Staff, Slips and Safety: The People Risks Every Pub Tenant Should Review

A Practical Guide for Leased and Tenanted Pub Operators Managing Staff, Customer Areas, Kitchens, Cellars and Day-to-day Safety Risks.

Running a leased pub is a people business.

Every shift involves staff, customers, suppliers, delivery drivers, contractors and sometimes entertainers, event guests or seasonal workers. That means people risk is not an abstract compliance issue. It is part of how the pub operates every day.

For a tenant pub operator, the question is not only: “Do I have Employers Liability and Public Liability?”

It is: “Have I understood the real people risks in my pub - and would my insurance and records stand up if something happened?”

Why People Risk Matters in a Leased Pub

A leased pub could be small, but the operating environment could be complex. There may be wet floors, narrow corridors, stairs, cellars, kitchens, hot surfaces, knives, stock deliveries, late trading, outdoor areas, uneven surfaces, and staff working under pressure.

The Health and Safety Executive’s catering and hospitality guidance specifically identifies risks such as slips and trips, knives, manual handling and skin disease as relevant to catering and hospitality businesses. (hse.gov.uk)

A good insurance conversation should therefore go beyond a policy label. It should help the operator understand what can happen, what records may be useful, what safety practices are in place, and what could be improved before renewal or claim time.

Slips and Trips: The Everyday Risk That is Easy to Underestimate

Slips and trips are one of the most familiar pub risks because they can happen almost anywhere: behind the bar, in the kitchen, near entrances, in toilets, on stairs, in cellars, in beer gardens or around outdoor seating.

HSE’s slips and trips guidance focuses on understanding causes and prevention, including what employers, workers and designers can do to reduce slip and trip risk. HSE also publishes specific catering and hospitality guidance on preventing slips and trips in kitchens and food service, covering health and safety law, slipping injuries, tripping injuries, consultation and training. (hse.gov.uk)

For a pub tenant, this should translate into practical checks:

• Are spills cleared quickly and recorded where needed?
• Are entrances and outdoor areas checked during wet weather?
• Are stairs, cellar steps and uneven floors well lit?
• Are mats, cables and temporary event equipment controlled?
• Are kitchen and bar areas managed during busy periods?
• Are staff trained to report hazards before an incident happens?

The aim is not to create unnecessary paperwork. It is to show that the business understands the risk and has sensible controls in place.

Staff Safety and Employers Liability

If a pub employs staff, people risk also includes the employer’s responsibility to workers.

That may include bar staff, kitchen staff, cleaners, managers, casual workers, seasonal staff and people helping during events. Each role can involve different risks: carrying stock, cleaning up broken glass, using kitchen equipment, handling deliveries, moving barrels, working late, or dealing with customers.

The insurance point is important: Employers Liability may respond to claims from employees, but the strength of the risk management story matters too. Training, incident records, cleaning procedures, maintenance logs and clear roles can all help show how the business manages safety.

Manual Handling, Knives and Kitchen Work

A pub that serves food has a different people-risk profile from a wet-led pub with limited food service.

Kitchen operations can introduce risks linked to knives, hot surfaces, cleaning chemicals, slips, burns, manual handling and refrigeration. Cellar and stock work can involve lifting, carrying and confined spaces. Deliveries can create temporary hazards at entrances, corridors and storage areas.

Before renewal, a tenant operator should ask:

• Have staff roles changed?
• Has food service increased?
• Are more deliveries being handled?
• Has new equipment been installed?
• Are staff trained on cleaning, lifting and kitchen safety?
• Are incidents or near misses being recorded?

These questions can help the broker understand whether the pub’s current insurance still reflects how it is being run.

Customer Safety and Public Liability

People risk does not stop with employees.

Customers, visitors, suppliers and contractors may all move through the premises. A pub with stairs, outdoor seating, live music, sports screenings or private functions may have more movement, more crowding and more potential for accidents than during normal quiet trading.

The practical question is: “If a customer, supplier or member of staff is injured, can I show that we understood the risk and managed it sensibly?”

That is why safety procedures, maintenance records, training and incident logs can matter. They are not just compliance documents. They can become part of the claims story.

What to Review Before Renewal

A people-risk review before renewal should focus on what has changed since last year. Check:

• Staff numbers and working patterns.
• Use of casual or seasonal workers.
• Food service and kitchen activity.
• Outdoor areas and beer garden use.
• Stairs, cellars and uneven surfaces.
• Live music, private functions or events.
• Cleaning routines and wet-floor controls.
• Stock delivery and manual handling.
• Incident and near-miss records.
• Customer complaints or injury reports.
• Maintenance logs.
• Staff training records.

If several of these have changed, the insurance renewal conversation should change too.

Final Thought

For a leased pub operator, people risk is not just about having the right policy name on the schedule.

It is about understanding how staff, customers and suppliers actually move through the pub - and whether the insurance, records and risk controls match that reality.

A safe pub is not only better protected. It is usually better run.

Need Help Reviewing Staff, Safety or Liability Risks Before Renewal?

Smei can help leased and tenanted pub operators understand what questions to ask and what information to gather before a pub insurance review.