Having HR and Health & Safety measures helps your business grow, by enabling your staff to feel supported. There’s always a lot going on, plant care, assisting customers, ensuring that the cafe is running smoothly and checking your stock means that having all your staff on board with your business values is essential.
To do this, your staff need to feel valued, confident and safe.
Since the sentencing guidelines changed in 2016, penalties for failing to manage health and safety effectively can be much higher, therefore, there should be an increased focus on getting it right.
The primary method to control Legionella is through water temperature control. Managing your hot and cold water systems, to ensure water is at the correct temperature and that the systems are regularly cleaned and monitored helps reduce the risk of the bacteria growing.
Accidents tend to occur where workplace transport such as fork lift trucks are in close proximity with employees and customers, or from falls from height, for example when unloading deliveries from lorries.
Regular use of ladders may mean your staff become complacent when it comes to working at heights. Ensure that you have training in place which prevents this.
Lifting heavy plants or bags of compost can cause injuries which may lead to sick leave. Remain aware of the dangers and injuries which occur with manual handling in order to protect your employees.
Icy winters, and large puddles created by watering endangers your staff and customers from slips and trips. Ensure you’re reviewing your environment and making the necessary changes.
Our team regularly work with Garden Centres, so they have a good understanding of many of the challenges that you may face, and what it takes to implement HR systems which support your staff and in turn your business.
With the warmer weather and holiday’s increasing your visitor rate, you may have found yourself taking on more casual staff. Online HR systems like Breathe help you keep everything in your business running smoothly. Easily accessible for you and your staff, Breathe keeps all your employees details in one place, meaning less stress is caused when it comes to keeping track of your staff.
Ensure that all employees undertaking shift work have appropriate breaks for their work time especially during hotter periods.
Make sure that your training systems are in place to develop the skills of both your long and short term employees. This can help reduce staff turnover and in turn your stress levels.
Review your hiring processes to ensure that your cafe is never short of chefs in your cafes or horticultural assistant. We can help.