How actively involved are you with your hospitality venue’s Risk Strategy? There is a big difference between a fully comprehensive Risk Strategy and mere Compliance.
Let’s start off with a hypothetical, but likely scenario.
A young waitress at your venue is busy going about her duties. She is an efficient, reliable employee and is never late for a shift.
A couple of days ago, she mentioned that some of your storage units in the dry storage were a bit loose and needed fixing. As you’re the manager of the venue, you take this on board but it’s a busy week and you forget to organise a contractor to make the necessary repairs.
One afternoon, while she is stacking plates into one of the old storage units in the back room, the brackets securing it the wall come loose. She is injured as the cupboard and its contents come crashing down. You call an ambulance immediately and, although she is spared any critical injuries, you later discover that she has sustained significant nerve damage to her arm. As she is unable to lift heavy objects after the incident, she resigns.
Months later you receive a court summons for negligence and are sued for $70,000. It’s an entirely possible scenario that you may face without dedicated resources in Work Health and Safety.
How watertight is your Risk Strategy?
To help you determine whether your venue is compliant, or utilising a risk strategy to its full potential consider the following questions:
- Do you know what Work Health and Safety is in your workplace?
- Does your workplace meet current Work Health and Safety requirements?
- Are you aware of what a safety management system is?
- Do you know who advises your Officers in Work Health and Safety Laws?
- Have you conducted Risk Assessments throughout each area of your venue?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of these, then your venue will benefit from our Safety Audit Toolkit that has been specifically designed for the hospitality, club and hotel industry in line with Work Health and Safety requirements using years of research by industry professionals.
Broncos Leagues Club in Brisbane commissioned our DWS Risk Strategy services to help optimise their operations and improve the safety of their staff.
Together with DWS, we have built a work health and safety system that ensures we have up to date policies and procedures. At the beginning of our partnership the Club was assessed as having a health and safety compliance level of 45%. However within six months of working with DWS Risk Specialists, our compliance level has increased to 92%. DWS Risk Consultants are effective coaches who have provided encouragement, advice and knowledge to our safety committee, enabling us to become independent and confident in our own ability to ensure we have a safe workplace. Colleen Stormont, HR Manager, Safety Officer, Fire Safety Advisor, RRTWC – Brisbane Broncos Leagues Club
It always pays to expect the unexpected. Even little things like loose wall brackets can have a devastating impact on a business of any size. A comprehensive risk strategy won’t just protect your venue – it will protect your interests too.
If you think your venue needs a safety overhaul, call one of our experienced DWS Risk Consultants on 07 3878 9355 or email info@dws.net.au to find out how you can actively protect your venue, your staff and save yourself in costly litigation.
