Workplace Health and Safety Project Proposed for Nando Restaurants - Example

Running head: REPORT AND REFLECTION OF NANDO,S OHS PROJECT Name School Tutor 31st October, 2012 Executive summary This report analyzes the Workplace Health and Safety project proposed for Nando restaurants. The main aim for the research project was to come up with ways in which the company can enhance safety in all its restaurants in Australia. The project was also determined to ensure that all Nandocas have access to safe and healthy facilities. According to the findings of the report, the restaurant has not taken into consideration all regulations and standards with regard to workplace health and safety. The project also found out that not all employees working in the Nando restaurants have adequate knowledge when it comes to occupational health and safety. However, an interview with consumers showed that they trust the food served by the restaurant though it lacks adequate safety equipment and procedures. In light with these findings, the report recommends a change in the way the company approaches workplace health and safety. This includes ensuring that their workplace health and safety policies are revised from time to time, ensuring that employees are adequately trained on matters relating to workplace health and safety and finally installing new equipment and coming up with new workplace health and safety procedures. Table of contents Running head: REPORT AND REFLECTION OF NANDO,S OHS PROJECT 1 Executive summary 2 2.0 Project scope statement 4 2.1 Justification 4 2.2 Objectives 5 2.3 Scope description and acceptance criteria 5 2.4 Constraints 6 2.5 Assumptions 7 3.0 Methodology 7 4.0 Findings and discussions 8 4.1 There is need to improve the workplace health and safety procedures 8 4.2 Compliance with legislations 9 4.3 Employee training 10 5.0 Conclusion 10 6.0 Recommendations 11 6.1 Constant changes to policies 11 6.2 Employee education 12 5.3 Installation of new equipment and procedures 12 Works cited 13 1.0 Introduction The project recommends new Workplace Health and Safety requirements that are in compliance with the government set regulations on the same. The safety policy document replaces the initial workplace health and safety principles that were used by Nando restaurants. The main aim of the project was to enhance protection for people visiting and working in the Nando restaurants. This is because it outlines the steps that will be followed by visitors, employees and even restaurant management everyday in order to ensure that the workplace is safe and healthy. The policy statement includes legislations by the Australian government as a way of ensuring that the company observes each and every important aspect when it comes to workplace health and safety. Major aspects of the project include a shift in the way people do things in the restaurant and improved caution when it comes to handling hazardous equipment. These steps are aimed at ensuring that the workplace remains safe and healthy. Without these regulations it is highly likely that the Nando restaurants will be vulnerable to accidents among other incidents that will put employees’ and consumers’ safety at risk. This report is going to analyze elements of the projects and steps taken towards ensuring that its goals are achieved. 2.0 Project scope statement 2.1 Justification Looking at the workplace health and safety regulations put in other restaurants or organizations it shows that it is time to revise the Nando restaurant health and safety policies. This is because after thorough analysis it was established that the company’s health and safety policies have some weak points and there is need to revise them to ensure continued employee, visitors and consumers protection. The project aims to strengthen such weak points by providing comprehensive Occupation Health and Safety policies that covers each and every single aspect of life (Health and Safety Executive 2009, p. 4). The policies and procedures outlined in the project also ensure that the company is shielded from liability in case of an accident. However, there are those activities that are likely to affect the project. First, there is need to ensure that the company switches from its previous health and safety policies for it to adapt the new policies. The fact that employees and other relevant stakeholders are used to the initial safety procedures may have a negative impact on the implementation and success of the project. On the other hand, it will be vital to revise policies outlined in the project from time to time to fit current legislations and other regulations governing workplace health and safety. 2.2 Objectives The main aim of this project was to ensure that every person operating in Nando controlled restaurant is safe. This is by ensuring that all safety precautions with regard to activities at the restaurant are observed at all times. The project aim was to enhance the health and safety of all citizens considering the dangers associated with visiting restaurants. On the other hand, the project aim was to ensure that all relevant legislations are observed by the Nando restaurants with regard to workplace health and safety. This plays a critical role when it comes to ensuring that the organization enhances workplace safety and at the same time shield itself from liability in the event of an accident. The success of the project will be measured according to the number of accidents that have occurred in the Nando restaurants periodically (Paton 2008, p. 6). The objectives of the project will be attained if the number of accidents after implementation of the project will be lower compared to the number of accidents before implementation of the project. 2.3 Scope description and acceptance criteria After the project has been implemented, it is expected to help the company reduce the number of accidents witnessed at the workplace. It is expected to control each and every single business aspect in a way that ensures no negligence and that every safety precaution is followed at all times by employees and consumers. If indeed all the relevant parties will follow elements of the project, the number of accidents at the workplace will be reduced by a huge margin. Considering the fact that accidents cannot be controlled, the main aim of the project will be to reduce the probability of an accident taking place. Since the main aim of the project is to reduce the number of accidents at the workplace, results or rather the success of the project will be measured using the same. The number of accidents that have occurred since implementation of the project shall be measured periodically against the number of accidents that have occurred before the project was implemented (Roughton 2002, p. 31). 