Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2013 - 12

RETAIL: AT ISSUE

Creating safer working environments
Retail Council of Canada helps retailers achieve their
goals of reducing workplace injuries and costs
BY SEAN C. TARRY
WHEN it comes to running a successful retail operation, nothing is more important than people. To ensure that operations
are running as efficiently and effectively as possible, retailers
need to ensure that they are protecting their employees, and
their business, by reducing or eliminating workplace injuries
and lost days that come as a result.
To help retailers achieve this goal, Retail Council of Canada
(RCC) has taken a leadership role, running the Ontario Health
and Safety Group. The catalyst behind the group is the association's recognition of a need within the industry to promote and
assist retailers in the development of a strong health and safety
culture. And it's a need that has come about through conversations with retailers across the country.
"I don't know any retailer who wouldn't consider health and
safety to be very important," says Sonny Brar, national health and
safety manager at Toys R Us. "Employees need to know that they
are coming into a safe working environment. For some employees, they are working 40 hours a week and are working for a large
part of their day in the workplace, so they need to feel safe."
RCC has provided resources and information to allow retailers to meet the health and safety needs of their employees and
their organizations. However, perhaps the greatest benefit to
the association's involvement in this initiative is the "Group"
that's been formed to assist in reaching these goals.
"Being part of the safety group has allowed us to network with
other retailers, benefitting us by providing networking opportunities, through which we learn best practices that can be applied
to our own programs on a variety of topics," says Kerri O'Neill,
manager of health and safety at Staples. "The meetings allow for
a forum to discuss the challenges retailers face and gain insights
from professionals who may have similar challenges. By being
part of the RCC Safety Group we have been able to identify five
key elements to work on each year. It helps create manageable
programs that continue to grow year-over-year."
Who can attend the meetings?

Retailers who work in the areas of Health and Safety, Loss
Prevention or Human Resources can attend meetings. Most
important is that the information and knowledge gained at the
meeting is transferred back to the organization.
How long does the Safety Program run for?

The program runs from February 2014 - December 31, 2014.
Meetings are held four times per year during the months of
February, April, June, and October.

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HOW DOES A RETAILER JOIN?
There are three simple steps toward joining
RCC's Ontario Health and Safety Group:
Step 1: Fill out an application
Step 2: Email the application to:
jfarkouh@retailcouncil.org
Step 3: For additional details contact
Jonathan Farkouh at 416-467-3775
or 1-888-373-8245.

How are the elements selected and Action
Plan developed?

Retailers are encouraged to select elements
that address an area where injuries or accidents are frequently occurring.
Success over the years

30 retailers representing more than 4,000
storefronts across Ontario have participated
since the inception of the Group seven years
ago. In that time, participating retailers have
seen a 25 per cent reduction in injury claims.
RCC'S Safety Group members have received
more than $10 million in WSIB rebates.
"Health and safety is often recognized as an
indirect contributor to the bottom line," says
O'Neill. "We prevent injuries to ensure our
employees stay safe and premium and claims
costs stay down. In any retailer's culture,
health and safety is as important as providing
excellent customer service, best prices for our
customers, productivity, efficiency, quality and
loss prevention. RCC recognizes this and allows us to come together with others within the
industry to keep the most important asset to
any company protected-our employees."
For more information about RCC's Ontario
Health and Safety Group, contact Jonathan
Farkouh, manager, member programs at RCC,
at 1-888-373-8245 or 416-467-3775, or via
email at jfarkouh@retailcouncil.org. Additional resources are available online at
www.retailcouncil.org.

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Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2013

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