COVID19 Warehouse Safety Guide: Meeting Topics & Calendar - April 2020

When it comes to safety, today’s warehouses are really between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand, having frequent safety meetings has never been more important, because  there are so many new COVID-19 precautions to share and because now, more than ever, it’s essential to help warehouse personnel avoid any accident that could send them to the hospital.

On the other, it’s essential to respect the importance of social distancing and keeping people at least six feet apart.

So what’s a responsible warehouse safety professional to do? 

“Fortunately for all of us, there are many ways you can still host a daily safety meeting without gathering people too closely – or for too long,” says Mike Hart, vice president of risk management for Verst Logistics. “And there are numerous reasons why you should.”

Six Ways to Conduct Safety Meetings By Encouraging Social Distancing

For example, companies can:

• Host several smaller safety meetings instead of one large, all-facility meeting – and make sure everyone who attends is spread out at least six feet apart instead of standing or sitting closely together.
• Use microphones or facility PA systems. This will allow personnel to stand or sit even farther apart and facilitate even greater social distancing.
• Post the safety message of the day on a highly visible facility bulletin board – and instruct attendees to check that board out – rather than reading or circulating that message during the meeting.
• Focus on keeping meetings shorter than usual. Instead of delivering multiple messages, focus on sharing one safety reminder of the day and one good open-ended safety question.  This will minimize the time that people are in close proximity to each other.
• Rely on universally understood hand signals – like thumbs up/down – rather than long verbal exchanges. For example, they can ask a safety question such as “Is it true you must always look in the direction of travel?” and ask people to make a thumb up or down to convey their vote. 
• Focus on covering safety topics that can easily be taught from a distance or communicated over a PA system.  

Along those lines, check out this month’s warehouse safety training calendar from Verst.  It’s full of ideas for daily safety meetings that will enable you to check all of these blocks – and that share some of the most important safety messages (like emphasizing the importance of frequent handwashing and properly wiping down equipment) your company should be emphasizing right now. 

We hope you’ll find it helpful. More important, we hope that no matter how busy or hectic things get during these trying times, you will continue to keep all elements of warehouse safety top-of-mind.