Common Warehouse Hazards

Your Safety Partners is dedicated to improving safety practices within the warehousing, transport and distribution sector. With over fifteen years of expertise, we assist businesses across Australia in achieving compliance with stringent safety laws, minimising risks, and ensuring a secure environment for all workers.

Safety in warehousing and logistics involves many activities that can lead to injury and death. Here are just some of the key considerations that warehouse managers must consider to ensure site safety.

The most common workers compensation claims, some of which are the result of very serious life altering injuries include:

  • Cause: Repetitive lifting, awkward postures, overexertion, and prolonged standing.
  • Examples: Back injuries, strains, sprains, and joint pain.
  • Cause: Wet or uneven floors, cluttered walkways, and poorly lit areas.
  • Examples: Sprains, fractures, and concussions.
  • Cause: Forklift accidents, falling objects, or improper stacking of materials.
  • Examples: Bruises, fractures, or severe injuries from being crushed or pinned.
  • Cause: Improper lifting, pushing, or pulling of heavy loads.
  • Examples: Hernias, torn ligaments, and muscle strains.
  • Cause: Improper use of forklifts, lack of training, or failure to follow safety procedures.
  • Examples: Crush injuries, fractures, and fatalities from tip-overs or collisions.
  • Cause: Handling sharp objects, packaging materials, or operating cutting tools.
  • Examples: Minor cuts, deep lacerations, or amputations.
  • Cause: Handling chemicals, spills, or exposure to toxic fumes.
  • Examples: Chemical burns, respiratory issues, or skin conditions.
  • Cause: Repeated tasks like packing, labelling, or using machinery.
  • Examples: Tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other overuse injuries.

What Actions Should Be Taken to Prevent Incidents

Detailed risk assessments

We perform thorough risk assessments to identify and address hazards, to ensure your organisation can reduce risk to an acceptable level.

Safety Control Development

Clear, actionable safety controls are essential for a secure and efficient operation. We create straightforward, practical guidelines to enhance workplace safety, covering comprehensive traffic management plans to keep pedestrians and mobile equipment separate, pre-start checks for mobile plant safety, and regular inspections of racking and storage.

Our approach also includes a maintenance register to track equipment upkeep, procedures to verify all relevant licenses and qualifications, and a Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) system for out-of-service machinery.

Customised safety training

Our training programs, specifically crafted for the warehousing and manufacturing sectors, prepare your staff to perform their duties safely and proficiently.

Warehouse Case Study

The case below highlights the need for thorough traffic management processes and training:

Manslaughter charge laid after forklift death

A NSW worker who allegedly operated a forklift involved in a fatality has been charged by police with manslaughter under the State Crimes Act 1900 – an offence attracting a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.

The incident occurred at a business in St Marys in February 2021. A 40-year-old man died after being pinned between the forklift and a truck.

This was one of five forklift fatalities, and one of hundreds of serious forklift incidents, that led to SafeWork NSW warning that businesses could be forced to stop using the vehicles where they were not operated in accordance with WHS laws (see related article).

The regulator noted the main contributing factor to forklift deaths and serious injuries was inadequate separation between pedestrians and forklifts, leading to pedestrians being struck by the vehicles or their loads.

In a statement issued , the NSW Police Force said detectives established a special “strike force” to investigate the St Marys death, and “following extensive inquiries, investigators issued a 59-year-old man a court attendance notice for the offence of manslaughter”.

[OHS Alert 28.7.22]

How we can help

Your Safety Partners can undertake the following for your organisation to ensure risk is reduced to an acceptable level:

  1. Undertake a full document review to identify any gaps in your safety documentation.
  2. Undertake workplace inspection/s to identify physical hazards.
  3. Provide a full Safety Improvement Plan to address the gaps.
  4. Assist you close gaps through the development of policies, procedures and training content.
Contact Us
Companies Your Safety Partners has worked with

What are you waiting for ?

Each year over 130,000 workers are seriously injured.
Most of these injuries or accidents could have been avoided if organisations had taken the time to see where their safety gaps were.

Schedule a free safety consultation
high risk

Our Expertise

Our team of expert Work Health and Safety Consultants have over 100 years combined experience assessing workplace risk and implementing tailored solutions to reduce the chance of personal prosecution and which keep workplaces safe.

LEARN MORE

Our Exceptional Team

Our teams of expert WHS/OHS consultants have over 100 years combined experience designing and implementing safety processes that are both practical and maintain compliance in the long term.

OUR TEAM