Accountability for Risk Management Obligations Increasing

Retail Proprietors and Business Owners are facing more and more pressure and concerns about their obligations with Business Risk Management under the various Statutory Laws and legislations in the Australian States and Territories.

The "laws" nearly all state that it is the Employer's and Business Owner's responsibility to be completely aware of the relevant points of legislations and compliance procedures required to operate their businesses. There is the potential for serious consequences to those businesses that neglect to fulfil their obligations. It is also of some concern that many of the Legislative "enforcers" do not apply any leeway in the penalties should they detect a breach in the Risk Management procedures in the workplace.

Bigger organisations have the dedicated staff and procedures for fulfilling their obligations, which get passed down through their business and become a part of daily operations. However, smaller independent operators are usually not allowed access to these systems (due to legal risks) and don't have the time to develop them for themselves.

It can be difficult to justify spending the appropriate amount of time, effort and process on fulfilling the responsibilities of business owners and operators under the Laws; however the costs of not doing so can be substantial. First there are the potential fines and other associated costs. But the biggest concern should be that if a business does not have the appropriate Business Risk Management Systems in place and someone is injured or harmed as a result, then the costs and trauma will be huge.

The following list is some but not all of the obligation areas that Retailers should include in their Business Risk Management Systems:
1. Occupational Health & Safety (Workplace Safety and Dangerous Goods)
2. Environmental Laws (especially for fuel operators)
3. Food Safety
4. Tobacco Retailing
5. Trade Practices
6. Equal Employment Opportunity Laws, etc

How can an operator fulfil their responsibilities?

What is required to satisfy Due Diligence under their obligations?

A robust Business Risk Management System should be developed, implemented and monitored in the business. This should include:

1. Processes that identify potential hazards and assesses the levels of risk in the workplace.
2. Appropriate risk controls that are identified, implemented and monitored for the business.
3. Emergency procedures relevant to the workplace and environment are developed, implemented and reviewed.
4. Appropriate, relevant Induction and other training implemented and staff assessed as competent (records required).
5. Regular consultation and supervision applied with all workers in the business (records required).
6. A process for recording and capturing all near misses and actual incidents is implemented and reviewed.

This can be a big ask for an operator who by nature of their business allocates most of their time at work to generating revenue and sales by maintaining great service and store standards, measuring business performance and reacting to the day to day issues of running a retailing operation.

One option is to engage outsource (third party) assistance. There are a number of places that operators can source this assistance. Searching on the web or enquiring with their Trade Associations, State Workcover and other government bodies will provide some information and materials. Generally, though these will be focused on one area of responsibility, leaving the operator to chase down another source for the missing pieces.

atmp training & skill development are able to provide across the business support in training methods, record keeping and applying a Business Risk Management Plan and Tools. This means that operators don't necessarily need to spend time developing a Business Risk Management System, but rather to "tailor it" to suit them, implement it, monitor and review it and focus on continuous improvement of the process and system.

Graeme Lees from atmp has had many years experience with assisting small retail business operators meet their training obligations, and has now expanded his company's portfolio of materials to include a robust 30 Point Business Risk Management Implementation Plan and Workplace Tools. Graeme is very attuned to the needs of small business, who need to focus on generating Sales Turnover and Gross Profits for their retail outlets. The ability to readily access a "system" that is easily implemented into all businesses; that would assist provide procedures and records for an operators statutory obligations, will free up the retailer to focus on what their business is all about - and reduce the stress and worry levels.
 


 

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