Occupational Safety, Health, and Hygiene in Retail
Safety, health and hygiene questions test hazard identification, fire and electrical safety, safe manual handling, personal hygiene and emergency response in a retail workplace. Expect first-action scenarios and hygiene checklists.
Core rules
- Common hazards: slips and trips, spills, unstable stacks, sharp edges, electrical sockets, manual handling strain, blocked exits and poor lighting.
- Fire safety: keep exits and extinguishers clear, know the evacuation route, and use PASS-pull, aim, squeeze, sweep-only on a suitable fire. Never use water on electrical fires.
- Electrical safety: no wet hands, no overloaded sockets, report damaged cords, and switch off before cleaning equipment.
- Manual handling: assess the load, bend knees, keep the back straight, hold close, and ask for help with heavy or awkward items.
- Hygiene: clean hands, clean uniform, covered hair where required, no eating in handling areas, clean surfaces, safe waste segregation and pest control.
- Food retail follows hygiene and temperature rules; report illness, cuts or skin infections before handling food.
- Report incidents and near misses; know first-aid and emergency contacts.
Worked example
A customer drops a glass jar. Reasoning: stop traffic from the area, warn customers, use gloves and a dustpan-not bare hands-dispose of glass safely, clean the floor, and report the incident. This prevents cuts and slips.
Traps
- Blocking a fire exit with promotional stock.
- Using water on an electrical fire.
- Handling food after a cut without a waterproof dressing.
- Ignoring a near miss because no one was hurt.