Lesson 8: Health and Safety
Health and safety can seem dry and boring, and you may be thinking this has nothing to do with me and my market stall.
You may not be doing much apart from selling some homemade art work to people who love art. Where’s the need for health and safety?
In this lesson we are going to be looking at why Health and Safety is important and why it affects you. It will also cover the requirements for Health and Safety within the Marketplace.
Defining Health and Safety
Health and Safety has become an important part of our lives and businesses over the last 40 years, but where are its origins?
In the UK, mills employed all number of people to work long hours and often used children to work too. In 1833, four inspectors formed the first Factory Inspectorate and they had the power to enter a mill and observe how it functioned.
The Factories Act of 1833 began to change what employers could do and the way workers were treated in the workplace.
Their powers, although vastly limited by todays standards, stretched to ensuring machinery was as safe as it could be for workers in the mills. This meant they could also bring in certain laws which related to the machinery of the Mills too.
Obviously, they were stretched though, 3000 mills vs 4 inspectorates in 1833 would have been a monumental task to regulate, yet just 35 years later they had made an impression and grown the inspectorate to 35 inspectors and sub-inspectors. There was finally progress to protecting people at work!
An extension to the Factories Act of 1833, in 1871, covered more than just the mills. It aimed to cover all workplaces. The Inspectors took a more advisory role, even though they still had powers to enforce closures of a business.
In 1843 the Mines Inspectorate was formed following the Mines Act of 1842. After conditions in mines were seen to be highly dangerous and life threatening. Times were about to change for the better.
In 1895, again following the Quarries Act of 1894, the Quarries Inspectorate was formed and another area of major industry came under the wing of the Health and Safety inspectors.
You may be thinking that this is all additional work and red tape not required for hardworking entrepreneurs trying to make their way in world. If everyone had a bit of common sense there would be no need to even have Health and Safety!
Perhaps not, but everyone thinks differently. In parts of the world child labour is still considered acceptable to business owners, or an employer can fire a person because they refuse to do overtime or have a medical issue or pregnancy.
(Further reading on Human rights and the conditions of workers see footnote)
Health and Safety has evolved in the UK to protect workers, owners and the public. Their health around machinery, the environment they work in and the hours they work for are all governed by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act of 1974. Following the Act, in 1975 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was formed
(To continue reading the history of the HSE visit their Timeline.)
It is the responsibility of any employer to keep their employees safe, and provide for them basic human rights required under UK law. More so today, company owners can be brought into direct accountability if their employees or members of the public come to harm due to unsafe or improper health and safety practices.
Trading Standards also exist to regulate and even pursue businesses over poor selling practises or public safety, and the Office of Fair Trading watches over businesses within the UK. Each with powers that can be reinforced in law!
Health and Safety does benefit people, and aims to treat people as human beings.
Health and Safety and My Stall
It may seem trivial, to a stall owner selling cuddly toys to a small child, that health and Safety regulations would affect them and they would be wrong!
Selling a toy with materials that may be have been manufactured with toxic or hazardous chemicals will lead to serious penalties.
Selling counterfeit batteries which may explode on use is hazardous. Making soap from harmful chemicals that can burn the skin is not taking care of the public and will result in prosecution by the government.
Be wise when it comes to making or selling anything to the public. Of course you cannot account for every aspect of human nature. You cannot know what a person intends to do with a product you sell, but you can explain what its intended use is.
If something is dangerous when broken you must provide the warnings. If it contains materials that may harm, you have a duty and responsibility to explain that to your customers.
DO NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THEY KNOW!
In the case of food preparation and storage, Health and Safety rules are very clear. You must provide the best environment to ensure contamination of food products does not occur.
If you make furniture or art from old pallets, it is your responsibility to ensure the wood has not been treated with a chemical or has come into contact with rodents or hazardous chemicals.
More than that, you are duty bound to provide a safe environment to the pubic. Fair trading conditions and laws are there to enforce what you ought to be doing anyway.
I always think in my own mind, how would I treat my grandmother, and normally that would mean I would need to explain, and provide clear directions to avoid her being injured or confused.
Health and Safety in the Marketplace
The place you trade at is also bound to ensure you are trading in an environment which is safe for you and the public visiting. They have a duty to ensure that tripping hazards, electrical connections and the buildings/grounds are safe for people.
You may find that the management of a Marketplace will visit your stall to inspect what is on sale as they too are responsible for protecting the public.
If someone is injured because of the way you leave items laying around on the floor at your stall, they will also be responsible for not upholding the health and safety legislation and be accountable for it.
When management ask for a change to something you are doing or enquire about products you are selling, they are trying to ascertain if the public and fellow traders are safe.
I certainly would want my grandmother to enjoy a day out at a Marketplace enjoying fantastic home prepared foods and creative artwork. I would not expect her to trip over a cord laid across the walkway or burn her skin because a product does not specify all the ingredients.
Conclusion
The reality is that health and safety is trying to account for everyone’s lack of understanding, experience and common sense by ensuring the safest environment for all.
You are responsible for the health and safety of the public who visit your stall. The marketplace is responsible to the public and traders who visit and work at the site. The safer and more open the environment the better chance we have of keeping people coming back and making the Marketplace a real place to regularly visit..
Quick Quiz
- When was Health and Safety first officially recognised?
- Why should you be concerned with Health and Safety at your Stall?
- Why does Management of a Marketplace have a duty to the public’s health and safety?
