Manual Handling

Operatives can suffer bruises and broken bones from items dropped or falling from shelves or equipment. Operatives also risk bruises and broken bones from falls, especially falls from height, i.e. from elevated levels of racking. There is a risk that operators can be crushed between walls, racking, or loads and manual handling equipment such as forklifts and delivery vehicles. If fire exits are blocked by goods, staff, facility, and company are all at risk. Operatives should be instructed on the correct methods of lifting and carrying. Such training can prevent strains from improper lifting and carrying of large/heavy items. Manual handling (“handballing”), if incorrectly performed, risks damage to items, containers, floors, feet, and labels.

Manual handling equipment

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Incorrect storage of goods can pose risks to operators, the facility floor, manual handling equipment, and the goods themselves. For example, heavy items stacked too can be difficult to access, may topple, and may unbalance the racking. Loads can fall from manual handling equipment if they are incorrectly placed on pallets, stacked too high on pallets, are too heavy, topple while in transit, or are moved too quickly. Operators of manual handling equipment risk injury from collisions with other manual handling equipment, racking, barriers, cages, pallets, heavy goods, floor defects, dropped objects, or delivery vehicles.

Controlled substances can be a cause of injury too. Injuries can result from the improper carrying and storing of liquid fuel, gas, and other volatile fluids.

Spillage can cause operators to slip and trip, and can also be environmentally destructive, especially if large quantities enter water supplies. Explosions, fires, and fumes pose a serious danger to all staff and to people and property in the area surrounding the facility. Ignition of flammable goods and combustion of fast-burning or inflammable substances can have deadly consequences for people and catastrophic consequences for the organisation and its warehouse. Some controlled substances, if incorrectly stored, pose a risk of cross-contamination of goods, especially if leakages or spills occur.

When goods aremanually handling, receiving and storing related risks can be prevented by appropriately located, highly visible safety signage, wearing of correct  PPE (eye protection, steel toe-capped d boots, gloves, elbow and knee pads, helmets, hi viz jackets, etc.), use of correct lifting techniques and handles, having the necessary number of workers available to handle items that are too large or heavy goods to be handled by one person; educating workers on the injuries that can occur when manually moving materials; performing routine checks of shelves and racking to make sure they are safe, undamaged, and well-constructed; ensuring exit routes are clearly signed and unobstructed at all times.

use of manual handling equipment (e.g. central placement of loads on forks stops the load or forklift/pallet truck from becoming unbalanced and toppling); following the manufacturer’s operational guidelines; applying training; maintaining concentration and situational awareness; working methodically and carefully, without haste or distraction; having safety barriers installed in areas where the risk of collision is high; installing mirrors at aisle ends; checking that the manual handling equipment is maintained, appropriate for the loads, and easily manoeuvrable in all relevant areas of the warehouse; performing routine risk assessments; designing structured safeguards and checklists that address all the risks listed in the risk assessment.

The receiving- and storing-related risks of controlled substance handling can be prevented by the immediate cleaning up of spillages, design and enforcement of correct handling practices (e.g. use of specified, approved PPE); appropriate and safe storage of goods (e.g. separating substances that are incompatible or potentially cross-contaminating); ensuring storage areas are clean, tidy, and free of any fire, shock, static, or trip hazards; supplying safety harnesses; clearly signing and enforcing stack limits.