The work of a salesperson is not associated with easy and pleasant work – it is many hours spent at the checkout, lining the goods, contact with nervous customers. This profession requires a lot of patience from the employee.

Works that contribute to the formation of musculoskeletal disorders include:

• lifting of products with a large mass (for example, packs of drinks)
• taking a squatting or kneeling position when lining the goods
• pushing forklifts
• sitting for several hours while deleting products

Long queues, raised voices, visible impatience of customers – all this increases the level of stress at work. In addition, there is haste and rushing, which intensify in the so-called hot periods – before holidays and long weekends.

In larger supermarkets, noise and biological agents should be added to the negative factors.

Working in the food industry is associated with exposure to poisoning with stale food – vegetables, fruits, meat.

It should be remembered that in hypermarkets part of the crew may be temporary workers. In their case, the obligation to train OHS is fulfilled not by the employer on the part of the store, because it is not he who directly employs the employee, but often rests on the shoulders of the employment agency, and in practice it happens differently.

This means that temporary workers can be familiar with the risks and principles of occupational health and safety to a lesser extent than employees employed permanently by a given market.

When assessing occupational risks, attention should be paid to the intensity and duration of exposure to difficult working conditions, such as cold, noise, mechanical vibration. You should also consider which activities are repetitive and may contribute to joint diseases. Not every employee can cope with unfavorable working conditions in the same way – so it depends on the gender and age of the employees. It is also necessary to assess the energy expenditure of employees, static and dynamic loads acting on them.

More and more supermarkets are investing in modern solutions that are a great convenience for employees. These are, for example: non-stationary scanners, thanks to which the cashier does not have to lift heavy goods, he can put a reader on them, battery carts with lifts and platforms for laying products. However, these solutions require considerable financial outlays, so larger supermarkets decide on them, not small local stores.

Source: https://www.bhp-center.com.pl/praca-w-handlu-jakie-niesie-ze-soba-zagrozenia/

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.