Employees who carry out their activities inside warehouses are exposed to a set of particular dangerous situations. Warehouse management systems are common for engineers, operations directors and inventory controllers who strive to implement health safety plans to prevent these situations from happening.
Dealing with emerging hazards and preventing future accidents is a top priority in the construction industry. In fact, the number of fatal accidents is higher than in any other field. Manufacturing, transportation and storage are the next sectors with the highest number of incidents and victims.
Although there are several types of warehouses – distribution centers, private or air-conditioned – and they are not only used in the construction industry, there are recurring types of risks present in all of them. Here we mention 8 of the most frequent dangers and the corrective actions to be taken to avoid them.
Chemical Materials
For hazardous chemicals, there must be an assessment plan for storing and controlling transportation logistics as they enter and leave the warehouse. In addition to transportation and logistics, the plan must consider the signage of pedestrian paths and clearly define the routes followed by forklifts and trucks to move loads.
The warehouse must be classified into areas to store various chemicals. For example, gas cylinders are placed in a ventilated, dry and flat part of the warehouse, where external heat cannot reach them and away from established routes for machinery and heavy vehicles.
Flammable gas or liquid cylinders are just part of the frequently stored chemical materials. Other substances such as gasoline, diesel, cosmetic, cleaning and corrosive materials are also considered in the risk assessment plan.
Moving machine parts
For warehouses that constantly relocate moving items and heavy loads, machine operators are trained to be careful of pedestrians around them. However, there are many blind spots for drivers and it is the responsibility of pedestrians to carry out their activities carefully while operators work in neighboring areas.
To this end, employees who perform tasks within warehouses with machines in constant motion are trained to anticipate dangers.
In other words, safety precautions and plans are implemented and reinforced for both machine operators and pedestrians. On the one hand, machine operators must be aware of the activities that other employees carry out within the warehouse. On the other hand, workers understand warning labels and take the correct measures to avoid hazards.
Loading docks
Lack of supervision and experience during dock loading are just two of the most common situations that increase the risk of injury within warehouses. Workers getting stuck between forklifts and cargo trucks is not a very uncommon situation.
To prevent accidents from occurring, supervisors, operators and workers inside the warehouse must be aware of slippery surfaces when near a cargo truck so they do not fall into blind spots. In general, there should be common knowledge of the zones where materials are unloaded, located or relocated, and at what times there is the highest traffic at the loading docks.
Marking zone floors, cleaning floors, well-packaged merchandise and visible loading times are effective ways to reduce the number of warehouse accidents.
Forklift accidents
Forklift drivers have blind spots in all directions. Although a forklift is constantly moving in reverse, the configuration of the machine itself partially or completely prevents viewing of the rear. The same happens when the driver advances, the size of the load does not allow operators to be fully aware of the space in front of them.
The consequence of visibility problems and poor space management inside the warehouse affects the safety of employees, the driver and the items in the warehouse. Often, the lack of operator training ends up reducing productivity and adding extra costs to warehouse management.
Sometimes, piercing products do not involve major expenses, but the maintenance of the machinery itself due to improper handling does. In the same vein, falling and hitting the load causes extra expenses for the management board to replace the damaged products. Drilling and pushing loads are situations that should be avoided as much as accidents involving workers.
Many companies choose to buy or rent forklifts with cameras and train operators on how to use them efficiently. Lasers on the forklift conveyor also help drivers recalculate distance and reduce trial and error when lifting and locating loads.
Electricity and Energy
Warehouses must include a clearly demarcated area for refueling machines and loading equipment whenever necessary. Electrical equipment must also be stored in specific locations.
In areas where refueling takes place, employees must ensure that floors are clean of fuels and oils to prevent slipping. For electrical equipment, special attention must be paid to the area where the wiring runs, to prevent machines from being run over or people tripping over it.
But in addition to the risk that cables and wires around the floor can pose, multiple extension cords can short circuit when they are not properly maintained. Workers sometimes see glows when connecting equipment wires, but do not report the possible damage to their supervisors.
It is vital to make operators understand that it is in the company's and their own interests to report if there are electrical problems with the machinery.
Lost objects
Lost objects, from wires, debris and small boxes, cause most accidents inside warehouses. Sometimes slips and trips are unavoidable – as human errors and distractions are often difficult to prevent.
That being said, personnel within warehouses must be trained to take a critical look at what the current conditions of the warehouse are compared to how they should be. They must also know the location of the equipment and the potential dangers of misplacing objects.
Ergonomics
Musculoskeletal injuries caused by lifting and carrying items in awkward positions are very difficult to prevent. It is difficult to measure the strength and endurance of workers, and in many cases, they would try to carry greater and heavier weights than they should.
For this reason, ergonomics education is essential to prevent short- and long-term injuries. The company must create a program with physical training for placing and picking up heavy and light items, as well as providing adequate mechanical equipment for lifting objects.
Encouraging self-awareness of one's limitations is the best way to prevent dangerous situations. Furthermore, information should be available about the possible future health consequences of adding extra weight every day.
Falling objects
Falling objects is not an exclusive situation when work at height occurs inside the warehouse. Objects misplaced by forklifts and loading machines can cause large and small loads to fall, the same happens if operators mistakenly drive too close to items and push them causing a domino effect.
Depending on the task they perform, it is difficult to advise workers to stay away from locations where large and small loads are being relocated or areas where personnel work at heights. Therefore, security equipment must be on even if there are no immediate threats and constant training on how to place objects on shelves must be part of the agenda.
