Health and Safety for the Retail Industry

The Health and Safety for the Retail Industry eLearning course provides learners with an understanding of the key health and safety considerations associated with working in retail environments.

The course explores common retail workplace hazards, including slips, trips and falls, manual handling, workplace equipment, stock handling and customer-facing activities. Learners will consider their responsibilities for working safely, recognising and reporting hazards and following appropriate workplace procedures to help protect themselves, colleagues and customers.

Who Should Attend?

• Retail employees.
• Customer service and sales personnel.
• Checkout and till operators.
• Stockroom and replenishment employees.
• Employees responsible for receiving or handling deliveries.
• New starters working in retail environments.
• Managers and supervisors responsible for retail employees.
• Anyone requiring an understanding of health and safety within a retail environment.

What You Will Learn

• The importance of health and safety within retail environments.
• Understanding individual responsibilities for workplace health and safety.
• Recognising the responsibilities of employers and employees.
• Understanding the difference between hazards and risks.
• Recognising common hazards within retail workplaces.
• Understanding the purpose of workplace risk assessments.
• Following appropriate workplace procedures and control measures.
• Recognising common slip, trip and fall hazards.
• Maintaining clear walkways, aisles and emergency routes.
• Managing spillages and wet floors appropriately.
• Understanding the importance of good housekeeping.
• Recognising manual handling risks associated with retail work.
• Handling stock and other items safely.
• Recognising when handling aids or additional assistance may be required.
• Understanding hazards associated with receiving and moving deliveries.
• Storing and stacking stock appropriately.
• Recognising risks associated with unstable or falling stock.
• Using appropriate access equipment when retrieving or storing items.
• Avoiding unsafe access methods, including climbing on shelving or unsuitable objects.
• Recognising hazards associated with workplace equipment.
• Using equipment only where appropriately trained and authorised.
• Understanding basic electrical safety principles.
• Recognising damaged or defective equipment.
• Understanding basic fire safety precautions.
• Maintaining access to fire exits and emergency equipment.
• Following workplace emergency and evacuation procedures.
• Recognising potential risks associated with hazardous substances and cleaning products.
• Using required personal protective equipment appropriately.
• Maintaining awareness of customers and other members of the public.
• Recognising potential risks associated with aggressive or threatening behaviour.
• Understanding the importance of personal safety when responding to incidents.
• Reporting hazards, defects and unsafe conditions promptly.
• Reporting accidents, incidents and near misses.
• Recognising when work should be stopped or concerns escalated.
• Following organisational health and safety procedures.
• Contributing to a safe environment for employees and customers.

Course Delivery

This course is delivered as self-directed eLearning through the ELMO learning platform.

Learners can work through the course at their own pace and can move backwards and forwards through the learning content as required. The course does not need to be completed in one sitting, allowing learners to leave and return to their training where necessary.

Interactive activities may be included throughout the course to reinforce key learning points.

Assessment

Knowledge and understanding are checked through online assessment activities. Depending on the course content, these may include multiple-choice questions, matching exercises, drag-and-drop activities and image-based questions.

A minimum score of 70% is required to successfully complete the course.

Certification

Upon successful completion of the course and assessment requirements, learners will receive a UK Rural Skills (UKRS) Accredited Certificate of Training.

This is an awareness-based eLearning course and does not replace workplace-specific induction, risk assessments, safe systems of work or any practical, task-specific or equipment-specific training required for an individual's role.

Course Duration

The course is self-directed and learners can progress through the content at their own pace. Completion time may therefore vary depending on the individual learner.