Are you a fishmonger?
In search of a health and safety risk assessment tailored to your activity?
Do you need a pre-filled assessment to save you hours of work?
Want to be in compliance with safety regulations?
 
Our Health and Safety Risk Assessment is designed to meet your needs with:
→ A professional risk assessment totally specific to fishmongers.
→ Risk prevention proposals dedicated to fishmongers.
→ Integration of risks linked to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
 
All this in an easily editable Excel format, allowing you to make personalized updates on your own.
 
FEATURES OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT 
 
This 5-page Excel file includes:
A Cover Page
A Company Information page
A presentation of the Risk Assessment Methodology used.
An occupational risks assessment tailored to your sector of activity.
A risk prevention schedule with all the different safety measures.

It contains 32 occupational risk situations classified into 9 work units:
Fish preparation
Stall set-up
Customer service / Cashiering
Customer contact
Loading / Unloading goods from vehicle.
Cleaning the fish counter
Road travel
Working environment
Work premises
 
☑ Complies with the employer's obligation to assess risks
(Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999)
☑ Adheres to the General Principles of Prevention
(Schedule 1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999)
☑ Takes into account good practice and pitfalls in risk assessment
(Report RR151 from the Health and Safety Executive)
 
EXCERPTS FROM THE HEALTH AND SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT 
 
The danger of skin contact with ice and cold products when setting up the stall: Setting up the stall involves handling large quantities of ice. This is absolutely essential to guarantee optimum preservation of the fish, in compliance with the cold chain, even during sale. What's more, the fish on the display is also cold, as is the seafood (especially shellfish). All handling of these cold products involves particular risks for the hands. These risks will be present on a daily basis, each time the fishmonger sets up his stall in the morning, but also during the day if he needs to replenish the stall with fish or ice. The risks associated with skin contact with ice and all fresh produce are particularly high if the fishmonger handles these products with bare hands, without wearing EN511 cold protection gloves. Repeated and prolonged hand contact with cold products will firstly lead to reduced dexterity in the fingers, then in the hands. This in turn can lead to the appearance of frostbite on the fingers, which then become red and swollen, with the possible appearance of cracks. Finally, cold can lead to Raynaud's syndrome, a temporary blood circulation disorder characterized by white, painful fingers.
 
The danger of using sharp tools to prepare fish: Fishmongers are exposed to significant risks of cuts and scratches due to their daily need to use sharp hand tools (e.g. knives) or scratching tools (e.g. scaler) to prepare fish. In addition to the cutting and scratching tools used to prepare fish for display, fishmongers must regularly sharpen their blades using a sharpening gun and/or stone, with significant risks of cuts. Fishmongers face the risk of cuts from sharp objects on a daily basis. These risks are of course present during the use of these tools, but also before (e.g. when sharpening knives) and after (e.g. when cleaning and storing tools). Not wearing cut-resistant gloves is a critical factor (you can use EN388 food gloves, which are much more comfortable than EN1082-1 chainmail gloves). The cutting tools used by fishmongers can cause superficial wounds, or deep wounds with damage to tendons and/or muscles. These wounds can be accompanied by severe haemorrhaging if a vein or aorta has been affected. What's more, any wound is likely to become infected if not disinfected quickly. Sometimes the damage can be much more serious, with severed limbs.
 
Handling hazards during stall set-up: Setting up a stall means fishmongers have to carry out a great deal of manual handling. Fish and seafood are often packaged in boxes weighing up to several kilos. These boxes have to be moved to the stall, where each product is placed. While the unit weights lifted are not very high, the number of handling operations involved is, and so is the total weight. The risks associated with these handling operations will be greatest when the fishmonger is moving large quantities of products by hand, without the use of handling aids. Several parameters will then increase the risks, such as carrying loads over long distances, or failing to observe proper handling postures. In the short term, handling can cause pain, particularly muscular pain, mainly in the upper limbs. In the long term, manual handling generates Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) which particularly affect the upper limbs: shoulder tendinopathy, elbow epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome of the wrists.
 
 
A GUARANTEE OF THE QUALITY OF OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT 
_ We're registered as Professional Risk Prevention Consultants.
_ Our team comprises graduate safety engineers.
_ Our documents are routinely checked by safety inspectors.
_ We frequently update our Occupational Risk Assessments.
 
RESOURCES 
_ "Working in cold environments : What are the hazards?" by Safe Work (New South Wales Government).