The Impact of Equipment, Storage Design, and Safety Procedures in Improving Warehouse Safety
(i) The following three affect safe warehouse operations in various ways. The most impactful (!) are described here.
a. Equipment
Faulty, aging, damaged, long unused, poorly maintained, poorly serviced, badly operated, badly stored equipment poses serious risks to operators, drivers, and all operatives in the environment of usage. The risks are two-fold but often overlap: health and safety and efficiency, with the former having significant implications for affected individuals and the latter for the long-term performance of the business. The more powerful the equipment, the more risk it poses to operators, operatives, and infrastructure. A misdriven forklift truck could damage shelving, leading to a collapse of whole aisles, which would – at worst – put the lives of operatives at risk, or – at best – result in significant costs and delays. Heavy collisions or fires caused by fuel or electrical cables also put lives at risk and threaten the integrity of the entire facility. Fuel and chemical leaks or fraying live cables constitute serious dangers. Slips, contact injuries, electric shocks, fire, and inhalation hazards can all be caused by poor equipment or improper usage of otherwise suitable equipment. Unpowered equipment poses less serious risks, but old, damaged, or faulty manual equipment can cause injury, repetitive strain, or stress to the operatives who have to use it. Operations will be delayed and costs and penalties incurred if any kind of equipment causes injury.
b. Storage design
Facilities not used for the purpose for which they were designed may feature storage design problems that are a cause of risk. Structural overhauls necessitate costly construction work. Floors may have to be reinforced, throughways widened, ceilings raised, and emergency exits created. Structures – new and old – must be tested for their load-bearing capacity. Shelving that is suitable for the product and facility must be selected. Aisles that are too narrowly spaced are likely to topple domino-style if one aisle falls into another. Likewise, general collapse can be caused by impact shocks rippling through shelving arrangements that are rigidly contiguous. Spacing between aisles and along rows arrests the spread of collapsing or toppling shelving. Storage must also be designed to bear the weight of the loads placed upon it, and protected by corner barriers at ground level from impact by forklift truck.
c. Safety procedures
Risk-minimizing working practices must be inculcated in all operatives. Posters, training, PPE guidance, and appropriate instruction in all safety-critical activities must be provided. Managers must ensure that all operatives undergo a proper H&S induction, watch the necessary videos, do the required walkarounds, understand and wear the necessary PPE, and learn how to notice, prevent, and report dangerous incidents – actual and potential. All warehouse operatives and managers must be aware of and competent in all essential safety procedures – from basic to complex – such as evacuation drills, spill containment, fire extinguishing, and first-aid. Periodic training and testing of operatives on safety procedures must be conducted with utmost seriousness, and failing operatives (or managers) rigorously retrained and retested.
(ii) To minimize risk, the following three must be managed in the ways described here:
a. Equipment
All MHE and manual equipment must be usable without threat of injury to operator or damage to goods or facility. Equipment should be up-to-date, regularly serviced by certified technicians, maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidance, used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and the H&S regulations of the environment, and operated by appropriately trained operatives wearing the correct minimum PPE. Regular testing and training should be conducted to ensure operators have not developed bad habits. The equipment should be operated only if it passes routine daily, monthly, and six-monthly checks (see answer to Q. 20). Unpowered mobile or static equipment should also be checked regularly for excessive wear-and-tear, rust, mould, moisture, static, damage, and general operability. Faulty equipment should be repaired to as-new condition/operability or replaced. A culture of equipment awareness and careful handling should be encouraged among all warehouse workers.
b. Storage design
Storage is best designed as part of the original facility design, according to exact performance requirements with safety factored at every stage of the design process. However, ground-up design and construction is often more costly than acquiring, occupying, and adapting a pre-existing warehouse space. Ideally (and by law in some regions), safe storage will be elemental to warehouse designs as standard, since warehouses are workplace structures that must meet H&S regulations regarding exits, lighting, fireproofing, acoustic conditions, HVAC specifications, and so on. Retrofitting older buildings with safe and effective storage can be costly and challenging, especially if flexibility in the layout is required. Nevertheless, compliance with regulations must still be achieved. Erection, maintenance, and disassembly of storage structures must be undertaken by qualified technicians. For safety and operability, storage design must be ergonomic and fit-for-purpose. Staff must be trained on the appropriate usage of storage structures, the use of MHE around them, and any related apparatus.
In the event of collisions, breakages, corrosion, or unusually high or low temperatures, metalwork should all be carefully checked by qualified technicians. Accidents and external conditions can cause metal shelving, posts, barriers, and fastenings to become brittle or soft and thus unfit for continued usage. Visual checks should be constant; formal periodic checks should be scheduled and sustained for as long as storage structures are in use.
As a matter of routine, storage structures must be tested and formally certified by inspectors. Regular testing and inspection of shelving should be undertaken to ensure that integrity is as it should be, that aisles are not leaning, shelves are not sagging, bolts and other fixtures are in place and secure, and there are no other indicators of problems. Installation, disassembly, and maintenance must be performed by qualified personnel. Inspection reports must be issued, and copies filed with all relevant parties. Inspections must signed-off too. If the storage apparatus passes inspection, then regulation standards have been met and continued use is permitted. Whatever the inspection’s outcome, all relevant parties will sign to indicate they are aware of what was inspected and that they understand and will act on the findings of the inspection.
c. Safety procedures
When safety in operations is a concern, explicit, specific, approved instructions explaining correct and safe procedures will be circulated, taught, tested, demonstrated, and exhibited. Managers will continuously attempt to foster a culture of safety among warehouse operatives. Consistent reference to and routine utilisation of safety procedures as a core tool and necessary feature of good warehouse operations will help develop such a culture. Any new, changed, unintuitive, or complex operations that have implications for safety must be introduced via a structured programme of formal training (induction), with a follow-up evaluation to measure the effectiveness of that training on a per-operative basis (see answer to Q. 22). If unexpected safety concerns arise, management may commission the creation of new Standard Operating Procedures and supportive explanatory or cautionary material, such as posters, manuals, training courses, and signage. Third-party H&S advisors and assessors may be required (or invited) to visit the warehouse to review and approve new or adjusted safety procedures.