Occupational Health And Safety Hazards In Food Service Industry – Risk Assessment And Management

Elaborate on the principles of risk assessment

Discuss about the Environmental Science and Technology.

The aim of the assignment is to discuss the occupational health and safety hazards of workers in chain of restaurants. The assignment is based on the personal experience as a worker in a small restaurant in busy and big food court. The report demonstrates the understanding of the hazard, risk and risk management. The report defines the hazards attendant to the situation. It elaborates on the principles applied in assessing the nature and severity of risk. In this assignment, the risk management interventions used in consideration with the hierarchy of controls are discussed. Lastly, the report highlights monitoring of the efficacy of risk management regime and factors that may influence the control measures.   

The hazards attended to the food service situation Verma et al. (2011) are-

1. Same level falls- may be due to slippery conditions that may cause strains and sprains
2. Injury due to sharp objects like knives, hot cooking equipment and cold objects
3. Heavy lifting- musculoskeletal injuries, repetitive works such as carrying food on tray, kneading dough or standing for prolonged period while cooking, collision with food containers or forklifts
4. Electrical hazards and fire hazards due oven and gas stove
5. Exposure to noise in busy food court
6. Biological hazards- grain dust, food contamination, high level of humidity and lack of ventilation
7. Chemical hazards- due to chemicals used in cleaning operations or for disinfecting the food preparing areas  

Risk assessment is an important component of the risk analysis. Risk assessment is the scientifically based process and must be conducted systematically as per the ISO 31000 guidelines, which also includes the quantitative and qualitative approach (Purdy 2010). It includes evaluation of the hazards resulting from restaurant work in food court. The risk is assessed is by identifying the hazard, characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterization. Hazard characterisation is the quantitative and/or qualitative evaluation of the nature of the risk due to chemical, biological and mechanical source of hazards in food service. The general type of risk assessment that can be used for this purpose is risk rating (Bullock et al. 2011). Risk rating indicates the likelihood, nature and possible severity of injury. Risk rating refers to expressing the way in which the consequences occur and their likelihood. The likeliness indicates the nature of the risks and its severity (Ho 2012).

I would apply the guidelines of “controlling the risks in the workplace” (Ruan et al. 2012). Based on personal observation and discussions with co-workers I would identify the hazards. To identify hazards I would look around for chemicals, faulty equipments and kitchen activities that are causing harm. Identification of hazards will include both long term and short term hazards present in the workplace.

The next step would include identifying who might be harmed and how. This step may include considering the special requirements at work and effect of kitchen activities at workplace.  Then I would evaluate the risks and decide on the precautions on intervention that are reasonable and practical. I would record the risk assessment findings as depicted in the figure below. The records will be shared with managers and put in place. Lastly, the risk assessment will be reviewed and make necessary amendments in agreement with the managers. If the risk assessment is correct, then people will be safe (Bennett et al. 2010). 

Risk management interventions

Applying the risk rating principle it can be said that the hazards that are very likely are slips, trips, falls, and biological hazards due to food handling.  It means that this risk is of severe nature and must be addressed immediately. The hazards likely are chemical hazards, problems due to kitchen fumes and ventilation. These hazards are less severe. Those that are moderate likely are violence due to customers, unlikely are fires or related accidents and highly unlikely are electricity hazards.

According to Trees (2015), the widely accepted system for any workplace to minimise the risk or eliminate the exposure to hazards is the “Hierarchy of hazard control”. This widely accepted system is accepted by safety organisation and is widely promoted.  As per this system, the hazard interventions for control of risk are used in decreasing effectiveness. It includes the steps elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment. Personal intervention includes maintaining occupational health and safety standards as high possible.

The most effective hazard control is the elimination of risk by physical removal. In my profession, it would involve immediate cleaning of contaminated substances or water on the floor that may cause a slip or a fall. Keeping the pathways clean, to avoid collisions from food containers or when laying out the process flow activities is my intervention. I would like to keep the microwave ovens below shoulder heights and remove the table and chairs removed from workplace.  A fume hood is the other intervention for eliminating the airborne contaminants. Use of exhaust ventilation will prevent biological hazards. Use of efficient cashier can prevent violence with crimes at cash counter and due to hold-ups. Use of correct postures for repetitive work is safe (Huang et al. 2012).

