Introduction
This page provides occupational health and safety guidance for the storage and warehousing industry. It is aimed at both employers and employees of those in the storage and warehousing industry, as well as those who work at or around warehouses in the course of their jobs, such as hauliers and couriers.
These pages will help you understand:
- which topics are the main causes of injury and ill health in storage and warehousing;
- where to get useful guidance on how to manage these risks;
- the role of HSE in the storage and warehousing industry; and
- how to manage health and safety in warehouses to ensure compliance with legal requirements.
Accidents in storage and warehousing
In 2009/10 the storage, warehousing and road haulage industries reported over 8500 work related accidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Local Authorities. Almost 1600 of these accidents were classified as major injuries such as fractures and amputations.
Manual handling
Lifting and moving by hand is the main cause of reportable accidents in the 'freight by road' industry. There were 278 major and 3639 over-3-day injuries reported in 2006/07 work year. Bad backs were the most common injury.
Measures to reduce risks;
- Use the free HSE Manual Handling Assessment Chart (MAC) [1], to identify the tasks which present the greatest risk.
- Ask employees about what they consider to be the most hazardous lifting and moving jobs.
- Consider whether high hazard manual lifting and moving jobs can be avoided, for example by palletising heavy or bulky products.
- Consider whether a load can be changed to make it easier to carry, for example, smaller packages, providing handles or hand-holds.
- Consider the use of mechanical aids, such as vehicle mounted hydraulic hoists, portable roller conveyors, pallet trucks, scissor lifts and customised trolleys. These can save a lot of time and money, as well as saving backs.
- Roll cages are commonly involved in manual handling injuries. Ensure roll cages are sensibly loaded, properly secured in the vehicle and that pavement access at the delivery end is relatively level and free from potholes and obstructions.
Further information
- Are you making the best use and lifting handling aids
(PDF)
[2]- Practical guidance on how to make lifting and handling tasks easier.
- Food industry roll cage information sheet (FIS33) - Guidance on the safe use of roll cages.
- Research on furniture distribution (PDF) [3]- Useful for many other types of distribution.
- 'Safety in design - eliminating manual handling in the road transport industry' - Worksafe of Australia has produced further free guidance.
Hit by a moving vehicle
Vehicle movements in the workplace require careful management to control and reduce the likelihood of accidents. Simple steps can often prove effective, because many of the problems that result in accidents are very straightforward.
Employers
People associated with vehicles are often visiting warehouses for a relatively short time and are often employed by other companies. An employer has a legal duty to make sure that people are safe in the workplace they control, even where they are employed by others or are members of the public
Drivers
When lorry drivers arrive on site, it should be clear what their responsibilities are and who is in charge of their activity on the site. Usually, a driver will be responsible for everything relating to the movement of their vehicle, and site workers are responsible for everything that happens while the vehicle is stationary, like loading and unloading.
Make sure that visiting drivers know what to expect when they arrive and are made aware of any restrictions on vehicle size or type.
Visitors
All visitors should be carefully managed while on site. They should be given clear instructions on site rules, which should include the use of PPE where necessary to ensure their own safety and that of others..
It is important that site workers and visiting employees are able to communicate effectively, using agreed signals where verbal communication is not possible.
Pedestrians and traffic
Every workplace should be organised so that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate safely. Workplace traffic routes should be suitable for the people and vehicles using them. Where vehicles and pedestrians use the same traffic route, ideally there should be adequate separation between them.
You can achieve separation by keeping pedestrians and vehicles well clear of one another, ideally using completely different routes. If routes must be close to each other, physical barriers to prevent pedestrians or vehicles straying into each other's areas should be put in place where this is reasonably practicable.
Checklists and risk assessments
You need to make sure that your site itself, the vehicles being used, and the people working with and around this equipment, are all effectively managed to control the risks. There is a Site inspection – Workplace transport checklist (PDF) [4] on the HSE website which may be useful.
The risk of accidents happening can be greater at certain times. Risk assessments should take account of periods where the number of vehicles or pedestrians moving along traffic routes change, eg when office staff arrive or leave, or when shifts change. Put in place suitable measures to control these risks, eg stopping lorry movements during shift changes.
Further information
This topic is covered in more detail in the free comprehensive guide Warehousing and storage: A guide to health and safety' HSG76[5], which is also available to buy[6] in hard copy.
You can find out more on the HSE workplace transport website[7]:
Resources
The free short guide 'Warehousing and storage ‘Keep it safe’ INDG412 (PDF) [8]has been produced to help those involved in warehousing and storage reduce the number of injuries and cases of occupational ill health. Use the link to download the leaflet.
A more comprehensive guide Warehousing and storage: A guide to health and safety' HSG76[9] is also available to buy in hard copy, or to download for free. Though in parts specific to specialist sites (eg temperature-controlled or dangerous substance storage) the majority of the book's focus applies right across the sector regardless of facility or size. Many special attention topics, such as manual handling, musculoskeletal awareness, mechanical handling, site transport and working at height plus more, are covered in detail but the broader emphasis is on responsible warehouse practices, general prevention of avoidable risks and hazards and attendant information of accident and emergency procedures.