SCENARIO

Keystone Hardware $($KH$)$ is a hardware store located in a retail park just outside a large town. It

opened $10$ years ago. Areas that are only open to the workers include a large warehouse, offices,

worker toilets and rest area, and two greenhouses $($see supporting document $1).$ The public areas

consist of a large sales floor, two large outdoor areas surrounded by perimeter fencing, a small caf

and customer toilets. In these two outdoor areas there are small sections that have an awning

covering them. These areas are where smaller, packaged supplies are displayed on shelves and

stands. The outdoor areas are accessed via automatic doors at the rear of the store. There is a car

park outside with a wide paved pathway leading to the store entrance; both areas are well$-$lit and

well$-$maintained. On entering the store, to the left is the caf area and customer toilets. There is an

access road to the rear of the warehouse for deliveries, and areas for customer collections to the

front of both outdoor areas.There are several departments in the store selling a large range of items. These departments

include: Gardens and Landscaping $($items ranging from large ceramic pots to small plastic pots,

garden ornaments and potted plants of various sizes$),$ Building Materials $($including items such as

$25$kg bags of cement, sand and gravel, wood of various sizes, fixtures and fittings$),$ Heating and

Plumbing $($selling radiators and portable heaters, fires and fire surrounds, and boilers$).$ KH also sells

workwear and tools, including lawnmowers, cement mixers and small, boxed hand tools, and offers a

woodcutting service.KH is open to the public $7$ days a week, Monday Saturday $08$:$0020$:$00,$ and Sunday $10$:$00$

$16$:$00.$ The store employs $80$ workers including three managers. The store manager $($SM$)$ manages

the whole store team, as well as having specific responsibility for all the indoor areas. They are new

to the role having joined KH from a competitor just a few months ago. Two other managers report to

the SM$,$ these are the building materials manager and the garden manager. The building materials

manager is responsible for outdoor area $2,$ the warehouse and the delivery area at the rear of the

store; and the garden manager is responsible for outdoor area $1.$KH is always busy with customers at weekends, but especially now, while there are price reductions

on radiators, gas fires and fire surrounds. This has resulted in workers being inundated with requests

for help with the loading of these heavy items into customers cars.

The warehouse and delivery area

The warehouse is well$-$organised, with strong racking and clearly marked$-$out pedestrian walkways.

The delivery area for vehicles is limited in size and is located between the access road and the

warehouse. There are two forklift trucks and ten pallet $($pump$)$ trucks that operate in this area. All

equipment is kept in a good state of repair. Delivery vehicles vary in size; from small vans that are

unloaded by hand, to large delivery trucks that are unloaded using the forklift trucks.

Offices

There is access to the offices from the delivery area, the access road and outdoor area $1.$ Each of

the managers has a desk in the office. This office is also where the Human Resources and Accounts

departments are located. The SM is sitting at their desk eating their lunch and has just read an

article in Woodworking Monthly, a trade magazine $($see supporting document $2).$ It concerns a study of wood dust exposure in a situation very similar to that at KH$.$ The SM is particularly

concerned about the reference to carcinogens in this trade magazine article.

Outdoor area $1$: Gardens and Landscaping

In the Gardens and Landscaping department, a ramp leads down from the store into outdoor area $1.$

There is a combination of gravelled pathways and paved areas that guide the customers around the

department. Plants and shrubs are grouped on different stands to make it easier for the customer to

view them. These stands are positioned on paved sections of the area. Garden ornaments are

placed between the plants and shrubs to encourage customers to purchase these with the plants.

This department also sells a range of plant foods and pesticides. The Gardens and Landscapingteam work very hard to help ensure They do not have an automated watering system, so watering is carried out regularly by one of the

workers using one of the two long hose pipes in this area. At the rear of outdoor area $1,$ there are the

two greenhouses. These have been in place since KH opened. Some of the paving around the

greenhouses is uneven and some of the lighting in this area is no longer working. Workers enjoy

working in these greenhouses, especially when it is cold outside. However, on sunny days, workers

try to avoid being inside.that all plants have sufficient water and shade when required.system, so watering is carried out regularly by one of the

workers using one of the two long hose pipes in this area. At the rear of outdoor area $1,$ there are the

two greenhouses. These have been in place since KH opened. Some of the paving around the

greenhouses is uneven and some of the lighting in this area is no longer working. Workers enjoy

working in these greenhouses, especially when it is cold outside. However, on sunny days, workers

try to avoid being inside.Customers can use either a shopping basket or flatbed trolley to take their items to the cash

registers; these are located near the main entrance doors. Workers are available to assist with the

handling of large or bulky items, such as bags of compost and lawnmowers. In addition, notices are

displayed throughout the store and outdoor public areas urging customers to request assistance

where needed.

The Caf

The caf at KH is always extremely busy. The seating area is surrounded by tall screens. These

help to shield the customers in the caf from cold air that comes in through the open entrance doors.

However, workers in the caf often complain that they are too warm. These screens also make the

boundaries of the caf clear. Workers in the caf use hand$-$held trays to carry orders of food and

drink from the kitchen to customers tables. These trays can be heavy when loaded and have a

slippery surface coating on them. There have been regular incidents where workers have droppedtrays or items from the trays. There have also been complaints from workers that the loaded trays

can be too heavy. Unfortunately, there is rarely enough time to make more than one trip with a single

order. The SM is aware of workers concerns and is considering what can be done to reduce these

incidents and help the workers.

