If you run a warehouse as part of your business operations, it’s important to make sure it is a safe working environment for your employees. While staff training on how to use equipment and conduct themselves in a warehouse setting is critical to this, investing in the right tools to help you manage your warehouse is equally important. To make the lives of your warehouse teams easier and help them stay protected, you should introduce the following equipment if you don’t have it in place already.
P.P.E
Personal protective equipment (P.P.E) are attire items that can help keep individuals safe in certain environments. In a warehouse setting, you will want your staff to wear hard hats to protect them from any items that could potentially fall from shelving units. Safety goggles can also be beneficial, and High-vis jackets can help everyone be visible. Safety boots are also a must. Gloves and even earplugs can help protect your team members. You should encourage staff to have P.P.E that they can take home with them, but you should also provide spare P.P.E in case someone forgets theirs or you have new starters who might not have anything to bring into work with them.
Conveyor Systems
There are various forms of machinery you can use to help you move heavy boxes and other items around the warehouse, and conveyor systems are an example of this. They will play an important role in helping to reduce potential injury from heavy lifting. They can also help you move things at greater speeds, which can make your packing and unpacking processes more efficient. See these conveyor belts as excellent examples of what is on offer.
Docking Equipment
When your warehouse is receiving deliveries or sending them out, you will need to use the docking area to load trucks and other vehicles full of products. While this process might seem straightforward, it can be very hazardous if you don’t follow the right procedures or use the correct equipment. In this area of your warehouse, you will need things like dock boards and plates, dock bumpers, truck restraints, dock levelers, and dock lifts. This will make the process of loading and unloading trucks much easier and safer for your teams.
Fork Lifts, Carts, and Dollies
Forklifts are probably one of the first things to come to mind when you are thinking about warehouse equipment, and they are fantastic for moving heavy loads to different areas. Anyone using a forklift must have been trained to use this machinery correctly, and anyone who has not past their tests should not operate them. Using carts and dollies can also help you move things around your warehouse more safely and with ease. Keep in mind the kind of lifting equipment you will use will depend a lot on your inventory and the size of your operations, too, so do some further research first to make sure you’re getting the most suitable items for your business.
If you do run a warehouse and you want to make operations safer and more efficient for your staff, don’t forget these essentials.