Reference no: EM132964927

Case Study - Risk Assessments

William owns a bicycle retail and repair shop which has seen an increase in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a busier store and higher demand for bikes and repairs, William considers the measures that he needs to put in place to meet public health requirements and how he can lower the risk of COVID-19 at the store. 

William decides it is not reasonably practicable for his 10 employees to work from home as they are all involved in sales and repairs, which must be done at the premises. He looks through the COVID-19 resource kit on the Safe Work Australia website and identifies the control measures that are relevant to his business. This includes physical distancing, cleaning and hygiene practices and policies for employees who show symptoms of COVID-19.

The business regularly holds events to allow customers to test ride their range of bikes, with attendance of up to 20 people. William understands that these events pose a higher risk of spreading COVID-19 and do not meet the new rules for public gatherings, so immediately cancels these activities. 

The business also allows customers to take bikes from the store for test rides. William is aware that it is possible for the COVID-19 virus to be on different surfaces for periods of time and this may result in transmission. It is difficult to disinfect bikes after each customer use due to cleaning products potentially contaminating and damaging parts of the bike. 

William weighs up the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission from test rides and how to eliminate or minimise the risk of that happening, including measures like ceasing test rides or regularly disinfecting bikes. He then considers the suitability of those measures against their cost.

William decides the best way to minimise the risk is to temporarily limit the number of customer test rides. He clearly communicates this new practice to customers through his website and using signage at the store. William considers that this may result in a decline in sales but knows that this is necessary to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. William will still ensure that his employees disinfect bikes after each customer use but by limiting the number of test rides it will reduce the potential damage to his stock from disinfecting practices and save on cleaning costs and staff time. 

1. From a provided case study,complete the following tasks:

(A)  Develop a contingency plan in accordance with William's bicycle retail shop.