Making the warehouse a safer place
The global coronavirus pandemic impacted every facet of life. It infiltrated economies, established new boundaries, and changed the way that people went about their daily lives. The way that people shopped changed drastically.
Indications of a gradual shift towards business digitisation and online shopping were evident before the outbreak of the pandemic. The onset of COVID-19, however, catapulted both suppliers and consumers into a different, online way of doing business. It also transformed approaches to supply chain strategies, which directly influenced warehouses, distribution centres and other logistics operations.
Legislation governing warehouse safety
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the umbrella legislation that regulates health and safety matters in workplaces throughout the UK. Several other regulations flow from this main legislation and address the management of
warehouse and distribution centre safety. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) compiled a guide called Warehousing and
Storage: A Guide to Health and Safety in conjunction with the Warehousing Health and Safety Forum, which is a joint committee with trade union, employer and trade association representation. This guide covers everything related to health and safety in the distribution and
storage industry.
Several regulations outline further and detailed safety measures for warehouse and distribution centre workers. These are the:
• Manual Handling Regulations (1992) which requires employers to assess the risks to employees’ health when moving
and handling objects at work and to remove or minimise those risks
• COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002), which outlines how employers should limit worker exposure to harmful substances and what personal protective equipment (PPE) applies
• RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013), which obliges employers, self-employed individuals, and those in control of premises such as warehouses to report workplace incidents
• PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998), which describes the duties and responsibilities of employers and companies that own, control and operate work and other specialised equipment. These regulations also extend to rented equipment
• LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998), which describes the duties of employers and companies that own, rent, control and operate lifting equipment. These regulations make it incumbent that all lifting operations requiring the use of lifting equipment be duly planned by qualified and competent persons and that the safety and execution of operations are supervised.
The legislation and regulations determine that employers are first and foremost responsible for ensuring the health and safety of warehouse and distribution centre employees. This duty includes safety and preventive measures concerning the:
• Manual handling of goods and how awareness of musculoskeletal body mechanics helps to prevent injuries
• Mechanical handling and operation of equipment and ensuring proper training and instruction in this regard
• Precautions necessary when conducting work at heights
• PPE needed in specific environments and for specific jobs and work activities.
• Maintenance and inspection of equipment
• Implementation of COVID-19 safety measures.
Legally, employers should assess all risks in their work environments and devise plans to address and prevent the identified risks. This includes things such as the issuing of specialised PPE and ensuring that equipment functions well.
How COVID-19 affected the supply chain
COVID-19 spotlighted fulfilment centre importance when retailers were forced to close their doors during lockdowns. Many retailers experienced lulls and ‘dead’ periods. Fulfilment centres, however, got busier and busier as online shopping demands increased. Early statistics indicated a 14.2% increase in online orders between 2019 and May 2020. Over June and July 2020, when some retailers started to trade again after the first lockdowns, online orders experienced a slight decrease but remained significantly higher when compared to 2019.
Experts believe that the prevalence of online shopping, even after retailers recommenced brick-and-mortar business activities, indicates a shift in shopping behaviours. It might be that shoppers are trying to limit in-store times and exposures and also find in-store restrictions cumbersome. Indications are that shoppers may increase their high-street shopping endeavours in the long run, but the internet definitely impacted and changed how people shop now and in the future.
Survey findings indicate that up to 38% of UK shoppers will continue to shop over the internet after COVID-19. These shifts entail some tangible changes for warehouse and fulfilment centre activities. Presently, online retailers are already demanding more warehouse space as they seek to expand their networks.
Preliminary projections estimate that online sales will make up a third of all retail sales in the future. Expert analyses show that approximately 1.36 million square feet of warehousing space is required for every £1bn of online sales. Considering present and projected sales forecasts, an additional 92 million square feet of warehouse space comes into play. Increased space means an increase in workers, which ultimately leads to an increase in safety risks.
Increased accidents among warehouse workers
The escalation of e-commerce indirectly increased accidents in warehouses. As fulfilment centre employees work harder than ever to keep up with the demand in orders, they are prone to suffer accidents. The top causes of warehouse accidents include:
• Slips, trips and falls that are caused by anything from undone shoelaces to uneven surfaces and oily spills
• Straining the body with repetitive motions. These range from staying in the same position for too long – for example, hours spent on forklifts or continuous heavy lifting using incorrect body mechanics
• Toxic and harmful substances that cause anything from respiratory problems to skin diseases
• Injuries sustained when working with or near heavy machinery.
Most incidents occur when workers become too busy to observe the safety rules. Employers must be aware of increased workloads and implement additional measures to counter the risks associated with these.
Measures for future warehouse safety
Employers should be cognisant that e-commerce significantly increased the demands on warehouse space, warehouse workers and warehouse
equipment. You must conduct renewed risk assessments and maintain COVID-19 safety guidelines. These measures include things such as:
• More regular vehicle inspections and maintenance. Workers use warehouse vehicles such as lifting equipment more frequently to keep up with e-commerce demands. Implement regular inspections to ensure that vehicles operate as they should and prevent accidents.
• Regularly inspect issued PPE and ensure that workers adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines
• Reinforce training when needed on things such as how to prevent and clean up spills with spill cleaning kits to prevent trips and falls.
The HSE has created a new online MSD Assessment Tool to help assess the level of risk from particular movements and tasks, this can be found at hse.gov.uk. The health and safety of warehouse and fulfilment centre workers should not be neglected. Cognisance of these new challenges helps employers to address areas of concern.