Potential Health and Safety Hazards in Warehouse Operations and How to Mitigate Risks

Warehouse Health and Safety Risks
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Warehouse Health and Safety Risks
Workers’ safety is vital for every organization, and in warehouses, the level of risk is quite high for the workers compared to the other industries. Fatal injuries in warehousing are mainly caused by failure to recognize or identify the present hazards, or even any anticipated. There is, thus, a need for adequate safety and health program proactively identifying and assessing these hazards. Also, it is essential to suggest recommendations on how to best mitigate the risk through specified methods, procedures, or changes in the warehouse.
There are six main stages involved in the process of assessing risks. First, information should be gathered to help determine the stakes in the warehouse. Second, it is important to consider reducing or eliminating possible hazards and assessing the risk level. Information recording is also a vital step, improving safety arrangements in the assessment process. The fifth step would be to record the risk assessment findings and eventually develop an emergency plan while carrying out the necessary staff training.
1 Collect information on warehouse hazards. Employees and workers in the warehouse are likely to have information regarding possible risks. The house management should collect, arrange and review data from workers to help distinguish the existing threats and the specific workers who might be exposed. Vital information on hazards can be available in machinery manuals, records of past injuries, personal inspection reports, safety health programs, Information from CDC, labor unions, health and safety consultants, among others (Emmett, 2005).
2 Inspection of workplace hazards. Hazards can arise over time due to changes in machinery, processes, or workstations, or as the equipment becomes work out, a decrease in housekeeping practices, or neglected maintenance. IT is essential to set aside time for regular inspection to help identify the risks and address them before incidents. Periodic review of the operations, work areas, and facilities are vital, and employees should take an active part in reporting on their observations (Emmett, 2005). Inspections should be documented to help clarify what has been corrected. Assessment needs to be conducted in every area, vehicle, and a checklist to check each category.
3 Identification of health hazards. The process involves looking into the physical part of safety and issues associated with gas and vapors that can harm workers’ health. Assessment should include identifying chemical hazards used in the warehouse and thus identify any activities that can cause chemical exposure. Also, physical hazards should be identified, such as exposure to excess noise. Also, biological risk factors such as infectious diseases, poisonous plants need to be included.
4 Incident investi...