You have been appointed as a Health & Safety officer in Harry’s Restaurant. Identify and explain the employer’s duties to ensure the work environment is a safe place to work. ‘Every employer shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees.’ Ensuring health and safety in the workplace is an important task for all employers. An employer must manage and conduct work activities in ways which prevent improper conduct that is likely to put the safety or health of the employee at risk. The Health and Safety Authority is the organisation overall responsible for the security of health and safety at work. Any employer who has control in the workplace should reference the Health, Safety and Welfare Act 2005 to prevent the risk to an individual's health at the workplace. Every employer should: ● ● ● ● Identify hazards and risks in the workplace to decrease the risk of an injury Assess all risks to prevent the hazard occurring. Apply control measures to reduce the risk of hazards in the workplace Produce a safety statement including all control measures, emergency plans and safety representatives ● Update the statement as new risks develop. To ensure the safety of all involved in Harry’s restaurant, certain things have to be taken into consideration both in the kitchen and on the floor. When assessing the risks in the restaurant, the problem should be removed, isolated or the practice should be improved. For all employees involved in the kitchen and on the floor, an employer should: ● Have proper ventilation systems and have them serviced regularly. The ventilation system clears smoke from the kitchen that could be harmful ● Provide proper training for all machinery and heavy lifting. The risk of employees straining their backs or pulling any muscles is kept to a minimum in the workplace if they have the proper training ● Have the machinery serviced regularly ● Have a service plan in order that has designated food stations ● Ensure all employees have proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves, hair nets, non-slip shoes, suitable jackets etc. ● Provide universal signage to highlight risk assessed areas ● Give appropriate cleaning equipment and PPE suitable ● Make sure all walkways and doorways are clear ● Have appropriate first aid kits that are checked regularly ● Provide proper training for all employees in basic first aid ● Put emergency plans in place that highlight correct fire extinguishers and fire blankets fitted ● Ramps and steps clearly marked ● Proper training for all senior staff in how to deal with harassment complaints, with a fair and impartial complaint handling system in place ● A copy of the Health, Safety and Welfare Act 2005 and safety statement available to all employees. Identify and discuss the basic intellectual property rights that a business should be aware of when protecting the business’ intellectual assets. Intellectual property rights give the creator an exclusive right to their creations for a certain period of time. Just as the law protects physical assets such as personal property, intellectual property protects inventions, designs and artistic works such as software, brands, music, performance rights etc. Intellectual property branches out into different categories that are specific to what you’re trying to protect. The purpose of intellectual property rights are to encourage people to introduce their creative works to society without the fear of misappropriation. Intellectual property branches out into different categories ● Patents - any new improved product or process eg. software ● Trademarks - any source identifier of a product or service eg. Starbucks logo ● Copyrights - creative expressions embodied in a tangible medium eg. music, books, software code ● Trade secrets - valuable information that is not generally known Infringement is the unauthorized use of intellectual property. Patents A patent ensures a business the right to stop others from exploiting their invention for a short period of time. An invention that qualifies for a patent can be manufactured goods, technological improvements, new machines and even the design of a product. There are 2 types of Irish patents available. A long term patent and a short term patent. Long term patents give the inventor protection up to 20 years while short term patents give them up to 10 years. It’s required to register the patent to ensure the invention is protected. An example of a patent infringement case was the legal battle between Apple and Smartfish. The company claimed that Apple infringed 3 of their 7 patents involving digital rights management, data storage and managing access to payments. A federal jury awarded Smartfish with $532.9 million. Trademarks A trademark is the symbol a company uses to distinguish themselves from other companies. This symbol can be a sign, design or expression that identifies the company. Examples of a recognizable trademarks are the Nike tick, Mickey Mouse ears, Starbucks lady, Apple, etc. Consumers generally make their purchasing choices based on the recognizable trademarks of companies. The reason their is a trademark law is to cut out the confusion between companies with similar trademarks. Registering your trademark will give the company an exclusive right. Registering your trademark provides legal certainty. In Ireland, you can register your trademark in the Patents Office. They advise a company to research the Trademark Database to ascertain whether a similar trademark has already been registered, or is pending registration. A trademark usually lasts up to ten years. An example of Trademark infringement is the legal battles between Apple Corp and Apple Inc. Apple Corp was the first on the scene before Steve Jobs started Apple Inc 8 years later. Apple Inc. agreed to pay Apple Corps a cash settlement and to stay out of the music business. But when iTunes was invented, the war heated up again. They came to a settlement after Apple Inc. agreed to purchase Apple Corps’ trademark rights and then license them back to the music company. Copyrights Copyright is the legal term which describes the rights given to creators of their works. Copyright law protects ● original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works for 70 years after the author's death ● sound recordings, films for 70 years after the author's death ● Broadcasts for 50 years after it was transmitted ● the typographical arrangement of published editions for 50 years after it was made to the public ● computer programmes for 70 years after made to the public ● original databases for 70 years after made to the public The copyright owner has the right to prohibit others from copying the work, performing the work, making the work available through broadcasting or recordings and making an adaption of the work. The Copyright and Related Acts 2000 list the objectives of the copyright law. An example of Patent infringement is the lawsuit between the Marvin Gaye estate and the singers Robin Thicke & Pharrell Williams. The Gaye family protested that the artists copied Marvin Gayes ‘Got To Give It Up’ song in their song ‘Blurred Lines’. The artists contradicted each other in their statements and the final ruling gave the Gaye family $5.3million along with 50% of the royalties for copyright infringement in December 2015. The judge's legal ruling defies the traditional rules of copyright infringement. You need to prove the song copied a series of notes for an infringement case, and in this case the songs followed similar ‘vibes’. After three years the legal battle isn’t over yet. Trade Secrets Trade secrets concern secret information of commercial value. They are not covered like other statutory intellectual property laws. It can provide effective protection for some technologies, proprietary knowledge and know-how such a the construction or formulation or the product or the process of manufacturing the product when reverse engineering is unlikely. How a product is made might be protected by trade secrets. A formula, like Coca-Cola’s secret ingredient is a valuable trade secret. A trade secret is both a type of intellectual property and a strategy for protecting your intellectual property. Trade secrets protection is afforded without registration and can last without limitation in time, generally if confidentiality is maintained. Mandeep Samra | C14519843 | DT598 C14519843@mydit.ie Business Studies Lecturer: Cormac Horan Submission Date: 10/05/16