Workplace Inspection in a Hospitality Cafe Shop - Case Study Example

Workplace Inspection in a Hospitality Cafe Shop Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Executive Summary This report is based on the inspection of a hospitality café that operates in the hospitality industry that restaurants industry is part. The inspection was done on three core areas that are of a major concern in the industry. The areas are manual tasks, violence and aggression, and slips, falls and trips in the workplace that are having different implications on the organization. This report is not specific to the café and might apply across the industry. The report has a summary of the findings section that presents in a prose manner the results that emanated from the inspection. Based on the findings, there are recommendations that are made for consideration by the management so as to comply fully with the codes o practice and WHS regulations and legislations. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 This report is based on the inspection of a hospitality café that operates in the hospitality industry that restaurants industry is part. The inspection was done on three core areas that are of a major concern in the industry. The areas are manual tasks, violence and aggression, and slips, falls and trips in the workplace that are having different implications on the organization. This report is not specific to the café and might apply across the industry. The report has a summary of the findings section that presents in a prose manner the results that emanated from the inspection. Based on the findings, there are recommendations that are made for consideration by the management so as to comply fully with the codes o practice and WHS regulations and legislations. 2 Table of Contents 3 4 Introduction 5 Summary of Findings 6 Manual tasks 6 Violence and Aggression 7 Slips, Trips and falls 8 Conclusions and Recommendations 9 References 12 Introduction The inspection took place in a local café that is located in the central business district. The café has 10 workers. The café operates in the hospitality industry where high standards of hygiene are a must. The café therefore is a prime area to inspect for slips, falls, and trips, hazard manual tasks and violence and aggression at the workplace. All these three areas are covered in the code of practice. In the café and restaurant industry, the floors get oily and wet and could cause slips, trip and falls. There are high risk areas such as cooking areas, cleaning areas and the exits as well as entries resulting in injuries and loss that might call for legal actions. Codes of practice refers to practical guides meant for achieving safety and welfare as well as health standards that are required under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) and regulation in a given area of interest (Safe Work Australia, 2015). The code of practice applies to anyone with the duty of care from employers to employees and even clients. The code of practice deals with a specific risk or hazard that is likely to occur (Safe Work Australia, 2015). Regulations refer to legal mandates that are intended in shaping conduct, calibration of incentives and changing the preferences within a jurisdiction (Safe Work Australia, 2015). Acts on the other hand are bills that are passed through a series of legislative steps before becoming a law (Safe Work Australia, 2015). Standards refer to performance specifications that are required for complete compliance to a set of legislations and regulations (Safe Work Australia, 2015). Within the workplace environment there are Work, Health and Safety, regulations, legislations and standards that have to be followed so as to give an assurance of the workplace safety and health. There is also a code of practice that defines the risks or hazards that are likely to be encountered and the respective methods to mitigate them. Summary of Findings The inspection covered three areas including manual tasks, violence and aggression, and slips, trips and falls in the hospitality café shop. The results were as presented below. Manual tasks The number of injuries that emanate from manual tasks consume most of the workers’ productive time (Commission for Occupational Safety Health, 2010). At various workplaces, there are jobs that involve the operation of machinery that result in stress or repetitive motion and are thus prone to causing injuries (Commission for Occupational Safety Health, 2010). In the case of hospitality café shop, the first inspection had a number of things to look into. The first thing in this section was to identify whether the hazards in the workplace are identified and the risks assessed as well. It was revealed that the manual tasks that might cause injury were identified. Additionally, the risk assessments for the manual tasks had also been conducted at the hospitality café shop. In this case, there was a slice that the operator had to wear metal gloves. The other possible risk was burns on the hand from the coffee machine that operates at 940 C. At the café, all the manual task incidents, injuries and hazards are investigated. The identified manual tasks incidences have adequately been investigated and reported in the right time frame. There are control measures that have been implemented to reduce the risk of injuries and have been reviewed after an accident occurred. At one instance, a worker failed to wear the gloves. The incident was reported in a time frame of 2 hours and the injured worker rushed to hospital for treatment. The control measures for such a risk has since been reviewed, with operator of the slicer being trained mentally to operate the machine with the metal gloves on for safety and risk mitigation. The other incident that occurred was burns on hands that resulted from the coffee machine that is operated at 940C. The casualty was rushed to the medical centre building. The other incident involved fire from the chips machine that was triggered by the fryer that had undried chemical and thus caught fire with the oil. The hospitality café shop has implemented risk controls following the accidents. There are control measures to mitigate the risks associated with the manual tasks. There is a franchise training in how to handle emergencies when they occur. This expands the knowledge base of the workers by provision of relevant safety information. Secondly, the workers are provided with gloves when handling the slicer. The café has implemented safe work procedures to minimize injuries due to manual tasks. The lifting of heavy materials and loads has been minimized by introducing trolleys that are used to carry the heavy materials and loads. All the heavy and frequently used are placed in safe locations below the shoulder height and are below the mid-thigh height. The locations where manual tasks are performed are spacious and the employees have breaks from the postures and repetitious tasks that are manual based. The coffee space area being small, only two people are allowed to work there. There is an arrangement of shifts so as to reduce stress. Violence and Aggression Violence and aggression are incidents or action that have psychological or physical harm to the persons in