Publication Detail
Best Practices for Warehouse Safety

Kevin Collins

Introduction
There is more to warehouse safety than compliance with fire codes and OSHA regulations. Unfortunately, too many warehouses and 3PLs look at safety as meeting the minimum mandated by law or their conscience. Often, neither goes far enough. In this chapter, we're going to look at Best Practices for Warehouse Safety, discussing the benefits and risks to employees, managers and employers of both creating a culture of safety in the warehouse, and failing to do so.

For those companies that fail to promote safety, it is often due to insufficient time, inadequate resources, or the opportunity to save money through corner cutting. In the long run, however, a safe warehouse environment delivers important cost savings through: higher employee satisfaction and increased productivity, fewer workplace disruptions and reduced absenteeism and equipment downtime. You can extend the life of your warehouse infrastructure such as storage and material handling equipment, as well as reduce damage to inventory. Most importantly, don't assume that a safe workplace carries a jaw-dropping price tag.

Tip: By creating a safer workplace, you will also reduce damage to and loss of warehouse equipment and fixtures along with stored inventory.

While you will have to bear the cost (likely smaller than you think) of creating a culture of security in your operation, the responsibility buck also stops with you. Don't expect employees to drive it; establishing a safety culture, including the requisite operational changes and training and education programs, starts with you. It starts with rules and guidelines that your Mother probably told you decades ago. If you didn't start doing them when you were 10, it is about time.

Tip: Determining hazard classifications and code requirements calls for an expert to help you understand the details.

General Housekeeping
While a warehouse is a controlled environment (albeit an often hectic and even frenetic one), employees spend their workdays and nights subject to a wide variety of potentially injury-causing hazards. Potential problems can instantly materialize depending on what they are doing, the equipment in use and materials handled.

Prevention of incidents and accidents (mortal or otherwise) begins with good housekeeping, which is essential to a safe warehouse. This means heeding common sense; keep docks and floors free of boxes, garbage, boxes, baling materials, debris, dirt, and oil. Piles of trash and debris are a potential fire hazard and hinder evacuation. Make sure that garbage and debris bins are available throughout the warehouse.

Tip: Garbage bins are cheap. Buy enough to ensure that employees don't have to walk far to dump garbage. If they do, debris will accumulate. Make sure someone is in charge (usually the person responsible for building maintenance) of emptying them.

Some other essential, yet too often, overlooked housekeeping basics include:

Make sure that flooring surfaces are non-slippery and free of pits and dents Report loose or damaged flooring or other tripping hazards that need repair Don't leave box cutters or other sharp tools lying around Keep cords and wires off the floor Clean all spills immediately Don't leave items in aisles, on the floor, or stacked insecurely on flat surfaces Don't block extinguishers, sprinklers, or fire exits Create designated areas to store empty pallets and limit the stack height to six feet


Note: Battery charging areas require their own care. Common safety codes usually demand specific safety measures, including ventilation, eye wash first-aid stations, acid neutralization, and spill control systems.

Falls and Other Preventable Mishaps
Warehouse safety is designed to prevent death as well as far more common accidents and non-lethal injuries. Workers can slip, trip, stumble, fall, or be struck by falling objects, breaking hands, feet, toes and other body parts. Many of these accidents could have been prevented had warehouse owners and management followed some or all of the following recommendations:

Heed the good housekeeping recommendation above to maintain a clutter-free floor absent of hazards such as electrical cords Block access to exposed or open loading dock doors Permit access to above-floor racks and shelves only if portable ladders or appropriate lifting devices are available. Use personnel safety cages when lifting employees with forklifts Enforce speed limits for forklifts and lift trucks


Material Handling Safety: the human body, forklifts and equipment
While President Calvin Coolidge famously opined in the 1920s that "the business of America is business," the business of warehouses is to move product and materials. And moving material products and materials, whether manually or with powered equipment, can be dangerous. Sources of danger and origins of hospital visits range from box cutters, splinters on wooden pallets, and back injuries, to forklifts and heavily ladened pallet jacks.

Tip: Teach employees that items can often be moved with equipment such as a dolly, a hand-truck, or a forklift. Use mechanical help wherever possible.

Although the effects of slips, tumbles, forklift accidents, fires, and chemical spills are usually apparent immediately or soon after the incident, most warehouse workers ultimately suffer from the very common problem of back pain. The aggregate toll of regular heavy lifting, stacking, bending, and twisting is painful; according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), warehouse workers are at least eight times more likely to suffer back problems than other workers,

Let's look now at some best practices that will reduce back problems, ensuring fewer man days lost due to repetitive lifting.

