The tale of a slippery supermarket – and what bad weather can cost your shop

If you’re a retailer getting ready for the Christmas rush, the nasty weather is a real concern. Did you know: a single slipping incident in your store could cost £15,000 or more.

At Bison, we work hard to help our customers across all sectors to be aware of potential health and safety risks – even those that might not be immediately obvious.

The Health and Safety Executive warns that shops, and everywhere else with a high footfall of people stepping inside from the outdoors, need to be aware of the risks – and you ignore them at your peril.

The supermarket’s tale

One nationwide supermarket chain did a health and safety risk assessment and matched it with known incidents – and discovered that pedestrian slips were one of the biggest problems they faced.

How they tackled the risk

With the help of H&S experts, the company took a hard look at where the slips were happening and targeted two areas for action:

• the entrance where customers came in with wet shoes
• places where spillages might cause a problem.

They identified that the floor surfaces were old and slippery, and that the doormats were designed more for absorbing grit and dirt than water. 

So better, bigger mats were put in place to dry shoppers’ shoes, and greeters now welcome visitors to the stores and make sure the mats do not wrinkle or move. When the weather is really bad, cleaners are permanently at the entrance to mop up water.

Store staff were trained on what do with spillages, putting warning cones in place immediately, and the equipment needed to sort out the spillages was made easily available around the supermarket.

Did it work?

These sensible measures worked a treat – and the chain has seen a 25% fall in the number of slips across their estate.

What Bison says

“This is a great example of how important it is to stay alert to health and safety issues,” says Chris Hickman, CEO of Bison Assist.

“Not only can this sort of incident cost companies in compensation, but they can also have a really bad impact on the wellbeing of staff and customers – and nobody wants that.

“This is why it’s crucial to keep your health and safety assessments up to date, and to make sure the appropriate members of your team are well trained and alert to any potential risks. 

“At Bison, our experts don’t just drop in and tick some boxes – they provide you with good, sound advice on the best way to spot potential risks and keep everyone who uses your premises safe and well. And we’re not just there for the day; our team are available by phone any time you need to discuss a problem.

“So make an appointment with a Bison specialist today; you could be saving someone from a nasty accident – and protecting your business at the same time.”

Get a Bison quote today