The Ultimate Guide to Warehouse Health and Safety
There are health and safety risks in every workplace, however in warehouses the risk is greater, thanks to the nature of heavy objects being moved around constantly from high up areas. Between 2012/13 and 2019/2020, the percentage rate of non-fatal injuries in transportation and storage (per 100,000 workers) was higher than most of the all-industries average of 1.9% (ZoneSafe). According to Thompsons Solicitors, around five per cent of all UK warehouse workers are injured every year which is a significant number, and some of these injuries can be serious.
If you own your own warehouse, it’s vital that you come up with a comprehensive health and safety program for employees to ensure these risks are mitigated and a culture of safety is implemented successfully. This blog will delve into some of the most up to date ways this can be achieved, as well as some of the most common warehouse safety hazards.
Common Warehouse Hazards
In order to sort out the best mitigations for warehouse health and safety, it’s important to look at some of the most common warehouse hazards. Some of these include:
- Slips, falls and trips.
- Physical strain from carrying a variety of heavy large objects.
- Moving around machinery, as well as loading and unloading goods from trucks to the warehouse itself.
- Exposure to Harmful Substances, from products and cleaning equipment.
- Collisions with moving vehicles. With forklifts constantly moving around stacked goods, this can increase the risk of a collision. Old machinery or workers with inadequate training on how to use these vehicles can only increase this risk.
- Lack of training, increasing the risk of the above.
- Ergonomic Risks. Warehouses can all come in various designs, from the location of goods to the design of workstations. As a result, there can be areas that are at greater safety risks. Desks and workstations that are not adjusted to individual needs can lead to musculoskeletal disorders like back and neck pain. Individuals who may be doing repetitive tasks like constant lifting may be at greater risk of MSDs. This is where processes that can be automated may lead to a reduction in injuries.
Health and Safety Best Practices
The good news is warehouses have been around for so long mistakes have been made as a result of the hazards mentioned above, and there are now many mitigations that can be implemented to correct these hazards. Some of the best practices for a warehouse environment include:
Risk Assessment
Despite the common warehouse hazards being listed above, every warehouse will be different and have its own bespoke safety risks. Therefore it’s vital that each individual risk is listed out on the
Effective Staff Training
One of the main first steps is to ensure effective training takes place for all employees in the workforce. For example, effective training will help more people avoid physical strain, know how to handle items and wear appropriate PPE that can lead people to
The official HSE website has a number of resources available for warehouse business owners to download and create their own plan from them. Some of these include a ‘Warehousing and Storage’ PDF as well as a ‘Warehousing and storage: A guide to Health and Safety’ guide.
Invest in order processing and inventory management software
If your warehouse is struggling to keep up with orders and is leading to complacency around safety, then the use of order processing and inventory management software could be a good way to automate some of these processes. Orderflow’s inventory management software can help bring simplicity and efficiency to day to day workforce processes, like:
- Receiving incoming deliveries
- The organisation of where goods are put away
- Stock management, with a complete audit trail that looks at all trail movements and user activity
- Order processing ensures fulfilment processes are fast, efficient and accurate
- Picking and packing of goods, ensuring no errors are made and helping to make sure the goods are lifted and moved around correctly.
But how does this relate to health and safety? If employee processes that normally take up time are automated, there will be more time for internal training and ensuring people are able to learn more about the safety risks in the warehouse environment.
Investment in PPE
Investment in PPE can also be critical for reducing the risks like falls, as well as carrying heavy equipment. It’s critical that employers provide warehouse workers with the most appropriate PPE like eyewear, ear defenders, facemasks/respiratory protection, high visibility clothing, safety footwear and gloves.
This is critical for not only workers but also visitors on site, who may also be exposed to risks like falling stock from high areas. The use of a helmet can help reduce the risk of serious injury.
Create a Health and Safety Policy
Creating a health and safety policy will not only allow for a safer work environment, but also lead to increased worker retention and less sick days. According to the Health and Safety Executive, the first 3 steps for creating a health and safety policy are:
- Statement of intent: Include your commitment to managing health and safety, as well as your aims. This should be signed by the most senior person in the company, and reviewed regularly.
- Responsibilities for health and safety: This part of the document lists out the names, positions and roles in the business who are responsible for health and safety.
- Health and safety arrangements: Details on practical arrangements can be placed here, showing how health and safety aims can be achieved.