Outdoor area $2$: Building Materials

As with the gardens and landscaping area, there is a ramp leading down into outdoor area $2.$ The

floors in the Building Materials department, warehouse, and delivery area are concrete. These have

cracked and are broken into pieces in some areas due to the use of vehicles and forklift trucks.

Pallets of materials are positioned close to one another around the perimeter of the outdoor building

materials area.

The vertical panel saw $($VPS$)$

KH offers a woodcutting service. Customers purchase the wood in store and have it cut, or they can

bring in their own wood to be cut. This is carried out using a VPS that has been in use since the

store opened. The VPS is located at the back of the store, between the two sets of automatic sliding

doors for the outside areas, that are constantly opening and closing.The task of carrying out the cutting is not allocated to one individual worker. Instead, there are five

workers who are trained on how to operate the VPS safely. Depending on which of the workers are

available each day, they decide between themselves who will do the cutting on that day. Whenever

Worker X is working, they always volunteer to take on this role and the SM is happy with this

arrangement. Worker X then takes on tasks in the area close to the VPS$,$ this way they are nearby

when a customer wants to use the cutting service. Worker Y also likes to work on the cutting service,

but the SM has noticed that Worker Y is often breathless and coughs a lot while working on the VPS$.$

The SM is conscious that the customers do not want to be near someone who is coughing, while

waiting for their wood cutting to be done.

Recently, Worker X has noticed that there has been a steady increase in the demand for the wood

cutting service in general, but the weekends are the busiest days. Some days, Worker X spends

several hours working on the VPS$.$ A pair of earmuffs $($ear defenders$)$ and eye protection are

available for use by the workers. Most workers do not use the old and dirty earmuffs. The VPS

originally had an on$-$tool extraction system but, some time ago, workers complained that this made

the blade difficult to position accurately, so it was removed. Dust tends to build up along the length ofthe VPS and on the floor around it$.$ Workers use a broom to sweep the wood dust into a pile around the back of the VPS at the end of each day. This pile of dust is vacuumed up every few days.

Worker X is currently cutting a large sheet of plywood in half, and has two more customers waiting

with similar items. The SM has come to see Worker X to talk to them about the trade magazine

article that they have been reading. The SM stops two metres from the VPS$,$ just behind the low$-$

level barrier around the VPS$.$ They can see that Worker X is busy. The SM greets Worker X and

asks if they can talk to them when they are free. Worker X cannot hear the SM because of the noise

of the VPS$.$ The SM shouts to Worker X$,$ but they are concentrating on the cut and, again, they do

not respond. The SM decides that they will come back later and walks back to their office. On the

way, the SM wonders if noise exposure is another thing that they should be reviewing and if there is

already a noise risk assessment for using the VPS$.$

Later, the SM returns to the VPS to see Worker X$.$ Worker X is just finishing off a job for a customer,

and there is no one else waiting. When they have finished, the SM explains to them about the trade

magazine article and their concerns about the noise. Worker X explains that it is softwoods that most

customers want cutting and this is when the VPS seems to be at its loudest. Worker X also explains

that they think they spend about three hours a day using the VPS$,$ but this varies day$-$by$-$day. The

SM thanks Worker X for their comments and leaves them to deal with another customer who has just

arrived with some wood for cutting.Plan of action

Back in their office the SM reviews their To Do list and adds to it Review noise exposure at VPS$.$

The list is already quite long and includes reviewing the approach to manual handling risk

assessments. Since reading the trade magazine article earlier they have also added to the list,

Review exposure to wood dust. The SM recognises that they are going to need some help to

address these health and safety issues that they have identified. The SM contacts an occupational

hygienist $($OH$)$ that they used in their previous employment. The SM is going to need the OHs help

to take some measurements and give some advice on the wood dust and noise exposure for workers

using the VPS$.$ The OH is available next week to discuss, advise, and take some measurements.

In the meantime, the SM starts to write down what they now know about the VPS and how it is used.

They also refresh their memory by re$-$reading two documents that they have used previously, the

British Health and Safety Executives $($HSE$)$ document L$108$ and relevant ILO guidance documents.

The SM knows from experience that they may need to take some immediate action in relation to

noise exposure from the VPS$.$ The SM reviews a personal protective equipment $($PPE$)$ catalogue to

select some new hearing protection equipment to order and use $($see supporting document $3).$

Two weeks later the SM receives the results of both the noise level measurements and wood dust

measurements from the OH $($see supporting document $4).$ They can see that the noise exposure

is too high, especially as they now know that the VPS is used for longer than Worker X had indicated.

The following day, the SM meets with the OH to discuss an overall action plan. The OH

recommends that health surveillance is carried out for all workers who are exposed to wood dust

created by the operation of the VPS$.$ This could begin with the use of a simple health questionnaire

being sent to the relevant workers. The SM is concerned that a health surveillance programme is

going to be expensive and time$-$consuming. The SM is keen to tell the OH that they have already

ordered two types of hearing protection and offered those to workers using the VPS$.$ The OH is a

little concerned about this, especially when they look at the hearing protection the SM has ordered.

The OH explains that other possible control measures will need to be considered for both noise and

dust control.

Using above scenario write down answer of below question.

explain what practical control measures to reduce their worker exposure to Wood dust $20$ Points.