Customer Service, Teamwork and Workplace Safety
Service quality and communication
Understand the difference between a product, a service and an experience, and why the moments of truth (first contact, complaint, farewell) shape the customer's judgement. Learn to identify customer needs and expectations, including cultural, dietary and accessibility needs, and to adapt language and tone. Know the elements of effective communication - active listening, open and closed questions, confirming understanding, appropriate body language - and the barriers that get in the way, such as jargon, noise and assumptions.
Complaints and difficult situations
Know a complaints process: listen without interrupting, acknowledge the feeling, apologise for the experience, act within your authority, and follow up. Understand service recovery and why resolving a complaint well can build more loyalty than a faultless visit. Know when to escalate to a supervisor and how to handle intoxicated, aggressive or non-compliant customers safely, including refusing service and seeking assistance.
Teamwork and workplace safety
Learn how teams divide tasks, communicate during service, and support each other under pressure. Understand your rights and obligations under work health and safety law: follow safe systems of work, report hazards and incidents, use personal protective equipment, and participate in consultation. Know emergency procedures - evacuation, fire, medical - and the location of first-aid kits and assembly points. Recognise hazard categories: manual handling, slips and trips, chemicals, sharp objects, heat and electricity, and psychosocial hazards such as fatigue and bullying.
Traps and a rule of thumb
Traps: defending the business before acknowledging the customer; promising something outside your authority; treating hazard reporting as optional; and confusing a hazard (potential harm) with a risk (likelihood and severity). Rule of thumb: acknowledge, act within authority, escalate the rest. Example: a customer finds glass in a meal - stop service of that dish, apologise sincerely, alert the supervisor and kitchen, offer replacement or refund within policy, and complete an incident report.