Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Warehouse Safety Tips

Most big companies have warehouses where they stock their supplies, assemble products for delivery, accepts delivery of parts or components from suppliers and more. The warehouse is a very busy place filled with giant machines, forklifts, and heavy equipments, making it a very dangerous place to work in.

But businesses need warehouse as it plays a key role in the business supply chain so it is essential to the success of any business. So aside from the profit, business owner must also put in their priority the warehouse safety to make sure that their employees are not subjected to any type of danger and hazard. Employers must make sure that they implementwarehouse safetyprocedures to protect their employees from any work related accidents.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency under the United States Department of Labor, have been created by congress after the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to make sure that companies provide their employees with a work place that is safe and is free from any hazards. The OSHA conducts inspection of warehouses to check for any violations and will impose fine if they find out that the companies are not complying with their standards.

It is a real headache if companies have to deal with fines imposed by OSHA in case of violation and worse, to deal with lawsuits from their workers in case accidents happen. That is why warehouse safety should always be at the top priority of any business.

Here are some tips to improve the safety of your warehouse:

1. Warehouse manager play a big part in ensuring the safety of the workers in the warehouse. To help him perform his duty well and to be equipped with the needed information to keep the warehouse safe at all times, employers can send their warehouse managers to take Click Safety’s OSHA 30-hour online course. This is a comprehensive online course, which tackles in detail safety codes, OSHA warehouse safety requirements, materials handling and more which will help warehouse managers to master the safety precautions for an accident free warehouse.
2. Care must be given when using equipment in the warehouse like the forklift. Forklifts are one of the most common causes of accidents in a warehouse. To avoid such, employers must make sure that forklift operators are trained and certified and they must always make sure to operate at a speed of not more than 5 mph.
3. Hazard tags and material safety data sheet should be posted in the warehouse and it is the job of the employees to learn it by heart. Workers must also be trained to handle these hazardous chemicals and that spill kit should always be available to clean up chemical spills right away.
4. All employees must also be provided with personal safety equipment and they must be trained on how to use them.
5. Electrical wiring should also be checked and ground fault electrical shock should also be installed as part of the mandate of OSHA.
6. All defective equipment should be locked out or properly tagged so workers will not attempt to use them, which can lead to serious accidents and injuries.
7. The warehouse should have enough emergency exits and all of this should be properly labeled so workers can evacuate with no problem in case need arises to evacuate.

This are just some of the tips that warehouse owner can implement to prevent any accidents from happening. More than the money, employers must always ensure that proper warehouse safety procedure is being observed to ensure the safety of their employees while at the same time avoiding fines and lawsuits because of the violation.

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