There are fewer growth areas in the modern world stronger than warehousing. As the high street is pushed closer to oblivion by online shopping habits, online retail – which necessitates large warehouses and storage space is on the rise.
This is one part of a constantly evolving business landscape and highlights the burgeoning need to introduce safety measures and procedures in the warehouse to keep everyone safe. There are a great number of accidents that happen in warehouse environments, including trips and falls, collision from forklifts and other forklift related incidents.
All of this means a loss of key staff, a decrease in staff morale, potential lawsuits and increased insurance costs. There are so many ways that you can make the warehouse a safer space both in terms of reducing the likelihood of physical trauma, and also boosting the mental health of staff.
Manual handling and other training
As with most things, the prime driver for accidents in the warehouse environment is inadequate training. By ensuring that your staff and managers are properly trained in manual handling you will boost your warehouse safety and staff morale.
Your manual handling training will hopefully make you aware of:
- The best techniques for manual handling
- Risks and why accidents happen
- How best to use warehouse machinery
- Best practice in task management and employee awareness of the warehouse environment
- Practical advice to adjust poor habits
In addition to manual handling, some of the workers and managers may need to be trained in working at height safely. There are a whole range of training programs accredited by industry standards IPAF and PASMA designed to educate people on safely working on MEWPs and cherry pickers, while increasing awareness of other risk factors.
Barriers and column protectors
There are many ways of introducing safety equipment into a warehouse, but one important method is to install column protectors, corner guards and a variety of specially designed steel safety barriers and pallet protectors. All of these can help prevent the loss of stock resulting from damage, minimize the chances of accidents and injuries caused by forklift collisions and other bulky machinery. As people feel like they are working in a safer environment they will also be more productive and less prone to lapses in concentration.
Fireproof and hygienic doors
Depending on the scope of the business and the ease of exit you will benefit from fire resistant doors. Some are capable of withstanding fire for 30 minutes, others 60 minutes and there are even doors capable of resisting fire for up to 240 minutes. These and other, non-fire rated doors on the market can also benefit from concealed intumescent strips that are particularly unfriendly to bacteria and as such can help stop it from spreading to employees.
Clear labelling and signposting
Having clearly defined lanes for forklifts in a warehouse is a safety must, as is clearly signposting exits and areas that are only to be used for certain activities. In addition, marking up racking systems for maximum safe stacking heights will help boost safe warehousing practice.