Maintaining a safe and hazard-free workspace is the goal of any warehouse. With so many potentially dangerous situations, managers and workers need to be aware at all times to ensure the continued well-being of everyone on the floor.

This security means knowing how to prevent recordable injuries in your facility and being proactive in implementing safety procedures and protocols for everyone’s benefit.

Know Your Warehouse’s Potential for Injury

Every warehouse has unique challenges that are determined by the type of inventory it stores. Some of the most common issues include:

  • Slipping and falling
  • Forklift collisions
  • Handling of hazardous materials
  • Exposure to extreme heat or cold
  • Unsecured or unsafe racking systems
  • Repetitive motions

Look at the day-to-day operations of your business and determine what is or is not a regular safety risk to employees.

Review and Update Safety Procedures

After analyzing the potential threats in your warehouse, you must review the safety measures you have in place to see whether they are sufficient to keep everyone out of harm’s way. This can mean inspecting safety equipment and checking warehouse vehicles to see if they are functioning correctly or if employees are following basic standards and practices.

Employee Expectations and Training

Once you have outlined your new procedures, you must disseminate that information to the employees on the floor. Provide further training in areas the require particular caution, such as forklift driving or the handling of dangerous materials. You must let everyone know what the new rules are and should clearly post these expectations in areas where workers can easily look them over.

Invest in Protective Measures

Preventing injuries in your facility means more than informing workers on how to act safely; you must also give them the proper safety measures to ensure their safety. Installing pallet racking safety equipment can mitigate the damage done by heavy machinery to the point where the threat is eliminated entirely.

Everyone Must Do Their Part

Employees and management both need to adhere to the safety standards that are in place. It is up to management to look into new and better ways to guarantee safety, whether that means better equipment, implementing safer procedures, or offering better training. Employees must take advantage of the knowledge and equipment given to them, lest it all be for nothing.