In the manufacturing industry, safety is essential for the wellbeing of your employees and your company. Sometimes safety procedures are overlooked due to insufficient time and money, but heavy machinery, moving vehicles and busy workers are ingredients for a warehouse disaster. Warehouse injuries can result in loss of workers and decrease in production, not to mention they can cost your company money. According to the National Safety Council, the average direct cost of a worker injury to a company is $38,000 and another $150,000 in indirect costs. So what can you do to to prevent this from happening in your warehouse?
Here are four easy ways you can encourage safety in your warehouse and avoid workplace injuries:
1. Provide Adequate Employee Training
Even the most skilled and experienced workers possess the ability to make mistakes, although the occasion may be rare. As an employer, do your part to decrease the margin for error by providing extensive training for all employees. Make the trainings mandatory and engaging by varying the training method. Use non-standard trainings like face-to-face and interactive trainings, that differ from the video trainings which can become monotonous over time. Try to think outside of the box to grab attention. Providing more detailed and recurring trainings for every job duty will help prevent injuries and accidents from happening in the warehouse.
2. Keep it Clean
An untidy warehouse is a breeding ground for the potential injuries. Make sure your workplace is clean and organized to avoid accidents. For example, a cluttered or wet shop floor could lead to slips and falls. Inform your employees that a certain level of cleanliness is expected from them as well so that everyone does their part to contribute to a clean workspace. Keep them accountable by providing a cleaning checklist for their station. Give employees 5 minutes at the end of each shift to clean their workspace so the next person can come in and use it right away. Consider holding a weekly or monthly competition among employees and award the employee with a prize, such as a gift card.
3. Provide Proper Equipment
It is your responsibility to make sure all employees are equipped with proper safety gear in the workplace. For example, if steel toe boots are required and an employee shows up to work without them, then they should be sent back home for their own safety. It is also important to make sure all machines and equipment are running properly and serviced regularly. This will help avoid mechanical errors that could result in injury.
4. Hire Top-Performing Talent
To minimize accidents in the workplace, make sure you’re hiring the best employees for the job. To do so, think about raising your starting wage, or enlisting the help of a staffing company. Don’t make the mistake of hiring just anyone to quickly fill the position. Compromising on quality may lead to more accidents on the job.
Partnering with a staffing company will save you time as the staffing company takes on all recruiting tasks such as background checks, skills tests and pre-interview screenings. For extra efficiency, choose an industry-specific staffing company, like Alliance Technical Solutions, where skilled manufacturing positions are staffed daily.
Safety should always be #1 in the manufacturing business. Follow these guidelines for a clean and accident-free warehouse and avoid decrease in production and potential loss of money for your company.