Manual Lifting
Despite technology improvements, it is hard to envisage a warehouse any time in the future where manual lifting will be completely absent. Some materials simply must be moved by hand. If this is done improperly, the not surprising result is injury. Not all of these injuries result from sudden trauma, however. Many arise through accumulation of abuse. A minor injury can occur and progressively worsen over time. For many workers, the result is a lifetime of discomfort and chronic pain.

While proper lifting technique is critical to back health and safety, planning is also important. Before moving a box or anything else, employees should ask themselves a few quick questions: How heavy is it? Where does it need to go? Does it have to be moved manually? If the answer to the latter is yes, then employees should heed the following "rules" for material handling:

Know what you are handling Test the load before lifting it. If it is too heavy or bulky, get help Keep your back straight; don't bend over Use your legs-not your back-to lift Lift cartons by holding opposite top and bottom corners After lifting, be sure you can see over the load Don't twist your back while carrying a load. If you need to turn, take small steps in the direction you want to go. Use equipment (like drum trucks) to move barrels and drums


While back pain is certainly one of most noteworthy health challenges, warehouse employees also suffer other shoulder, elbow, knee and feet ailments such as pulled and strained muscles, pinched nerves, and sprains. Depending on the repetitive task, employees can also suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful condition shared with many who spend their workdays typing.

Forklifts and Material Handling Equipment
Although forklifts and material handling equipment like pallet jacks and drum trucks make moving heavy items much easier, they can become very dangerous when used improperly. The first requirement is to provide training on all automated or mechanical lift equipment. Employees who will be using forklifts should be both trained and licensed by the appropriate authority. In addition to these commonsense guidelines, here are some other suggestions to help employees avoid damaging people or property when using forklifts and material handling equipment:

Encourage employees to immediately report (anonymously if needed) unsafe conditions or behavior Use striping to delineate aisles and passageways, including doorway and loading dock areas Keep aisles and passageways clear at all times Don't assume that the equipment operator can see you or react in time to stop. Assume that you are in his blind spot at all times. Look both ways and move slowly when emerging from aisles, doorways, or offices Prohibit walking on pallets and using forklifts and pallet jacks for rides Be careful around conveyors, making sure not to get body parts or clothing caught in the machinery's moving parts. Teach employees to push manual material handling equipment whenever possible, rather than pull loads

Tip: Make sure employees know where the on/off and emergency stop buttons are on equipment they work on or around.

Fire Safety
Fire safety is a challenging balance. You have to weigh safety with the operational needs of your facility and business. If you significantly reduce storage space due to a very cautious safety plan, (such as installing in-rack sprinklers) you'll reduce potential throughput volume and increase maintenance expenses. True, you're probably reducing your hazard exposure, but how much protection do you really need? How can you best determine whether your warehouse's fire safety design and practices are sufficient? Hire an outside consultant.

The difference between a small fire and a catastrophic fire can often be attributed to how much safety expertise was invested in the warehouse design and later in its daily operation. The consultant will help you evaluate both of these areas. An important supplemental benefit is that you'll be ready for a visit from the local fire department.

Tip: Make sure that employee training includes locations of fire extinguishers and how to use them.

Fire Codes and Inspections
The aim of fire codes is achievement of a minimum level of acceptable safety. It shouldn't be surprising then that they can't cover every possible event such as the unexpected hazard of a stricken airplane plunging into a building (see the July 2000 Concorde disaster in which an Air France Concorde slammed into a hotel and restaurant outside Paris shortly after takeoff).

While codes can't prevent these one-in-a-million occurrences, they are used to determine building access, aisle widths, fire walls, smoke and heat removal systems, flue space requirements and sprinkler density (including in-rack sprinklers). In addition to confirming that the building meets code, fire inspections also confirm the absence of hazards such as the presence of flammable debris, blocked exits and aisles, missing fire extinguishers and exit lights, as well as damaged sprinkler systems.

Tip: If you don't already do it, or your state still allows smoking on-site, do your employees' health a favor and outlaw smoking. Prohibit smoking in your warehouse and post no smoking signs.

Inviting Your local Fire Department for Coffee and an Inspection
It is important to maintain a dialogue with your local fire department that extends beyond the annual inspection. If you have added hazardous materials among your inventory, you need to have this information available to the fire fighters in the event of a blaze so they know what they are dealing with.

Tip: Pay attention to changes in packaging material as they can have a substantial impact on the flammability of materials in your warehouse.

Chemical Safety
Chemicals in the warehouse, whether as part of operations or inventory, can also create important safety risks. Using or storing them contrary to the manufacturer's recommendations and fire codes can lead to serious personal injury or fire risk. Make sure you have material safety data sheets available for all chemicals used and stored on site. Knowledge of the chemicals should include their usage, appropriate storage requirements, and first aid procedures. Aerosols, for example, can become flaming rockets in the event of a fire, necessitating specific storage regulations that vary depending on chemical content.

