A few years ago, the Harvard Business Review ran a story about DIY accidents, observing that, “Trouble tends to come toward the end of jobs.”
Trouble also tends to come near the end of a workday, especially if that workday takes place in a warehouse. And it’s not difficult to see why.
Imagine if there were a magic elixir that could keep your warehouse personnel safer and cooler – while also improving their productivity, general mood and mental acuity.
As COVID-19 concerns continue to impact business operations, warehouse professionals are proving to be some of the most essential employees around -- because without them, critical items like food and medical supplies wouldn’t be able to reach hospitals or store shelves.
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.
A few weeks ago, many of us watched in horror as Ryan Newman’s car suffered a potentially lethal crash during the last lap of the Daytona 500. Miraculously Newman not only survived but walked out of the hospital two days later.
Raise your hand if you believe in leprechauns. How about the magic of four-leaf clovers?
“Lucky” subjects like that are fun to think about when March and St. Patrick’s Day roll around. But few of us would ever seriously consider using them as a solid business strategy.
That said there are many professionals who clearly do believe in luck, because they rely on it every day.
When most people think of risky careers, becoming a warehousing professional probably isn’t one of them. Yet each year, a vast number of DC personnel are injured or killed on the job, a fact that’s not surprising when you consider how many moving parts and pieces of equipment the typical warehouse has.
Safety must always be a top priority because warehouses are of the most dangerous places to work in America. But how can those risks be mitigated in order to keep employees safe and to keep the operation running? Safety.
Regular maintenance is required to keep all equipment, machines and the work environment safe and reliable at all times in the warehouse. Dangerous situations, accidents and health problems can occur as a result of not conducting proper maintenance checks.
Warehouses are statistically one of the most dangerous places to work, and the added tasks of operating heavy machinery and transporting large objects do not make it safer. In 2018, there were more than 213,000 non-fatal occupational injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry in the private sector according to the 2018 U.S. Bureau of Labor report. This number is larger than the previous year (209,000), while the number of jobs in the transportation and warehousing industry keeps increasing. The larger number to report is the number of days spent away from work that still costs money to companies that have injured workers. In 2018 alone, warehouse workers had the most days away from work with over 68,000 days away from work related to injuries by warehouse laborers, freight, stock and material movers. Truck drivers were the second-highest, with over 49,000 days away from work, followed by maintenance workers with over 29,000 days away from work.
Workplace safety starts with employees being responsible, proactive and having keen awareness of the potential risks/dangers in the work environment. Employees' knowledge of hazards and risks minimizes their risk of harm and ill-health and increases their productivity. Use our November safety quiz to give your employees a to further reinforce the safety requirements. Use this quick quiz in conjunction with along with our safety calendar to test your employees' knowledge of the potential risks/dangers.
Let's face it, drivers are the most important asset when it comes to logistics, and the well-being of your company's drivers will determine your profitability. The purpose of this calendar is to assist fleet managers in educating drivers about how to maintain safe behaviors both on and off the road. The other purpose of the transportation safety calendar is to avoid involvement in motor vehicle crashes while performing work or non-work related activities.
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