The second most effective hazard control method is the replacement of hazard causing factor with the one that will not cause harm or risk (Ward et al. 2010). Workplace interventions in this regard may include use of height adjustable trolleys to transfer heavy objectives instead of manual handling to minimise the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. Further, stacks of cold drinks and other boxes and crates can be kept at level that may cause less risk when they fall on ground. I would like to replace the knives with automatic food cutters. Replace expired chemicals and replace with chemical (disinfectants and dishwashing detergents) containing material safety datasheet (Verma et al. 2010). 

Use of engineering controls is the third method where people can be isolated from hazards. It may include high capital cost when compared to other methods in hierarchy. Personal interventions may include recommending the management for demarcating the transport passages and working areas. The authority is requested to place handrails on stairs to prevent falls and to install fume hoods (Feng 2013).

Monitoring the efficacy of risk management

Administrative control is the change in the way people work which may include installation of signs, warning labels on equipment at work place and electricity rooms, training of employees. These may not remove hazards but prevent or limit the exposure to risk (Yu et al. 2017). Personal intervention for my occupation includes training on use of fermentor, pasteuriser, and electrical equipments for setting hot or cold conditions during food preparation.  I have requested the management for training in proper lifting techniques for heavy items in workstation. I will place proposal to the manager to increase the workspace. Other intervention may include use of warning sign and method of use on electrical equipments and other instruments that need careful handling. Danger signs are used wherever necessary to alert the employees in food court. Job rotation is the effective method to avoid repetitive work (Bradford-Knox et al. 2016). Regular health check-up is the last resort I would use to maintain safety.

Use of personal protective equipment or PPE is the last method used for hazard control. PPEs may include gloves, masks, and safety footwear (Verma et al. 2010).  For my workplace I would use gloves to prevent from knife cuts, anti-slip footwear to prevent falls and use mask to prevent inhalation of dust or fumes. I have improved on personal hygiene practice such as hand wash with alcohol or gel-based solution whenever handling food. Protective clothing is used to prevent catching of fire. I would use ear plus in the event of excess noise (Lelieveld et al. 2016).

To monitor the efficacy of the risk management regime, I would use set of checklists as per OHS in restaurant industry by government of Australia (Commerce.wa.gov.au. 2017) and is briefed below –

1. Manual task safety checklist- will be used to ensure access to shelves and chest freezers are not obstructed, and work pathway is clean (refer appendix for checklist)
2. Slips and trips safety checklist- To check the reduction of falls and slips with safety measures in place. This checklist ensures if the floors and ramps are free from obstructions (refer appendix for checklist).
3. Kitchen safety checklist- to ensure safety knife and aerosol oil can handling procedures are in place (refer appendix for checklist)
4. Emergency procedure checklist- includes checking of fire safety signs and labels in the electrical equipment and highlighting and warning signs in place (refer appendix for checklist).
5. Machine guarding- to evaluate the effective use of machinery as per guidelines to ensure that the highest level of guarding that is practical is provided at workplace (refer appendix for checklist).

Using these checklists, it is possible to monitor if there is decrease in the injuries related to knives, collisions, slips and falls.

The factors that may hamper the control measures (Jahan 2013) are-

• Lack of induction or training of new employees- that may lead to mishandling of equipments
• Poor adherence to safety standards- for instance avoiding the use of PPE and apron wherever necessary
• Lack of regular investigation and safety audits- may lead to failure to check the poor security at work, identification of risks  and early prevention

Conclusion

Health and safety risks are inevitable in any organisation or occupation. It is possible to minimise or manage the risks of maintaining the occupational health and safety hazard standards of Australia specific for chosen occupation. Following the hierarchy of control for risk reduction is effective method to prevent injuries at workplace. It can be concluded from the assignment that there is a need of carrying the risks assessment regularly in restaurants to determine the risk associated with the identified hazards in food courts. It helps develop effective interventions. Monitoring the efficacy of the intervention is the other important step to ensure the interventions are successful in mitigating the risks.

References

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Verma, S.K., Lombardi, D.A., Chang, W.R., Courtney, T.K., Huang, Y.H., Brennan, M.J., Mittleman, M.A., Ware, J.H. and Perry, M.J., 2011. Rushing, distraction, walking on contaminated floors and risk of slipping in limited-service restaurants: a case–crossover study. Occupational and environmental medicine, 68(8), pp.575-581.

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