2.4 Constraints The most important part of the project was information collection. While designing the project, some information sources were not readily available and it took time before such relevant information could be acquired. On the other hand, Nando already has an occupational health and safety policy statement in operation. This means that, other than just coming up with the final model of the policies, it is critical to design a changeover model that will be used to switch from the already existing policies to the new policies. The fact that employees and consumers are already used to the other policy statement may make it hard to transform to this new safety procedures. This means that the changeover period will take a lot of time and resources since it may include issues such as training and hiring of experts. Another constraint encountered while designing the project is limited time. Not all research was conducted during project development since there was a timeframe within which the project was supposed to be completed. Such research includes testing the project to see if assumptions stated there in are true or false. 2.5 Assumptions Assumptions in the project shall be justified using already written literature i.e. empirical evidence. This shall be used to justify any assumptions made in the project. Considering the project is still on paper and has not yet been implemented there are a lot of assumptions made that require clarification. 3.0 Methodology In order to attain the main aim of the project, the project conducted a research to establish ways in which occupational health and safety can be maintained. The study collected data from a wide range of stakeholders using varying methods. The most important part of the research was collecting data from Nando restaurants in order to establish those areas of workplace health and safety that requires to be improved. The most important part of data collection was determining those areas that need to be improved so as to come up with ways of improving them. This was done through first hand data collection using cameras. Pictures of Nando’s restaurants were also used as references to certain aspects of safety. Another way that data was collected was through asking customers questions about the restaurant. This played an important role when it comes to determining why people like the restaurant and how secure they feel about the place. Data collected from the restaurant and consumers were analyzed and loopholes determined. This involved analyzing consumer responses and determining how secure they feel about having meals at the restaurant. Interaction with employees also played a critical role in determining whether or not the place is safe or not. Analyzing first hand data collected was a very important part of the research process since it helped determine those things that the restaurant management should do in order to enhance safety. Other than just analyzing the data alone, the same was analyzed against workplace health and safety regulations and other empirical studies that focus on occupational health and safety. Acts of parliament were a good source of information during the comparison process. Considering all organizations are required to comply with the regulations, measuring the data from Nando restaurants against the Acts of parliament was a critical step towards determining whether or not the organization has attained the set standards with regard to occupational health and safety. The study also compared Nando’s health and safety principles with that of other restaurants to determine any differences. A visit to the Greenwood store was a key contribution since it was there that practical application of current procedures was observed as well as group collaboration profile that was created in facebook which also played a big role towards the achievement of the objectives of this project since the groups used it as the communication tool during the project. To ensure that Nando’s work place culture and policies in place was understood, we completed Peri modules. The documents gave us the idea of what was supposed to be executed and how to execute it. 4.0 Findings and discussions 4.1 There is need to improve the workplace health and safety procedures It is vital for Nando to revise its workplace health and safety policies for it to assure the safety and health of their employees and consumers. The current Workplace Health and Safety protocols do not cover a wide range of aspects outlined in legislations among other documents. Therefore, it is vital to adopt new policies that encompass all these documents to ensure that their employees and customers are protected from hazardous substances and activities. If the organization does not adopt new policies soon enough, there is a chance that there are those incidents that it will not be able to control and will result to loss of life and property. The first aspect that needs to be addressed is the regulation governing fire fighting in the restaurants. These regulations should be revised to ensure that employees and consumers are protected from the danger of fire. Other aspects that need to be improved with regard to safety are the use of notices to inform people of the nature of places that they are entering for them to be cautious. This goes a long way in enhancing the safety of employees and consumers (Ladou 2006, p. 44). 4.2 Compliance with legislations The current occupational health and safety policy statement at Nando does not comply with most legislation set on matters that relate to workplace health and safety. This means that the company needs to switch to a more comprehensive policy statement. The fact that the policy does not comply with most legislations clearly indicates that there are some safety loopholes that increase the probability of an accident. Therefore, it is important to revise the policy statement to include those legislations that have not been extensively covered. Another aspect that was discovered to this respect is the fact that government legislations are subject to change. This means that articles are sections are amended from time to time (Paton 2008, p. 5). However, the Nando policy statement was not updated since it was enacted. There are those legislations that have not been included extensively. Therefore, it is vital to revise the policy statement in order to include such legislations. Laws are changed with respect to prevailing circumstances, therefore if the company has not adopted a policy statement that includes such regulations it is a clear indication that there are those issues relating to health and safety that have not been covered. 