Take a look at our ten safety essentials pages. These pages will guide you through the essentials for managing health and safety in your business. The areas below contain specialist advice for you to consider when writing your risk assessments and implementing safe systems of work & procedures to keep staff and visitors safe.

When undertaking your risk assessment for your business you may wish to look at these examples to give you ideas of hazards and control measures:

• HSE example: Local shop/newsagent (PDF)
• HSE Example risk assessment for a Charity shop (PDF, 241KB)
• The Retail Mutual: Risk Assessment Guide shops
• NFU Mutual Farm Shops

You may also wish to consider the other topics which may be relevant to parts of your premises:

• Food preparation, cooking and service
• Office based business

What you must do

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. You must assess the risk from slips and trips and take reasonable precautions.

What you should know

Slips and trips remain the single most common cause of major injury in the retail sector. Most accidents occur when

• smooth cleaned floors are left wet;
• spills are not cleaned up quickly and effectively; and
• when there is failure  to keep the floor free from contamination.

For more information see the HSE Slips and trips in retail pages.

• Preventing slips and trips at work (PDF)
• Slips and trips: Hazard Spotting Checklist (PDF)
• Slips and trips: the importance of floor cleaning (PDF)

You are required by law to carry out a risk assessment. The risk assessment will help you find out whether violence is a problem for your staff and your business, and how you can improve the situation. It will help you devise a policy and procedures for dealing with violence, as part of a wider health and safety policy for your business.

You have a legal duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of your employees, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This duty includes all forms of work-related violence, which HSE

defines as: 'Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work'. This means:

• physical violence – including kicking, spitting, hitting or pushing, as well as more extreme violence with weapons;
• verbal abuse – including shouting, swearing or insults, racial or sexual abuse; threats and intimidation.
• Tackling the risk of violence is the same as dealing with any other possible cause of harm in the workplace, such as slips and trips and lifting heavy loads.

More information:

• HSE Violence at work 
• Violence against staff in the retail sector
• Managing workplace guidance in a retail setting

Electricity can kill or severely injure people and cause damage to property. However, employers can take simple precautions when working with or near electricity and electrical equipment to significantly reduce the risk of injury to you, your workers and others around you.

In order to comply with the law you should:

• Ensure the electrical installation is inspected and maintained in good repair; and
• Ensure that any portable appliances are inspected and tested regularly (PAT Test);
• Keep a records of inspections and tests.

See our Electrical safety page for comprehensive guidance.

What you must do

Employers have a legal duty to manage the risk of musculoskeletal disorders which their workers are exposed to. Before anyone can start to control the risks in the workplace they need to know what they are, how serious they are and who is exposed to them. The first step to managing the risk is through risk assessment. This should be carried out to decide if there are enough precautions in place or if more needs to be done to prevent harm.

An assessment of the risk of musculoskeletal problems should take account of:

• All tasks involved .
• The individual capacity of the employee.
• The loads involved.
• The work environment.

This assessment should also consider the main risk factors such as manual handing, awkward postures, work organisation and vibration from equipment.

Manual handling activities should be avoided if it is reasonably practicable. If not reasonably practicable employers should assess the risk from the activity and implement effective control measures.

In practice, employers have found that initiatives for reducing musculoskeletal problems in the workplace are most successful if they involve employees and their representatives working together on risk assessment and investigating accidents.

Key messages

• you can easily take action to prevent or minimise this type of injury;
• the preventive measures are cost effective;
• involving staff is key to success;
• training staff in proper lifting techniques, use of handling aids and   raising awareness of the risks will reduce the likelihood of injuries in the future;
• early detection and reporting of aches and pains is crucial.

Further information

• Manual Handling at Work a brief guide
• Manual Handling guidance on the regulations
• Manual Handling Assessment Charts (MAC)Tool
• Good Handling Techniques
• Reducing manual handling risks in carpet retail
• Roll cages and wheeled racks - manual handling
• Musculoskeletal disorders - Frequently asked questions
• Catering Information Sheet 24: Preventing back pain and other aches and pains to kitchen and food service staff (PDF)
• Safe Transport of Roll Cages RR862

The duty to manage asbestos is directed at those who manage non-domestic premises: the people with responsibility for protecting others who work in such premises, or use them in other ways, from the risks to ill health that exposure to asbestos causes.

Duty holders must:

• take reasonable steps to find out if there are materials containing asbestos in non-domestic premises, and if so, its amount, where it is and what condition it is in
• presume materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that they do not
• make, and keep up-to-date, a record of the location and condition of the asbestos- containing materials - or materials which are presumed to contain asbestos
• assess the risk of anyone being exposed to fibres from the materials identified
• prepare a plan that sets out in detail how the risks from these materials will be managed
• take the necessary steps to put the plan into action
• periodically review and monitor the plan and the arrangements to act on it so that the plan remains relevant and up-to-date
• provide information on the location and condition of the materials to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them

For further information see:

HSE - Managing Asbestos

HSE - Managing asbestos in buildings, a short guide

HSE - Managing my asbestos, a step by step guide

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations require employers to provide a reasonable indoor temperature in the workplace.

Minimum workplace temperature

The Approved Code of Practice on the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations suggests the minimum temperature for working indoors should normally be at least:

• 16°C or
• 13°C if much of the work involves rigorous physical effort

You can find more advice on protecting workers from feeling too cold.

Higher workplace temperatures

There is no maximum temperature for workplaces.

However, all workers are entitled to an environment where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Heat is classed as a hazard and comes with legal obligations like any other hazard.

Find out what you should do to protect workers in high temperatures.

When people are too cold

You can take these practical steps to keep people as comfortable as possible when working in the cold:

• Provide adequate workplace heating, such as portable heaters, to ensure work areas are warm enough when they are occupied
• Design processes that minimise exposure to cold areas and cold products
• Reduce draughts while still keeping adequate ventilation
• Provide insulating floor coverings or special footwear when workers have to stand for long periods on cold floors
• Provide appropriate protective clothing for cold environments

You can also change work systems:

• Limit exposure by introducing systems such as flexible working patterns or job rotation
• Provide enough breaks to allow workers to get hot drinks or warm up in heated areas

Measuring temperature

Workplaces are required to provide a sufficient number of thermometers so that employees can determine the temperature in the workplace. 

In retail environments it is not acceptable to keep the front doors open and subject staff to cold drafts and working temperatures. 

For more information see the HSE Temperature  and ACAS working in extreme temperatures

Licence holders have a responsibility to ensure the safety of those using their premises, as a part of their duties under the 2003 Act. This concerns the safety of people using the relevant premises rather than public health which is addressed in other legislation. Physical safety includes the prevention of accidents and injuries and other immediate harms that can result from alcohol consumption such as unconsciousness or alcohol poisoning. Some licences will have conditions written on them that the premises licence holder must comply with. Ensure that you read your premises licence and comply with all conditions.

As a premises licence holder, if you do not manage safety your licence may be subject to a review and strict conditions maybe imposed or in extreme cases your licence may be revoked.

You will also need to ensure that you have suitable fire precautions in place;

• A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire
• Fire safety risk assessment offices and shops

Fire safety precautions are enforced by Lancashire Fire and Rescue and not the Council.