I have accepted a position with a new employer and am responsible for managing the workshop.
My new employer seems to have a historic practice of welcoming people into the workshop. On some occasions I have seen customers under ramps and talking with the technician as they are working.
In my previous job we tried to keep customers out of the workshop. I have discussed this practice with my new employer but they simply say they have nothing to hide and customers can come in and view how their car is being repaired anytime.
Is it OK to allow anyone to just walk into the workshop, or am I worrying unnecessarily?
It is positive that your employer has identified that some customers want to know how their car is being repaired, has ‘nothing to hide’ and is prepared to allow customers to view the repair process.
However, by allowing customers to enter the workshop they are exposing the customer to an increased risk of injury. Whilst employees who work in the workshop may be aware of potential risks, visitors are unlikely to have the same level of knowledge and therefore are more ‘at risk’ of being injured.
For example on rainy days you may find that wet cars drip water on the floor, which makes the floor slippery. Your technicians will be aware of this fact and will take action to minimise the risk by either wearing suitable footwear, avoiding the area, removing the water with a squeegee, or just being extra careful. It is unlikely that you can remove the risk altogether because in the UK it rains and wet vehicles are brought into the workshop.
However your visitor, who is unaware of the slippery floor, walks in with normal, ‘not safety’, shoes and slips on the floor seriously injuring him/herself. The injury prevents the customer from working resulting in a negligence claim for loss of wages, compensation for the injury and pain and suffering etc.
Just for a few moments spent considering what potential risks customers face when entering your workshop would be a very sensible us of your time, and could prevent an accident from happening. Try and ask yourself, what is the worst that could happen? Having assessed the potential risks try and plan to remove or minimise the risk and put in place processes so employees know what to do if that situation occurs.
The easiest, but not necessarily the best way to deal with this is to stop customers entering the workshop, which appears to be the route taken by your previous employer. However, if your customers have historically entered the workshop, stopping this practice may result in the loss of customers. Also your employer may be unhappy to change this practice.
An alternative may be to identify or create a safe area from which the customer can watch the repair process.
If at all possible try and create a clearly marked out space for the customer and preferably ensure the customer can walk in and out of the designated area of the workshop without walking through the main doors used by vehicles. This will minimise the risk of a vehicle striking a pedestrian. You may also decide that some kind of screen would be required to protect the customer against grinding sparks or other objects which could injure the customer.
You should consider undertaking a visitor safety checklist, click here, to try and identify the potential risks and then undertake a risk assessment, click here for a suggested template. Ensure you document any steps taken to minimise or eliminate these risks so you can demonstrate that you have not negligently ignored the risk to customers.
In answer to your question, ‘is it OK to allow customers to enter the workshop?’ Yes, provided you have attempted to create a ‘safe environment’ for the customer to occupy whilst in the workshop.
If you fail to undertake risk assessments or take any documented action to protect your customers whilst in the workshop then it is highly likely that you will be seen to be negligent if an accident happens.
My new employer seems to have a historic practice of welcoming people into the workshop. On some occasions I have seen customers under ramps and talking with the technician as they are working.
In my previous job we tried to keep customers out of the workshop. I have discussed this practice with my new employer but they simply say they have nothing to hide and customers can come in and view how their car is being repaired anytime.
Is it OK to allow anyone to just walk into the workshop, or am I worrying unnecessarily?
It is positive that your employer has identified that some customers want to know how their car is being repaired, has ‘nothing to hide’ and is prepared to allow customers to view the repair process.
However, by allowing customers to enter the workshop they are exposing the customer to an increased risk of injury. Whilst employees who work in the workshop may be aware of potential risks, visitors are unlikely to have the same level of knowledge and therefore are more ‘at risk’ of being injured.
For example on rainy days you may find that wet cars drip water on the floor, which makes the floor slippery. Your technicians will be aware of this fact and will take action to minimise the risk by either wearing suitable footwear, avoiding the area, removing the water with a squeegee, or just being extra careful. It is unlikely that you can remove the risk altogether because in the UK it rains and wet vehicles are brought into the workshop.
However your visitor, who is unaware of the slippery floor, walks in with normal, ‘not safety’, shoes and slips on the floor seriously injuring him/herself. The injury prevents the customer from working resulting in a negligence claim for loss of wages, compensation for the injury and pain and suffering etc.
Just for a few moments spent considering what potential risks customers face when entering your workshop would be a very sensible us of your time, and could prevent an accident from happening. Try and ask yourself, what is the worst that could happen? Having assessed the potential risks try and plan to remove or minimise the risk and put in place processes so employees know what to do if that situation occurs.
The easiest, but not necessarily the best way to deal with this is to stop customers entering the workshop, which appears to be the route taken by your previous employer. However, if your customers have historically entered the workshop, stopping this practice may result in the loss of customers. Also your employer may be unhappy to change this practice.
An alternative may be to identify or create a safe area from which the customer can watch the repair process.
If at all possible try and create a clearly marked out space for the customer and preferably ensure the customer can walk in and out of the designated area of the workshop without walking through the main doors used by vehicles. This will minimise the risk of a vehicle striking a pedestrian. You may also decide that some kind of screen would be required to protect the customer against grinding sparks or other objects which could injure the customer.
You should consider undertaking a visitor safety checklist, click here, to try and identify the potential risks and then undertake a risk assessment, click here for a suggested template. Ensure you document any steps taken to minimise or eliminate these risks so you can demonstrate that you have not negligently ignored the risk to customers.
In answer to your question, ‘is it OK to allow customers to enter the workshop?’ Yes, provided you have attempted to create a ‘safe environment’ for the customer to occupy whilst in the workshop.
If you fail to undertake risk assessments or take any documented action to protect your customers whilst in the workshop then it is highly likely that you will be seen to be negligent if an accident happens.
