Occupational Safety and Health Guidelines for the Retail Industry

Centered among the service sector, retail development is expanding dramatically in most countries, especially in these developing economies, for example, nearly 20 per cent accounted for the regional GDP in ASEAN. This growth not only contributes towards the development of economy but also creates employment opportunities. For instance, 19 per cent in Brunei Darussalam, 18 in Indonesia, 17 in Malaysia and 16 per cent of Thailand employment share are taken up by the retail industry.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is an important part of the workplace environment. Both the worker and the employer have a responsibility to keep the workplace a safe environment. Yet comparative mapping of several national profiles of OSH legislation has revealed current standards of OSH for the retail sector to be seriously inadequate or even absent. However, the public face of safety and health is often restricted to incidents when fatal accidents or serious incidents occur, it is also important to remember that OSH includes such aspects as the general wellbeing of all workers. Taking the retail workers as example, every year many people suffer long-term injuries at the workplace, subsequently affecting their lives and their ability to work. Furthermore, the retail environment necessitates some unique OSH conditions to be taken into consideration.

This research will determine the legal and practical provisions for OSH in the retail industry in various countries and retail establishments. These have been classified according to the various OSH risks, are to serve as guidelines for the implementation of specific legislation by governments, specific regulation by retail stores, as well as further campaigns and training by trade unions.