Warehouse safety is an important feature that many penny pinching business owners only pay only lip service to.

With over 600,000 workplace accidents in the UK every year, the overall impact on the company bottom line is deeply felt.

We all know that running a warehouse distribution centre is far from cheap.

Some of the common methods warehouse managers use to save cash outflow are:

• Reducing hiring costs by using temporary staff.
• Consider leasing equipment, rather than buying.
• Reduce all instances of wasted time.
• Reconfigure racking.
• Control all occurrences of theft

While these methods, and others, are acceptable within reason, there are some cost saving measures you should never ever even consider using.

Scrimping on equipment.

One of the most important partnerships on your warehouse floor is that of the forklift and its driver. The person behind the wheel is vital for safe, optimum and efficient use. Here are some questions that many warehouse owners fail to answer:

• Do you have the appropriate safety signs in place?
• Are all your drivers professionally trained and have up-to-date forklift driving licence?
• Do you enforce the speed limits?

While different operations require different speeds, but no forklift trucks should go over 3 mph in racking, 5 mph in transit, and 10 mph in the yard. I understand that there are targets to meet and goods to be shipped. That is no excuse for speeding.

Forklift safety.

With 26% of workplace transport-related injuries, being caused by forklift trucks, basic forklift safety must be enforced. Many warehouses ignore these at their own peril and when accidents occur, the legal implications are enormous.

Many drivers ignore the posted speed limits as they are whizzing around trying to hit target KPIs per shift. Many even leave the designated lanes in an attempt t to meet said targets. Common ways to combat this reckless behaviour include:

• Installation of speed bumps to reduce their speed. These should be preceded by a warning sign or a mark on the road.
• Fitting the trucks with speed limiters.
• Implementing traffic-calming measures such as narrowed routes and rumble zones.

Repairing your racking.

The type of racking used across warehouses in the UK differ greatly, but all racking have the same flaws and weaknesses. There are many ‘funny’ videos of racking collapsing on YouTube. Most would laugh at the ensuing mess, but as a warehouse manager, you know the cost of the event can be astronomical.

Concerns include:

• Does the driver survive? What quality of life do they have after?
• How does the company handle this loss?
• How are the company’s insurance premiums affected?

Sadly, many mangers try to avoid correct warehouse management practices and attempt to cut costs by using poorly constructed, but dirt-cheap, racking. Others even attempt to repair the racking themselves, using the infamous Prop and Cut method.

Sold as a cheap and speedy repair tactic, especially in the event of a forklift hitting a beam, some managers use the ‘Prop and cut’ method of ‘repairing ‘ their racking. This looks as dangerous as it sounds. It involves the use of cutting out and replacing sections of damaged uprights.

Not bad, right? Wrong. This is because managers do not offload the racking first. They claim ”there is no need to offload pallets.” This is clearly against HSG 76 Clause 652 which states “where damage is identified which affects the safety of the racking system, the racking should be offloaded and controls introduced to prevent it being used until remedial work has been carried out.”

This is an extremely dangerous and unacceptable practise. It isn’t underwritten by any manufacturers of racking. It is a practise frowned upon by every safety organisation in the world. We all understand the need to minimise costs in setting up our businesses. But, attempting to minimise costs while incurring much bigger costs down the road is not a long-term business model.

We know that racking can be expensive, but drop in and speak to one of our engineers for a unique solution for your needs.

At Monarch Shelving, we supply the highest grade of industrial racking for all your warehouse storage needs.