the workplace either directly or indirectly (Department of Commerce, 2011). They involve threats, attacks and physical assaults at work (Department of Commerce, 2011). In the hospitality café shop the movement of people throughout the place is possible. The inspection at the hospitality café shop reveal that the general safety of the workplace is not efficient. However, information, training and instructions are implemented at the workplace to reduce the chances of violence and aggression. The workers have been trained and educated on how to handle aggression and violence such as cash handling as well as how to deal with aggressive customers. The workers have also been trained on how to recognize, communicate and manage aggressive behaviour. The security personnel, despite being aggressive have adequate training on how to deal with aggression and violence at the workplace. There lacks efficient systems to identify customers who might be aggressive. There also lacks procedures to address violence and aggression as well as those related to cash handling. There are no post-hold up procedures as well as other forms of hold-ups. The management of the café lacks a plan to identify the violent or threatening situations at the workplace. The café also lacks a proper procedure for counselling the workers should there be cases of aggressiveness or violence at the workplace. Lastly, the number of security staff at the café is questionable the number is inadequate. This leads to the staff not being escorted after their evening shifts. Following the lax in mechanisms that ensure general safety against violence and aggression, violence and aggression has at one time been reported due to cash handling where one customer was overcharged with credit card. Slips, Trips and falls The entry and exit from the safe is free from obstructions. The café has slip resistant surfaces that are also free from obstruction. Additionally, there is adequate drainage to prevent liquid surfaces that might result in slips and trips. There is also adequate use of signage bearing warnings near spills a well as adequate lighting for movements within the café. The café has sufficient space for coordination of activities without trips, fall and slips. The workplace is clean and dry reducing the chances of hazards to the workers in the workplace. Last but not least, the step ladders are designed appropriately further making the working environment suitable for work. There are also procedures to ensure that the workplaces in the café are free from falls, trips and slips. The workers in the café are given PPE that are slip resistant to prevent slips, trips and fall at the workplace. At the café, there are certain factors that can exacerbate the chances of slips, fall and trips. These include the wet sign floors, the step ladders that are used to access shelves. The café has implemented procedures to ensure that slips, trips and falls are minimized. First off, every station has a checklist of what it entails and how they should be arranged. Secondly, there is a cleaning schedule for the workers. Lastly, there is a duty rooster for the employees so as to minimize the risks that occur due to stress from repetitious tasks. Conclusions and Recommendations The hazards and risks posed by the manual tasks can hamper the profitability as well as reputation of the café. It is essential that the café complies with the WHS Acts and standards. This means the implementation of the methods outlined in the code of practice so as to keep the workplace safe. The management of the café should implement the three step process to manage the risks of manual hazards (Commission for Occupational Safety Health, 2010). This includes hazards identification, risk assessment and risk control in the workplace (Commission for Occupational Safety Health, 2010). The workers should be involved in the process of coming up with procedures to reduce manual hazards. This will enable the management to identify the risk factors that are posed by the manual tasks and respond to them effectively. There should be spillage management systems (Commission for Occupational Safety Health, 2010). There should be fat collection systems in the cooking areas so that the oil spills in the floors are eliminated to reduce the chances of slips and falls as well as trips (Work safe, 2007). The design of the floors should also be changed. In this case, in the cooking areas and dish washing areas, there should be troughs and sinks for drainage (OHSREP, 2015). Additionally, the employees should frequently dry the floors after each wash (OHSREP, 2015). For full slip reduction non-slip tiles should be used. The trolleys used should be regularly serviced so as to ensure efficiency when handling spill prone containers (Work safe, 2007). There should be special containers with stable bases to handle fluids that are likely to spill (Work safe, 2007). Generally, there should be elimination, environmental design, administrative and engineering controls as stipulated by the code of practice on manual handling so that the issue of trips, falls and spills are addressed (OHSREP, 2015). Violence and aggression at the workplace reduces the morale of the employees and might result in losses. The senior management team of the hotel has the mandate of acting as positive role models as well as being there when time calls for to address the issues of violence and aggression at the workplace (Department of Commerce, 2011). Some of the preventive approaches that can be used include consulting with the workers as well as safety representatives for the institution of good measures. Secondly, the hazards that are related to violence and aggression should be managed properly (Department of Commerce, 2011). When the problems occur, there should be prompt emergency response procedures as per the training and instructions offered to the workers. Lastly, the management should invest in good surveillance systems (Department of Commerce, 2011). As the whole situation of the café is, the management has the task of increasing the security staff with training on violence and aggression detection, management and communication. There is need for general safety education as well. References Commission for Occupational Safety Health, (2010). Code of practice: Manual tasks 2010. West Centre 1260 Hay Street West Perth: Work Safe Australia. Department of Commerce, (2011). Code of practice: Violence, aggression and bullying at work (pp. 1-37). West Centre 1260 Hay Street West Perth: Work Safe Division: Department of Commerce. OHSREP,. (2015). Slips, trips and falls - general information - OHS Reps. Ohsrep.org.au. Retrieved 3 September 2015, from http://www.ohsrep.org.au/hazards/ohs-reps-@-work-s lips,-trips-and-falls-/slips,-trips-and-falls-general-information Safe Work Australia, (2015). Model Codes of Practice - Safe Work Australia. Safeworkaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 3 September 2015, from http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/model-whs-laws/model-cop/pages/model- cop Work safe, (2007). Slips, trips and falls Café and Restaurant Industry (pp. 1-10). Westcentre, 5th Floor, 1260 Hay Street: Department of Consumer and Employment Protection. Read More