Occupational Safety, Health and Hygiene in Retail
This section covers fire and electrical safety, evacuation, manual handling, first aid and store hygiene. Expect a scenario question - a spill, a smoking panel, a pest sighting - and ask what you do first.
Fire safety
- Fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, heat. Removing any one stops the fire.
- Classes: A solids (water, foam, ABC powder), B liquids (foam, CO2, dry powder - never water), C gases (isolate supply, dry powder), E electrical (CO2 - never water).
- PASS: Pull the pin, Aim at the base, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side.
- Evacuate, never use lifts, go to the assembly point, take a roll-call, call the fire service.
Health, hygiene and safety
- Handwashing before handling food, after the washroom and after waste; short nails, no jewellery, head cover.
- Food: store raw below cooked, cold chain 0–4°C, freezer at −18°C, follow FEFO, control pests, keep chemicals away from food. Display the FSSAI licence; food handlers need periodic medical checks.
- Store: clean floors, wet-floor signs, exits and extinguishers never blocked, safe stacking, trolley handling, lifting with bent knees and a straight back, first-aid box, incident register.
Worked example
Smoke comes from an electrical panel near billing. Correct order: raise the alarm, stop billing, evacuate customers through the nearest exit, call the fire service, and only if trained and safe, switch off the power and use a CO2 extinguisher. Never throw water - it conducts electricity and can electrocute the user.
Traps that cost marks
- Water on electrical or oil fires.
- Using a lift during evacuation.
- Blocking exits with cartons 'temporarily'.
- Treating a cut or burn without recording it in the incident register.