Chapter Seven.

Conclusions & Recommendations.

7.1 Conclusions

Checkout workers represent a sizeable group within the working population. Extensive studies have been undertaken, and repeated, over the last 20 years and have produced a wealth of evidence showing that checkout activities can pose important risks to the health of workers.

Research has also indicated that checkout workers commonly experience discomfort from their work, typically in the form of muscle and joint pain often in their arms, necks and backs. The survey revealed that a large proportion of Local Authorities had been approached by checkout workers complaining about working conditions. Whilst it is important to distinguish such pain and symptoms from actual injuries and damage, there is comprehensive evidence that working conditions could be changed to mitigate such problems. Such changes are often minor in nature, e.g. the replacement of a chair, but have significant effects on worker welfare.

Whilst, overall, enforcers tended to demonstrate a good knowledge of safety issues, they recognised a degree of inconsistency in their approach, and felt that more guidance on enforcement issues should be produced. This should ensure that the legislative controls which, on the whole, most thought were adequate, were effectively implemented. They were also concerned that certain groups of employees may not be receiving the information they required in order to use checkouts safely.

Upgrading current checkouts to incorporate improved components within ergonomically designed and tested configurations will, in part, solve many of the problems identified by researchers. Such changes are economically feasible - with costs offset by higher levels of worker satisfaction, higher productivity, and probably lower rates of sickness and smaller staff turnovers. However, it is perhaps just as important to consider the human component of the work system. Employers have a legal requirement to consider the physical capabilities of the worker and must ensure that they give worker training and information provision equal importance.

7.2 Recommendations

Based upon the literature reviewed, the findings of the Local Authority Survey, and upon the comments of Store Managers, Safety Professionals and Checkout Workers who have assisted with the completion of this document, it would appear that there is a need for detailed guidance to be produced, aimed at several audiences - namely Enforcers, Retailers & Employees.

Such guidance can never be prescriptive (nor exhaustive) whilst there remains the present diversity of checkout types. It is suggested that such guidance includes the following advice.

7.2.1 Guidance For Enforcers

• Environmental Health Officers should ensure that they have sufficient technical information, and can fully understand the issues it highlights before undertaking any inspection of a checkout.

• Checkouts should be inspected in detail during each programmed health and safety visit in accordance with their risk rating. During such an inspection the adequacy of the following should be considered:

  • Adequacy of seating

  • General ergonomics of workstation for the range of goods handled

  • Manual handling demands

  • Acceptability of reach requirements

  • Space available for worker

  • Environmental factors: lighting / heating / draughts

  • Maintenance standards and housekeeping e.g. cable management etc.

• They should ensure that enforcers are instructed of their legal obligation to carry out an assessment of the risks which workers face.

• Periodically inspectors should request to see risk assessment documentation, review the hazards identified and determine that the controls suggested by the assessment have been implemented.

• Officers should observe checkout operators handling techniques (to ensure they are employing a safe system of work) and attempt to identify if they have received adequate safety information and training.

• Officers should routinely review the condition of seating, and require improvement / replacement / maintenance to be undertaken within a reasonable time period when problems are found.

• They should ensure that employers have a proactive system for identifying seating problems and repairing other damage to workstations - e.g. sharp damaged edges, inoperative conveyors etc.

• Local Authorities should ensure that they have a consistent approach to inspection and enforcement across the Authority perhaps by undertaking peer review. Guidance should be sought from the Local Authorities unit.

7.2.2 Guidance For Employers

• Appropriate selection of seating is vital to ensure that checkout work activities can be carried out safely. Seating choice must be considered at the checkstand design stage. It can not be viewed in isolation.

• In some circumstances it may be more appropriate for the checkout worker to stand. This option should be researched.

• Seating should be inspected regularly to ensure that it can be easily adjusted by operators. A defect reporting system should be introduced to ensure that problems, once identified are resolved quickly.

• Where feasible, spare checkout chairs should be available so that damaged seating can be replaced promptly.

• Worker welfare and customer service must be balanced.

• Checkouts should not be utilised where equipment (such as the feed conveyor belt) is faulty and would require the operator to over reach or to work with an awkward body posture.

• Workers should not be given financial incentives to work quickly - if such rewards encourage the use of poor body posture or potentially damaging handling techniques.

• Operators following good working practices should be identified and perhaps rewarded, those not working is such a manner should be retrained and supervised.

• Employers should recognise that training is at least of the same importance as checkout design in preventing worker injuries - and should be resourced accordingly.

• Stores should not consider selling merchandise which checkout workers can not safely handle within the design limitations of their checkstand system. For example bulky items such as grow bags, or cases of canned drinks etc. should not be sold until retailers have undertaken a suitable risk assessment and determined the method for handling them safely and trained workers accordingly.

• The space around the checkout operator should be kept free of ‘clutter’ and items such as carrier bag stock should be stored in a readily accessible position.

• All equipment such as cash drawer, credit card reader, scales etc. and items which an operator needs to handle should be within a reach limit of 400 mm.

• Where stores offer a grocery bag-packing service, employers should consider having this task undertaken by a second person - or designing a checkout where this task can be done without the need for the operator to continually twist their upper body. Operator packing from a seated position is not desirable.

• Cashiers should be able to rotate working on a checkout with other tasks i.e. ‘job-enlargement’ or ‘multi-skilling’ to minimise the risks associated with checkout operations.

• An appropriate number of short breaks should be provided for cashiers.

• Sales data should be used to match checkout worker numbers to customer demands and to ensure that workers are rotated between busy and quieter checkouts.

• The suitability of checkout work for pregnant workers should be assessed and kept under careful review.

• Retailers must be prepared to revise specifications of checkouts in response to operator feedback.

7.2.3 Guidance For Employees

• Before serving the first customer, operators should ensure that their seat is correctly adjusted in terms of its height and the positioning of the back rest.

• Workers should ensure that items such as carrier bags are appropriately placed before they serve their first customer - ensuring that they do not have to over reach once seated.

• Problems with seating adjustment should be reported to supervisors/managers.

• Discomfort caused by lighting / heating / draughts should be brought to the attention of a supervisor.

• Long and awkward reaches should be avoided. The operator should wait for the belt to deliver goods within easy reach, or even ask the customer to assist.

• Any discomfort or injury which could be linked to checkout work should be reported to a supervisor.

• Workers should fully understand the capabilities of their scanning system to ensure that they are not inadvertently making unnecessary wrist operations to orientate goods.

• Where possible goods should be dragged rather than lifted.

In addition to the many hundreds of injuries which go unreported every year, each of the larger supermarkets will receive five or six injury compensation claims which can be linked in some way to checkout work. This rate would appear to be static. Although most of the larger supermarkets have identified a number of areas in which improvements could be made, the rate of change is slow.

Retailers note that one of the problems they experience with producing training packages and implementing training programmes is the range of checkout types which they have throughout the chain, and the moderately high staff turnovers which they suffer. However, the solutions to these problems lie with retailers.

Recent research by the Health & safety Executive has done much to heighten the profile of checkout safety in the eyes of the large retailers. Its research has proved a medium for bringing many of the large retailers together, involving trade bodies, worker representatives and equipment manufacturers.

Perhaps now is the time to ensure that the impetus of this progress is maintained, and that enforcers and employers now devote adequate resources to checkout safety in line with its inherent risks.

It remains my hope that clear, concise guidance can be produced which is accepted by enforcers and employers and which can be implemented by both to ensure that the musculoskeletal risk to checkout workers from manual handling operations are both adequately identified and appropriately controlled.