Safe Work Practices: Warehouses

These safe work practices offer essential health and safety information to help prevent injuries during daily tasks and assignments. By following these guidelines, you can create a safer work environment for yourself and others in your workplace.

These safe work practices are part of the College of Marins Injury and Illness Prevention Program and are required by Cal/OSHA. Employees shall follow these safe work practices while performing work activities at all times.

You are welcome to share your ideas to enhance or refine these safe work practices.

1. Be aware of your surroundings. Ensure you know where emergency exits are located. Read and understand safety signs. Be alert of potential hazards. Awareness is the first step of safety, hazards identified should be reported.
2. Box cutters, knives, and other cutting tools are potentially dangerous and should be handled with care. Always maintain a distance from oneself. First, slit the box's topside edges on both sides, then lift up and cut down the centerline. Be careful not to injure yourself or harm the materials inside. If the knife comes with a safety, keep it in place at all times. If the knife has a moveable blade, always keep it in the handle when not in use.
3. When moving a pallet jack maintain a safe amount of room to operate. Alert others who are in the pallet jack's vicinity and keep a safe distance. Do not make swift movements using the pallet jack or move it too fast as you can lose control and injury can occur.
4. When using dollies keep in mind the following safe work practices:
   1. Before loading the dolly, perform a visual check to make sure nothing is broken, loose or inoperable.
   2. Put heavier object on the bottom, balance the load to the center to prevent tipping.
   3. Ensure loads are low enough to see over. The best practice is to limit load height to a maximum of 5 feet.
   4. Push dollies rather than pulling them. Avoid walking backwards unless necessary.
   5. Yield at corners and doorways and always look for hazards when pushing.
   6. Never ride dollies.
5. When using ladders keep in mind the following safe work practices:
   1. Use the right ladder for the task. Ensure the ladder can support your weight. The ladder must be long enough to work from without using the top 3 rungs.
   2. Inspect the ladder before use. Look for damaged rungs, steps, or any other structural damage. Also check for any slippery material that can cause slips.
   3. In high-traffic locations, place a barricade around the ladder's base. Make sure to lock or block any neighboring doors that open towards you.
   4. Always maintain three points of contact when climbing. This means two hands and one foot or two feet and one hand. Face the ladder when climbing.
6. Only certified drivers may operate the forklift. Before operating a forklift, the driver should inspect it. If harmful conditions are discovered, notify your supervisor right away so that they can be repaired. Riders are not authorized on these vehicles.
7. Materials should be stored properly to avoid injury. The following are tips for proper storage:
   1. Stacking loads evenly and in straight columns.
   2. Placing heavier loads on the lowest and middle shelves.
   3. Remove one object at a time from shelves.
   4. Keep aisles and passageways around shelves clear and in good condition.
8. Employees should wear appropriate personal protective equipment when working in the warehouse. This includes steel-toe safety shoes, gloves, glasses, goggles, respirators, hard hats, dust masks, hearing protectors, knee pads and coveralls.