4.3 Employee training A good number of employees working at the organization do not have substantial knowledge when it comes to occupational health and safety. This includes operation of safety equipments and translation of signs. These are very fundamental concepts when it comes to handling matters that relate to emergencies (Health and Safety Executive 2009, p. 7). Therefore, it is vital to look for means that will see to it that employees gather the relevant knowledge with regard to occupational health and safety. 5.0 Conclusion It is vital to revise the occupational health and safety policy in all Nando restaurants. This is critical since employees and consumers need to operate in a safe environment. The Workplace Health and Safety regulations governing the organization’s procedures has loopholes which make consumers, visitors and employee vulnerable to accidents aspects that could result to poor health. The main aim of the project is to revise the company’s occupational health and safety policies to ensure that employees are adequately protected. This is by providing procedures to be followed by employees and consumers at all times while at the restaurants. Another project objective is to enhance compliance with statutes. As observed with the previous occupational health and safety policy statement, it had not covered Workplace Health and Safety Acts regulations to the fullest. This shows that the company has missed out on certain aspects of workplace health and safety. This has been a major ingredient when it comes to putting the safety and health of employees and customers in danger each time they are at the workplace. On the other hand, there is need to revise procedures followed by employees and consumers when it comes to handling hazardous objects at the workplace. This includes changes in the way employees are expected to react to fire among other emergencies. The fact that there are not adequate warning signs within the restaurants to notify employees and consumers of dangerous places also puts them in danger. This report therefore recommends a change in the way the company approaches occupational health and safety. The first recommendation made is to ensure full compliance with government legislations by adopting a workplace health and safety policy statement that includes all legislations. On the fact that legislations are always under constant changes it will be vital to revise the policy statement from time to time. The organization should also ensure that employees are adequately trained on matters relating to workplace safety. The most important aspect is fire fighting and interpretation of signs. All employees should be well aware when it comes to these aspects since it helps when it comes to responding to emergencies. 6.0 Recommendations 6.1 Constant changes to policies The company should be changing its policies from time to time to ensure that they fit prevailing circumstances. One of the finding of the report was that the occupational safety and health policies did not comply with the set legislations on the same. Therefore, it is vital to consider setting up a revision strategy for the project. This is a strategy that will be used by the company to make relevant changes to the workplace health and safety policies after a given period of time (Everly 1986, p. 8). The change strategy will involve analysis of the number of accidents that have occurred and how they occurred. The company should then devise a mechanism that will help see to it that the accidents in the area in question are minimized. The company should also be revising the policies from time to time in line with the set legislation on workplace health and safety (Roughton 2002, p. 29). 6.2 Employee education No matter how good the policies adopted by the company are, they will be useless if the workforce will not be well trained on aspects of workplace health and safety. The project implementation process involves installation of certain equipment that requires skills to effectively operate. However, one of the findings of the report is that a good number of employees working in Nando restaurants do not have adequate knowledge when it comes to the operation of such machines. Therefore, it will be important to ensure that employees are thoroughly trained on matters that relate to occupational health and safety. This involves proper interpretation of warning signs and instructions put on equipment. This will be a positive step since employees will gather adequate knowledge enough to respond to emergencies and at times prevent accidents from occurring. 5.3 Installation of new equipment and procedures There are those items that go a long way to enhance safety at the workplace. One of them is firefighting equipment. The company should ensure that enough firefighting equipment is installed throughout their business facilities. On the other hand, the company should also install signs throughout the restaurant premises to warn customers and employees of things that may lead to an accident such as slippery floors and electricity storage units or switches (Health and Safety Executive 2009, p. 7). Works cited Everly, G. S., Jr. 1986. An introduction to occupational health psychology. P. A. Keller & L. G. Ritt (Eds.), Innovations in clinical practice: A source book, Vol. 5 (pp. 331-338). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange. Health and Safety Executive 2009: A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. 4th edition. Ladou, Joseph 2006. Current Occupational & Environmental Medicine (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. Paton, Nic. 2008. ‘Senior Managers Fail to Show Competence in Health and Safety’ Occupational Health, Vol. 60, Iss. 3; pg. 6 Roughton, James 2002. Developing an Effective Safety Culture: A Leadership Approach (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More