SMart is a supermarket near to a large town, and has recently been purchased by a national chain. It sells food, household goods and garden supplies, clothes, and some electrical appliances. It consists of two, single-level buildings: a shop and a warehouse. Goods are stored in the warehouse and moved to the shop as needed. There are deliveries twice a week by heavy goods vehicle (HGV) to the warehouse loading bay. The workforce includes 35 permanent, shift workers split into shop workers and warehouse workers; along with warehouse and shop supervisors. There is also a warehouse manager and a newlypromoted shop manager. Due to increased demand, SMart extended its opening hours from 15 hours a day, five days a week, to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. To support this, 36 temporary, shift workers were hired. Only experienced workers were employed, and on their first day they received an induction booklet. They were informed that they would only remain employed if they came into work whenever asked, and they worked quickly.
The roof Two weeks ago, a winter storm damaged the shop’s flat roof and caused water to leak through the roof and suspended ceiling, onto the floor of the shop. A shop supervisor (Supervisor S) informed the shop manager, who quickly contacted a local roofing contractor. Supervisor S placed a bucket under the leak along with a ‘wet floor’ sign, then dried the floor but left the bucket in place for the day. The shop manager described the damage to the contractor over the telephone, based on what was visible from indoors. Although the contractor could not visit immediately, they were confident in their experience, and the details provided, to be able to assess the damage over the telephone. They advised the shop manager to cover the area of the roof where water was entering with a thick plastic sheet, weighed down at the edges. They assured the shop manager that this would prevent further leaks until repairs could be done, and arranged to begin the repairs in three weeks’ time. The shop manager told Supervisor S to get a plastic sheet from the warehouse to cover the roof, and to be as quick as possible. Supervisor S found the sheet and two ladders. One ladder had a missing rung, and the second ladder had a missing rubber foot. Choosing the second ladder, Supervisor S placed it against the outside wall and put cardboard under the uneven foot for stability. They then climbed up the ladder while holding the plastic sheet. The damage appeared worse from the roof. Supervisor S covered the damaged area and made several trips up and down the ladder, taking bricks to secure the plastic sheet. They then returned the ladder to the warehouse and continued working. The warehouse accident This week, severe weather has flooded local roads, preventing most permanent workers from reaching SMart. Most temporary workers had difficulty, but managed to arrive and were rewarded with extra shifts. A HGV arrives early, and the anxious driver convinces the warehouse manager to unload the HGV as quickly as possible so that they can leave before it rains again. The warehouse manager calls all available workers, including the temporary workers in the shop, to the warehouse to quickly unload the HGV. While the warehouse manager is talking to the HGV driver, a temporary worker (Worker A) is trying to stop a smoke detector from beeping, as it had been annoying everyone for the past two days. Worker A decides to change the battery, so stands on a pallet and asks Worker B to lift the pallet with the forklift truck (FLT). Worker B is a permanent worker with an FLT licence. The FLT has been purchased recently. Worker B is unfamiliar with the new controls, so watches a tutorial video on their mobile phone before operating the FLT. Worker A reaches the smoke detector and realises that they have the wrong type of battery, so just removes the old battery from the detector. The nearby warehouse manager shouts for Worker A to “hurry up and get back down” to unload the HGV, startling Worker A. They lose their balance and fall four metres to the floor.
Worker B runs over to the warehouse manager, panicking and asking what to do. The warehouse manager shouts at them to calm down, move the FLT over to the loading bay, and help unload the HGV. Worker B starts driving slowly, as their hands are shaking. The warehouse manager shouts at them to be quicker, so they speed up and move the FLT around Worker A. Worker A is lying on the floor in shock and holding their leg. After several minutes of trying to think of what to do, the warehouse manager uses their hand-held radio to call the shop manager, who is first-aid-trained. The shop manager quickly arrives with the first-aid kit, sees Worker A has a bad injury, and telephones for an ambulance.
The shop accident Meanwhile, in the shop, the roof has started to leak again. Supervisor S goes to get a bucket while yawning. Because the shop is not busy today, they spend some time in the storage room drinking an energy drink. During this time, a customer slips on the wet floor, causing them to almost fall over. As they steady themselves, water-logged ceiling tiles suddenly fall, hitting the customer’s shoulder and injuring them. Supervisor S returns and hears the customer cry out, so rushes over to them. They move the customer to safety and try to find the first-aider, but neither the shop manager nor the firstaid kit are where they should be. Unable to contact the shop manager, Supervisor S returns to the customer and asks if they would like to wait for some first aid, or have an ambulance called. The customer, now angry, refuses to wait any longer and leaves the shop.
Supervisor S cleans up the fallen ceiling tiles, puts down a bucket under the leak, and dries the wet floor. They display a ‘wet floor’ sign and record the accident in the accident book. Their shift ends shortly after this, and as they leave, they wave goodbye to the shop manager. Later that day, a young customer walks past the bucket and notices small pieces of wet, broken ceiling tile on the floor.
A week later, SMart receives a legal claim from the injured customer. The health and safety director from the supermarket chain headquarters urgently visits SMart. They find several problems, including no general policy statement, despite both managers claiming to follow the national chain’s health and safety management system. The health and safety director reads the accident investigation report for the shop accident; the report describes the investigation being started two days after the accident occurred. Despite not being able to locate the original fallen ceiling tile, or see where it originally landed, the report concluded that the area should have been cordoned off when the leak originally occurred. The warehouse and shop managers inform the workforce that they must cordon off the area in the future if a leak occurs.