Warehouses can be considered a high-risk work environment, and because of this, there are plenty of resources you can consult to ensure comprehensive warehouse risk management. In addition to your site-specific risk assessment, all warehouse and factory work environments should utilise the HSE Warehousing and Storage: A guide to health and safety document as part of their more general risk management.
Identifying the Potential Hazards at a Warehouse
As with all work environments, slips, trips and falls are hazards you need to be mindful of. Storage and racking are also hazards you must assess in fine detail to avoid danger when accessing goods. The size and scale of your warehouse will determine most aspects of your risk assessment such as the height of storage, which poses a threat for access reasons and the potential of falls. For each hazard, you need to explore all the repercussions so you can effectively manage each associated risk.
Your site-specific risk assessment will determine your vulnerable areas. Machinery, vehicles and equipment on-site will all need an exhaustive, individual assessment. Moving machine parts presents a hazard, as does moving vehicles, so the loading areas of your warehouse with high volume traffic pose a threat and require particular attention and organisation. Make sure the flow of foot and vehicle traffic is segregated, clearly marked and well managed.
Manual handling without the appropriate levels of training poses a threat to your staff and ultimately, your business.
Who Is at Risk — and How?
Generally speaking, your staff are the focus of risks, but if it’s likely you will have contractors and visitors on site, do consider if your risk management needs to extend to them.
Work-related injuries like sprains and strains are a threat to your staff, as well as injuries caused by accidents in the warehouse. Your risk assessment should cover all areas of risk to personal health and safety, and take into consideration individuals’ specific needs. If you provide work stations with customisable ergonomics, such as adjustable shelf height or adjustable seating in work vehicles, make sure your staff are fully trained in how to optimise these for the benefit of their health and wellbeing.
There is so much to consider in your warehouse risk assessment, but remember to include any break areas in your walkthrough. Kitchen and rest areas still require a thorough assessment and will have their own risk management criteria.
Free Monthly Inspection Record Template
If you work in an environment where monthly inspections are critical to maintain, our free template will help you keep up-to-date records simply and efficiently.
Enter your details, and we’ll email you an easy-to-use inspection template to help carry out your monthly inspections.
By submitting this form you confirm you are happy to be contacted by CHAS in accordance with our Privacy Policy
How You’re Currently Controlling Risks
Warning labels are an ideal way to continuously warn of risks with or associated with machinery. Your existing training may well cover some warehouse risk management, but use your risk assessment to update training and make it thorough. Explain to your staff the reason behind risk management measures as well as training them to comply with the required standards.
Environmental factors such as lighting and temperature can be reasonably simple to fix, and you may already be managing these effectively, but ensure that they are continually monitored.
Further Control Action Needed
Having good controls in place will assist in effectively managing warehouse risks, so set concrete objectives for what you need to achieve to make your warehouse a safer environment. Book in practical actions as soon as you can. If you are delegating any risk management actions to your team, make sure they are confident in their task and the deadline you have given them.
Additional signage around the warehouse and on machinery is an action you can very quickly take, immediately identifying risks and creating a safer warehouse.
Who Is Responsible for Carrying Out the Actions?
A key detail here is to make sure all staff know who to escalate issues to should they arise. You must include this in your risk management training with all staff, as well as how to effectively identify faults with machinery. Staff should know when it is appropriate (if ever) for them to service equipment — and when they should report an issue for further repair.
Deadline for Warehouse Risk Management Action
You may find most of your warehouse risk management actions are ongoing and don’t have a definitive end date. That doesn’t make them any less pressing an issue though, so it can be worth including dates on your risk assessment that prompt you to monitor the upkeep of your risk management processes and standards.
If some measures need to be actioned by a third party, be realistic with your deadlines. For instance, if you need a professional to come and service your equipment or repair a fault, make sure you’re allowing plenty of time. If your assessment flags that repairs are necessary for machinery or equipment that is dangerous, make sure your staff knows it is not to be used until after the repair date. Excellent communication, isolation processes and adequate signage will ensure a reduced risk of your staff injuring themselves on equipment that is unsafe for use.
By joining CHAS, you’ll get access to a variety of risk management resources — including risk assessment and method statement templates. Join CHAS as a contractor to make the most of these benefits, or become a CHAS client for FREE to access supply chain risk management services.
Free Risk Assessment Template
Take the stress and confusion out of creating a risk assessment with our free template.
Enter your details, and we’ll email you a risk assessment template that’s both compliant and comprehensive to use.
By submitting this form you confirm you are happy to be contacted by CHAS in accordance with our Privacy Policy
