You may not think of the warehouse as a particularly hazardous place, but annual injury and fatality rates are rising, and the fatal injury rate for the warehousing industry is higher than the national average. Warehouse work is physically demanding, with workers constantly on their feet walking, bending, and lifting, and workloads can vary widely from day to day or even from hour to hour. Environmental factors, such as extreme temperatures, high noise levels, and poor lighting, can also affect workers’ health and safety.
With every activity in a warehouse covered by at least one Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, regulation, the wide variety of potential hazards can seem unavoidable.
Fortunately, there are a number of safe practices that you can follow to address each of these hazards and to ensure your safety while working in a warehouse.
You may not think of the warehouse as a particularly hazardous place, but annual injury and fatality rates are rising, and the fatal injury rate for the warehousing industry is higher than the national average. Warehouse work is physically demanding, with workers constantly on their feet walking, bending, and lifting, and workloads can vary widely from day to day or even from hour to hour. Environmental factors, such as extreme temperatures, high noise levels, and poor lighting, can also affect workers’ health and safety.
With every activity in a warehouse covered by at least one Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, regulation, the wide variety of potential hazards can seem unavoidable.
Fortunately, there are a number of safe practices that you can follow to address each of these hazards and to ensure your safety while working in a warehouse.
Tal vez no considere que el almacén sea un lugar especialmente peligroso, pero las tasas anuales de lesiones y fatalidades están en aumento, y la tasa de lesiones mortales para la industria de almacenaje es superior al promedio nacional. El trabajo de almacén es físicamente exigente, con trabajadores constantemente de pie caminando, inclinándose y levantando objetos, y las cargas de trabajo pueden variar considerablemente de un día a otro o incluso de una hora a otra. Los factores ambientales, como temperaturas extremas, niveles elevados de ruido e iluminación inadecuada, también pueden afectar la salud y seguridad de los trabajadores.
Dado que cada actividad en un almacén está regulada por al menos una normativa de la Administración de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional (OSHA), la amplia variedad de peligros potenciales puede parecer inevitable.
Afortunadamente, existen diversas prácticas seguras que puede seguir para hacer frente a cada uno de estos peligros y garantizar su seguridad mientras trabaja en un almacén.
