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Resources for Young Workers by Industry - Retail
General | Sprains & Strains
The following links list tools, publications, and other resources to help prevent young worker injuries and illnesses in retail. These resources may not meet all the requirements for health and safety in British Columbia. Please check the Workers Compensation Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, and related materials for specific WorkSafeBC requirements.
General
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Health & Safety Guide for New Retail Workers (PDF 460 KB) The booklet has information for people who are thinking about a new job in the retail industry or are just getting into the workforce. It is intended to increase awareness while providing some specific safety tips for workers in retail. |
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Health and Safety for Retail Small Business (PDF 824 KB) This guide outlines basic health and safety requirements that apply to most retail small businesses in B.C., and help them to learn what they need to do to meet these requirements and make the workplace healthier and safer. |
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Preventing Violence, Robbery & Theft: A guide for retail owners, managers, and workers (PDF 1 MB) Booklet created by BC Retailers provides ideas and best practices that will help prevent workplace violence and deal with incidents effectively if they do occur. |
| Health and Safety for Retail: Prevention Tips (PDF 140 KB) Provides prevention tips related to situations such as shoplifting, robbery, working alone, and lifting. |
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Take Care: How to Develop and Implement a Workplace Violence Prevention Program (PDF 467 KB) This guide enables employers and workers to implement a program to prevent violence in the workplace. It summarizes the relevant sections of the Regulation that deal with violence in the workplace, explains how to conduct a risk assessment, identifies the basic elements of a violence prevention program, and provides safe travel tips and sample documents. |
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Back to Work, Back to Health: Return to work for the retail industry (PDF 466 KB) Booklet created by BC Retailers to assist in returning workers quickly and safely to jobs they held before work-related injuries or illnesses. |
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Health & Safety Guide for Garden Centre Workers (PDF 1 MB) This booklet identifies several safety issues that are specific to garden retail centres and includes some basic information and practical tips to help keep your workplace safe. |
| Does your back hurt? A guide to preventing low back pain A brief illustrated guide outlining back facts and myths, back posture, risk factors, exercises, and tips for preventing back pain. |
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Back Talk: An Owner's Manual for Backs (PDF 621 KB) An illustrated handbook that explains how the back works, provides tips for avoiding injury, and shows how to care for the back during recovery. The booklet also covers situations that can cause excessive loads and describes ways to reduce the risk of injury. |
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Safety for Retailers - Slideshow Every year, there are many violent incidents in retail. However, there are things you can do to prevent violence. (2 min 14 s) |
Young Workers Zone: Retail Salespersons and Sales Clerks
Describes the duties and health and safety hazards of this job.
Source: CCOHS (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
Young Worker Injured by Cardboard Baling Machine
"In September 1999, a sixteen year old employee of a supermarket received an arm injury whilst loading boxes into a hydraulic cardboard baling machine. The metal pressure plate on the machine fell off onto the employee's arms."
Source: WorkSafe Western Australia, Government of Western Australia
Sprains & Strains
Some of the tasks we perform at work--such as lifting, reaching, and repeating the same movements--can strain our bodies. In some situations, these tasks can result in an injury to the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, and joints of the neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, legs, and back. This type of injury is called a musculoskeletal injury, or MSI.
Understanding the Risks of Musculoskeletal Injury (MSI) (PDF 2 MB)
An educational guide for workers, on sprains, strains, and other MSIs
Source: WorkSafeBC 
* Also available in Chinese and Punjabi.
Back Belts May Not Prevent Injuries at Work (PDF 128 KB)
Source: WorkSafeBC
Ergonomics Guidelines -- Manual Handling (PDF 265 KB)
This document represents best practices to prevent manual handling injuries and other business losses due to manual handling. Information contained in this document may change over time as new research and studies are done in the field of ergonomics. This document is not designed to replace a professional ergonomics analysis.
Source: NB Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission
The Ergonomics pages on Safety at Work list several more resources concerning MSIs.
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