How To Create a Safe and Efficient Warehouse (infographic)
Manufacturers are always on the lookout for ways to strengthen their supply chains and warehouses. But while they probably pay close attention to picking speed and accuracy, they may overlook how important warehouse safety is to an effective facility. When accidents occur, they can create significant delays and cost overruns that have the potential to hurt much more than your profitability. For the protection of your people, products and bottom line, you should make maintaining a safe warehouse one of your top priorities.
For example, workers should never be allowed to operate equipment or handle hazardous materials without proper training. This needs to be reinforced constantly, not just mentioned once during a new hire’s orientation. The application of safety signs and instructions around the workplace paired with consistently accessible training seminars will help boost a facility’s warehouse safety significantly. In addition to providing employees with the necessary education, you also need to ensure that they have and use proper safety gear such as hard hats, ear plugs and goggles. If these items don’t fit correctly, they may as well not be available at all.
Another vital responsibility of employers is keeping up with regularly scheduled inspections and maintenance of equipment. These systematic checks can catch problems before they have an opportunity to create unsafe working conditions. The preventive maintenance methodology has become an industry standard for most organizations and, not only benefit the employees from a safety standpoint, but also generates maintenance savings and overall performance improvements.
Don’t let accidents become the weak link in your supply chain. For more tips on keeping your facility incident-free, see the accompanying infographic with efficient warehouse safety guidelines.
Author bio: Roy Pelkey is Vice President of Qualitrol. With more than 30 years of experience in executive management, sales, marketing and e-commerce businesses, Pelkey leads Qualitrol — the repair and services division of CIMTEC — which provides worldwide support of obsolete and discontinued automation products.
