What’s the State of Your Warehouse?
The state of your warehouse reveals a lot about your safety culture. How does yours measure up?
- Are materials stacked neatly? Are they adequately supported?
- Does the forklift operating surface have debris, dunnage, or holes?
- Do materials or equipment block access to electrical panels, fire extinguishers, pedestrian walkways, or exits?
- Is there adequate illumination and visual warnings of hazards?
- Are warehouse conditions inspected at regular intervals?
- Are forklifts operating at excessive speeds given the available sightlines and visibility?
A simple inspection will reveal unsafe conditions, but addressing them requires accountability. Operators must be held accountable for following material handling procedures and management must take corrective action when these conditions are present.
So how do we address deficiencies in our warehouse?
Ensure that top management supports your safety program in general and forklift safety in particular and promote accountability.
Inspect the warehouse on a regular basis. Assess:
- Overall housekeeping and integrity of the operating surface.
- The stability of stored products.
- Access to electrical and control panels, exits, fire extinguishers, marked walkways.
- Visibility and sightlines. Designate “No Stack Zones” to increase visibility at intersections and other congested areas.
If deficiencies are evident, evaluate the effectiveness of your forklift training program, and ensure that every forklift incident and near miss is investigated and root causes are addressed. Share these results with all operators.
If you would like to share your experiences/photos of forklift incidents that can educate others on the principles of safe forklift operation please send them to: bhulberg@D2000safety.com
We will not publish company or individuals names.
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