Owning a business is a rewarding yet challenging time and there are several liability issues that retailers face daily. Issues such as slips and falls, injuries due to faulty displays, and hazardous substances can severely impact a business’s reputation and lead to legal repercussions.
As a shop owner, it is your responsibility to keep your store in a safe and suitable condition for customers. You can make sure that you are exercising reasonable care by implementing the appropriate risk management strategies.
Here we’ll look at some of the most effective measures you can put in place to protect the customers in your store.
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Preventing slips and falls
Slips, trips and falls can occur due to poor cleaning methods, untreated weather conditions, and slippery flooring materials. If customers become injured as a result, they may be owed compensation if you failed to properly protect them from the hazard. Slips and falls can occur in any industry but are easily avoidable with just a few simple preventative measures.
Firstly, inspect the whole property, identifying potential hazards and keeping records of anything found. Any major risks should be dealt with before customers are allowed nearby. You should also use caution signage to alert people of a potential hazard, such as a small step or lifted carpet.
Establishing consistent housekeeping procedures will help to keep all areas orderly and clean. Make sure signs are placed for any wet floors and a log is kept each time.
Defective displays and stacked goods
Poorly designed displays and treacherously stacked goods are another liability for retailers. These have the potential to fall on customers or cause injury. To ensure this is avoided, you need to properly train all employees to stack shelves efficiently and prepare displays safely.
You must clearly mark any lower-level shelves that protrude in case a customer walks into it and put up signs asking customers to request assistance for items on higher shelves.
Map out your store
Planning for busy spells is necessary in order to prevent injury, which is made all the easier with a visual aid. Create a map of the store and use this to identify the entrances and exits. This will allow you to plan an approach in case of a fire. It will also help with managing traffic flow, the best places to put equipment, and where staff need to be positioned on shift.
Another way to manage the number of people in the store at any given time is to implement staggered entry. This means only allowing a certain number of customers inside to avoid it becoming too crowded, which will help you to stay within the limit.
