Health And Safety.
Being a visual merchandiser you must be very cautious of health and safety rules. A VM deals with carrying and moving around heavy equipment daily therefore they will have to apply to strict health and safety rules.
The ETI base code is a list of rules a retail company must apply to in order to gain trust from consumers and to help the brand reputation. However it is up to the employer’s and the employee’s to report and ensure that accidents within the workplace are limited- but, preferably the aim is to eliminate them completely. One rule employees must apply to is towards the subject of bullying and how individuals should be treated in the workplace- no one should feel like they are being treated any less than another.Another rule is that the workplace must be hygienic- an unhygienic workplace will develop a bad reputation towards the company and prevent the growth of employees.
On the other hand, when using equipment during the making of a window etc the equipment must be used appropriately and the person using the tool should be cautious- Tools must also be replaced if necessary. One person should not lift anything over 16kg when lifting equipment. The tools regularly used when creating a window display include box cutters, ladders, staple guns, nail guns and knives, miscellaneous objects such as lights, trees, mannequins.
Another thing is trip hazards. In order to prevent one all items must be put aside and not out in a walkway where workers could trip over them. Things like wires must be protected and low hanging objects should be out of reach to the customers head etc.
Before using props etc they must be checked if they are damanged in case a customer hurts themselves- this could result in money loss and a bad reputation to the company.
When applying for a job in VM, employees should participate in health and safety training as part of their job.