room promptly, closing the door as you go.
Leave the building by the nearest fire exit, remembering to close the
doors.
Go to the nearest fire assembly point.
Fire extinguishers are for small, manageable fires (no larger than a waste
paper bin). It’s important to know the different kinds of extinguishers and
which fires they work on.
Dry Powder (blue label): Suitable for most fires, especially those
involving flammable liquids or electrical equipment.
Foam (cream label): Suitable for combustibles and flammable
liquids. Not suitable for electrical and chip pan fires, flammable gas
and metals.
Wet Chemical (canary yellow label): Suitable for cooking oils and
fats. Not suitable for fires involving petrol.
Water (signal red label): Suitable for common combustibles. Not
suitable for flammable liquids, live electrical equipment or for fires
involving petrol.
Carbon Dioxide (black label): Suitable for live electrical fires. Not
suitable for cooking and fat fryers.
Fire blankets can be used for small kitchen fires, particularly those
involving cooking oils.
Workplaces can be perilous places if the proper health and safety
precautions and controls are not in place. The most common ways you
could harm yourself at work are:
choking
wounds and bleeding
electric shock
eye injuries
burns
fractures and sprains
heart attack
allergic reactions
If you are hurt in an accident, or there is an emergency, the main individuals
on the premises who you should report any incident to are the employer,
the first aider and the appointed person.
When there is an emergency in the workplace, whether it's an accident or
someone is in medical distress, how you respond is the difference between
life and death.
The primary survey is the procedure you must follow when you first
encounter a casualty:
Check for a response by gently calling the casualty's name.
If there is no response, check for any obstruction in the airway.
If there is no obvious obstruction, check for breathing using all your
senses.
Check for any severe bleeding.
If your casualty is not breathing, you should call an ambulance and proceed
immediately to basic life support, also known as CPR.
Place the heel of one hand in the centre of the chest, the other on top.
Press on the chest by about 4-6 cm, then release.
Repeat 30 times at a rate of 100 to 120 per minute.
Open airway, squeeze the nostrils and blow into their mouth for around
one second, repeat once.
Continue this routine until help arrives or they regain consciousness.
After you have called an ambulance, assessed the emergency and ensured
the casualty is in no immediate danger, there are a few more procedures you
can follow to minimise any further risks while you wait for help.
The recovery position is a safe and comfortable position you can use for
casualties who are breathing.
Straighten the legs.
Place the nearest arm at a right angle, with the hand roughly level with
the head.
Put the back of the other hand next to the cheek closest to you and
hold it there.
Bend the far knee, grasp the far leg and roll them onto their side.
Straighten the knee to support the body, open airway, then listen and
feel for breath.
If there is any possibility of head, neck or spinal injuries, then you shouldn’t
use the recovery position and wait for help to arrive instead.
If your casualty is breathing and conscious, the secondary survey is a good
way to check with them about the cause of the injury or incident.
Talk to the casualty and gain as much information as possible about
what happened.
Using all your senses, check them over from head to toe, paying
particular attention if they are incoherent.
