Work Health and Safety Policy

Purpose. This policy states the group's commitment to a safe workplace for team members, customers, contractors and visitors across every store, the fulfilment centre, the delivery fleet and head office.

1.Purpose and scope

Marketplace will provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health so far as is reasonably practicable. This policy applies to all team members, labour hire workers, contractors, students on placement and visitors at every site and in every vehicle operated by the group.

2.Legal framework

The group operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Victoria) and its regulations, and applies the compliance codes for manual handling, hazardous substances, first aid and workplace facilities. Officers will exercise due diligence by understanding the hazards of retail work and resourcing the controls in this policy.

3.Retail hazards

Retail work carries hazards that must be controlled using the hierarchy of controls. Team members must report every hazard, incident and near miss on the day it occurs using the incident and hazard report form so it enters the WHS and security incident register.

• Manual handling of cartons, pallets, roll cages and hanging stock
• Slips, trips and falls from spills, cables and stock on the floor
• Cuts from box cutters, slicers, knives and broken glass
• Cold room, freezer and hot equipment exposure
• Armed robbery, theft and aggressive or abusive customers
• Fatigue from late trade, night fill and split shifts
• Driving and loading for deliveries
• Repetitive work at checkouts and packing stations

4.Responsibilities

The General Manager Retail is accountable for this policy. Store managers must implement site procedures, complete the weekly safety walk and act on incident reports within the timeframes in the register. Every team member must follow procedures, use the equipment provided, complete required training and stop and report any task they cannot do safely.

• General Manager Retail: policy, resourcing and monthly review
• Store and fulfilment managers: procedures, inspections, incident follow-up
• People, Safety and Loss Prevention Manager: register, training matrix, consultation
• Health and safety representatives: consultation and issue resolution
• All team members: follow procedures, report hazards, look after each other

5.Consultation

The group will consult team members through elected health and safety representatives at each site, weekly team briefings and the quarterly safety committee. Changes to equipment, layouts, rosters or procedures that affect safety will be discussed with affected team members before they are introduced.

6.Respectful customer behaviour

Abuse, threats and violence toward team members are workplace hazards. The group will train team members to recognise and de-escalate, will support any team member who withdraws from an abusive interaction, and will ban customers who abuse staff in line with the customer service and respectful behaviour policy. Every such event must be recorded in the incident register.

7.Training, first aid and emergency

Every team member will complete safety induction before their first shift and refresher training every twelve months. Each site will have trained first aiders and wardens on every shift, a stocked first aid kit and an evacuation diagram. Emergency procedures will be practised twice a year.

8.Review

This policy will be reviewed every twelve months, after any notifiable incident and when legislation changes. The document library holds the current version; printed copies are uncontrolled.