Tip: Hazardous materials include a range of industrially-produced materials such as solids, gases, flammable liquids, explosives and oxidizers. Not surprisingly, they have their own codes.

Training and Education
Employees and management training are critical and should be mandatory. Training should also be more than just one or two days when employees are trainees; continue it throughout employment. Everyone with cause to work in the warehouse (from drivers and pickers to managers and accounting clerks) should be trained. Don't let employees avoid training by accepting their claims that they're experienced. They might need to have their bad habits exorcised and you can do it with hands-on, experiential safety education that mixes lecture with small group sessions.

Tip: Give pre- and post-training tests to confirm that employees have retained the information.

Integrate safety training into regular operational procedures to ensure that battery charging, propane cylinder handling and evacuation plans are part of the employee's regular training program.

Tip: Educate senior management about occupational safety and health so they will understand how it helps achieve business objectives.

Ye Olde School Fire Drill
Sure, they were fun in school. Later in life, adults, too, need to learn what to do in the event of a fire or the sounding of the an alarm. Warehouse employees should be advised during training to leave the building using the nearest exit immediately upon hearing a fire alarm. Take into account that some employees may have to complete certain tasks such as turning off equipment before fleeing the building.

Tip: As part of training, ensure that employees responsible for shutting down certain equipment understand the conditions when they should perform the task or immediately leave.

Ensure that all employees are aware of:

Procedures for reporting incidents to management (and other appropriate emergency resources such as 911), including after-hours telephone numbers and what types of incidents to report Location and use of fire extinguishers and other emergency equipment Emergency exit locations and evacuation procedures and collection points outside the building for all employees Procedures to account for all employees and visitors


Crime and Punishment
Education and safety are only effective if employees follow the teaching, guidelines and rules. Safety is for the benefit of all employees, from the trainee to the CEO. Compliance should be a condition of employment. It is vital that everyone do their part-from properly unplugging electrical cords, to driving forklifts at proper speeds. One way to ensure compliance is to implement a progressive disciplinary program that, while punitive, is not overbearing.

Tip: Make safety part of employment reviews. In addition to penalizing employees for not following safety rules, reward them for making your operation a safer place to work.

Safety in Your Own Home: making your workplace as safe as possible
Now that we've discussed the importance of making your warehouse operation a safe one, how can you start? Step one is to conduct a safety audit. Invite an outsider to visit your facility. That fresh pair of eyes may see existing or potential problems that haven't caught the attention of those who see them daily.

Some Order Through Striping
Make sure to designate floor storage and staging areas with striping. You can't do too much floor striping. Use tape and/or paint to designate floor areas approved for storage or material staging. It will bring order because everyone will know exactly where to perform certain activities.

Encourage Employees to Report Unsafe Conditions
Encourage employees to report working conditions that they deem to be unsafe. Empower your employees to err on the side of caution by creating an anonymous reporting system

Pay Attention to Almost Accidents
Near misses help you identify trends and damage that portend worse things in the future if the status quo continues. Lost days to injury do not tell a complete story and the pain, suffering and time off work cost workers and employers money.

Bad Things Will Happen to Good People
In spite of your best efforts and planning and training, accidents will happen. When they do, don't concentrate completely on attributing fault and blame. Investigate the causes, too. Look beyond the incident for causes that may exist unnoticed in other past of your operation.

Do More Than the Minimum
Codes and compliance are only intended to provide a certain minimum level of safety. The final recommendation when planning or incorporating safety into your operation is to look to the future. Consider a design that is flexible and capable of handling a higher hazard classification. If your business changes and the products you are taking into inventory become more dangerous, or flammable, etc, it can be very expensive to upgrade to accommodate the higher hazard classification.

A Last Word on Safety
According to research, working in a warehouse is one of the 100 deadliest jobs in the United States. Falling boxes and containers, forklift and other vehicle accidents account for the majority of deaths. Focus on creating and maintaining a warehouse environment where worker safety is paramount. Make safety part of the daily job and you will lose fewer workers to death, dismemberment and days off. Remember that warehouse deaths are almost always preventable.

Whether yours is an industrial, commercial or retail facility, your workers should follow clear and known safety guidelines for material storage and handling (conveyor systems, forklifts and pallet jacks, operation) as well as the general housekeeping recommendations we began the chapter with.

Tip: Don't let anyone claim they don't have time for safety. Make sure that management is aware of the importance of safety and incentivized to reduce and eliminate hazards.

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