The retail sector is the largest private employer in the UK. It employs almost three million workers, generating around £381 billion in 2018 alone. But, like most industries, retail businesses are continually undergoing huge changes in the way they work because of technological development.

It’s important for retailers to maintain compliance during widespread changes and keep their huge workforce operating in the business’s best interest. To do this, you need to create and update new risk assessments as and when needed.

What factors impact hazards in retail?

There are some factors that come with working in the retail sector which contribute to hazards within the business. These might include:

• The size of your workforce
• Changes within your workforce
• The areas which make up your working environment
• What products you sell

Further problems may arise when offices are spread across local authority areas because it’s more difficult to monitor and maintain best practice through delegation. But the Better Regulation Delivery Office’s (BRDO) Primary Authority Scheme gives businesses the right to form a statutory partnership with a single local authority. This helps to solve some of the problems associated with committing to a variety of rules and regulations, promoting consistency across the entire business. 

Eliminating hazards

The law in the UK requires all businesses to make an active effort to identify hazards and reduce or eliminate them. The most effective ways to reduce the risk in retail spaces are through:

• Better communication
• Effective housekeeping
• Improving and enforcing effective training
• Emphasising best practice across all sites

This is easier said than done in large companies. In retail, 13 workers are injured each day on the job and the rate of violence in the industry has doubled in one year, posing further risk. It’s not always possible to eliminate risks completely. 

Minimising risks

Better risk assessments will protect your business against compensation claims. Improving your risk assessments may involve the following:

• Updating your systems to keep paperless risk assessments and compliance documents. This will ensure you can easily create, store, and distribute updated risk assessments across the business when new risks arise. This may be with people returning to work after long periods of sick leave or if there is a change to your processes.
• Improving your compliance training with the use of streamlined software. This means receiving automatic notifications when there are changes in the workforce, like new starters, who may need refreshed or new training to boost best practice across all offices.
• Being able to carry out paperless audits on mobile devices. Effective housekeeping processes can ensure risk minimisation.

While there are significant risks facing retailers in the UK, there is effective technology available to help you minimise these risks. However, the effects of accidents in the workplace go far beyond injury. For example, they hurt your reputation, can land you in legal trouble, and end in huge compensation payouts. Updating technology to boost compliance is one way to effectively protect your business.

Inform People is a comprehensive software solution for large retailers who need to monitor, train, organise, and boost communication between staff across vast distances. It helps you use a paperless system backed by data and automation to protect your business. If this interests you, get in touch via email.