talking trade: garden centre health and safety


Hidden in plain sight: slips, trips and falls in garden centres


Southalls chief executive John Southall gives his advice on avoiding some of the most common health and safety issues in garden centres


T


ake a large retail premises spread over indoor and outdoor environments, bulky display areas, glass houses, water, electricity, seasonal layout changes, product lines including the delicate, massive, sharp and unwieldy, and combine trade deliveries, storage, and car park loading - all within a unique ‘family browsing’ setting. That’s a lot of health and safety considerations! One key safety consideration for any


garden centre is slips, trips and falls. The main problem for slips, trips and falls is that there’s


normally no opportunity to consider the hazard. No-one


stops to decide whether to trip or not. It just happens... And it happens because we’re not aware of the hazard in that moment.


If the hazard was clear, it would pose no threat – we could easily adjust for it. For example, change pace, hold rail, step over or around. But you can keep one step ahead if you remove likely hazards from your site and make any remaining hazards clear so that people can notice and adjust for them.


Assessing risk


Consider direct causes of trips such as steps, kerbs, uneven floor surfaces and other level changes. Look out for obstacles that could present a tripping hazard like trailing hoses, temporary cables, low walls, fixed display or pot plants. Slips commonly arise from plant watering, wet leaves, slime around water features or ice in winter months. Falling products, either from unsecured items on racking or toppling items, all present direct causes of injury.


Indirect or circumstantial causes may arise with seasonal display changes, e.g. carrying a Christmas tree down steps or poor lighting and visibility – inside and out, e.g. steps hidden in shadows on bright days.


Risk assessment hints


Think of the static environment. Try to see your garden centre with new eyes and walk along the traffic routes – you might find unexpected distractions, for example blinding reflections from the sun hide a step at certain times of the day/seasons.


Think beyond the ‘average visitor’ to the edge cases, considering the most vulnerable or at risk; people with poor eyesight, elderly, or children. Think of the dynamic environment and the different routine and unusual activities that take place. For example, daily watering of plants creates a trip risk with hoses and a potential slip risk from water run-off and weekly hedge trimming creates a tripping risk from cables.


16 | www.gardencentreupdate.com


Reducing risk When you’ve identified your hazards, take action to prevent or minimise them - have edges marked, fill holes and fix uneven floor areas, rake leaves, store tools, use hazard warning signs according to health and safety guidelines. Look for systematic solutions, for example re-layout areas of the shop floor to improve visibility, relocate products, fix leaks in roofs or gutters to prevent puddles, trim trees to prevent wet leaves, seek advice on anti- slip surfaces, extend utility outlets to avoid trailing hoses and cables across walkways.


Modify the environment starting by focusing on flooring – ensure that steps and changes in level are clearly highlighted. Check that there is adequate lighting. Ensure that shelving or racking is sound and secure. Secure all items with the potential to topple, such as saplings, poles etcetera. Secure or house long term cabling, hoses etcetera, for example electrical cables for water features. Ensure that there are practical store spaces for tools to be secured and keep a tidy environment e.g. hoses can be neatly coiled and secured.


Train staff in clean-up procedures (including puddles and winter gritting etcetera) and empower them to take action immediately when needed, for example to quickly put out hazard signs. Take a proactive approach - aim to shape the environment to remove the hazards, and if they cannot be removed completely, make them clearly visible so staff and customers can act to avoid them.


• If you would like to find out more about garden centre safety from professionals, you can get in touch with Southalls at safetyadvice@southalls.com


When assessing risk in your garden centre, consider the most vulnerable, such as the elderly or children, and plan accordingly


GCU July/August 2018


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