Managing safety in the warehouse

In the last issue we looked at how to perform the risk assessment.
But turning this document into a safer and more productive warehouse can be a tricky process.

Gay Sutton reports.

Operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the warehouses of supply chain services specialist Wincanton receive, store, despatch and in some cases pack a huge variety of products for the likes of Procter & Gamble, Asda, Saint-Gobain, BAE Systems and AgustaWestland.

Flexibility and change are therefore part of Wincanton’s way of life, and managing safety for its 16,500 strong workforce is a continuous and well-honed process. “And it’s not just getting safety in the warehouse right,” said Lisa McGrevy, SHEQ manager for Wincanton’s retail division, “the way the warehouse operates can impact safety and productivity all the way down the supply chain.”

While any serious warehouse accident is likely to hit the headlines, the most common causes of injury are slips, trips and falls, and manual handling accidents, followed by striking or being struck by fixed or stationary objects such as forklift trucks, pallets and products. “People often think that as long as they document a safe system of work and provide the requisite training, that will satisfy the safety requirements. It doesn’t,” said McGrevy, representing the retail and distribution group at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

Wincanton follows the Hierarchy of Control methodology which ranks engineering control as the most effective and desirable way of improving safety, followed by the introduction of procedural controls and finally, if none of those are possible, the use of behavioural control. “We always look to eliminate the hazards first and put in engineering controls,” she said. “And that might include making physical changes to the layout of the warehouse, putting guards on equipment, or perhaps if the problem is congestion in the goods-in bay we may even look at removing a couple of bays of racking.”

Admittedly it’s not a solution that will initially appeal to many operations managers, but a full analysis of cost and productivity can show reducing congestion increases productivity.

“People often think that as long as they document a safe system of work and provide the requisite training, that will satisfy the safety requirements. It doesn’t.”

Lisa McGrevy, Wincanton

Global paint manufacturer Jotun, which has manufacturing plants in over 50 countries worldwide, has a similar approach. The manufacturing facilities have been designed to isolate and contain toxic and corrosive chemicals and deliver them directly to the point of use. Fail-safes rather like the petrol pump cut-out, prevent storage tanks being over filled. “We’re now working on interlocks for the discharge valve at the bottom of the tank so it will be impossible to fill if the valve is open,” explained HSE manager Shailesh Purohit. “What we aim to do is address the underlying cause rather than the direct cause, which may be an operator forgetting to close the valve.”

The most effective way to improve safety is to develop controls and processes using the knowledge and experience of those who will need to operate them. After all, new equipment or theoretical safety processes that don’t work in practice, or make a task arduous and difficult are never likely to be used. A safety committee is most effective if drawn from all disciplines on site, including materials handling, logistics, admin, operations, security and regular contractors led by the site manager and supported by trained safety personnel. “Often, small groups are then given projects to take away and work on,” McGrevy said. “They will look for the best ways to resolve individual issues and then bring the results back to the safety committee for action.”

“The most effective way to improve safety is to develop controls and processes using the knowledge and experience of those who will need to operate them.”

Another initiative that companies sometimes use is the suggestions box, and this not only taps directly into shopfloor knowledge, but also increases the buy-in to change. “At one company I visited recently,” said Roger Bibbings occupational safety adviser at RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), “the workers were subject to vibration from grinding the rough edges off forms that had been cut from sheet metal. The company had effective processes in place to reduce exposure, but the workforce suggested investing in a laser cutter which would remove the need for dressing the work afterwards.” The workforce was tasked with producing a business case for the cutter, which cost £160,000 and not only improved safety but also increased productivity.

Having identified safety improvements, the next step is to implement them and this involves a blend of training and good communication. Keeping instructions as simple and uncomplicated as possible increases the success rate by making the job easier to perform and removes the risk of misunderstanding. At Wincanton, instructors also make sure any training has been fully understood and absorbed by asking trainees to play back what they’ve learned in a practical way before signing them off.

“Safety is also very much about positive reinforcement – telling people what to do, rather than what not to do,” McGrevy said. It’s human nature to try doing what you’re told not to do, so a list of don’ts merely puts bad behaviour in mind. By contrast, telling forklift drivers to park with the forks lowered, take the keys with them and put waste wrapping in the bag provided is more effective. A very nice example can be seen at one Wincanton site where discarded stretchwrap tubes were a safety issue. A scheme was devised for drivers to write their names on the tubes and place them in the bag at the end of the aisle. “At the end of the week, one tube is picked out and the driver receives a free breakfast. It’s simple; it doesn’t cost a fortune but has had a huge impact on behaviour.”

“Safety is also very much about positive reinforcement – telling people what to do, rather than what not to do,” McGrevy said. It’s human nature to try doing what you’re told not to do, so a list of don’ts merely puts bad behaviour in mind.”

Perhaps the key word here is behaviour. The SHEQ manager of Wincanton’s manufacturing division, Garry Spicer, has worked on the Observation Inventory process for identifying and exploring critical behaviour patterns that affect safety in the warehouse. By identifying behaviour associated with a specific task in the warehouse, he then monitors and quantifies the behaviour of the workers in action. “What you end up with is a list of undesired and desired behaviours,” he said. Alongside this, the staff are asked to fill out a questionnaire that gauges their perception of things that contribute to accidents, such as pallets overhanging a walkway, or the use of the correct personal protective equipment (PPE). The end result is an understanding of further adjustments to behaviour that can improve the safety of the operation.

“It’s a matter of continuous improvement. In other words, move away from blind rule compliance to genuine risk management.”

While small companies cannot put such extensive programmes into operation, much can be learned from these practices. And RoSPA’s Roger Bibbings summed up the essence of good safety management. “It’s a matter of continuous improvement. In other words, move away from blind rule compliance to genuine risk management – continuous planning and implementation rather than a tick in the box.”