The risk assessment of the warehouse of Greenbelt Homes Inc is being conducted to analyze the risk areas of the warehouse regarding its floor plan, layout, noise, heating, fire, and housekeeping. As the warehouse manager of GHI warehouse (GreenBelt Houses Inc, 2018), it is needed to follow the following steps for identification, and mitigation of the risks.
- For the identification of the potential hazards, it is needed to read the publications on health and safety at work to better recognize the areas of potential hazards.
- A thorough physical analysis of the warehouse would provide the opportunity of noting the activities which can pose a risk.
- Having a considerate conversation with the staff, union members (if any) on their concerns over health and safety would be fruitful as well.
- Meeting with the Supervisors would provide knowledge on the areas and jobs
- Past problems, accidents, and hazards should be thoroughly studied.
- After identification of each of the potential hazard points, it is needed to record the controls if any are in place and compare these with the standard practices
- Where the controls do not match the standard requirements, responsibility should be identified, and further action should be defined.
- Meeting with the Safety representative should be conducted to recommend the suggestions on findings and update the control system on an annual basis (Richards, 2011).
| Hazard Point | Who is exposed and how? | Current Control Mechanism | Further Update to Control System |
| Falls from Heights | Staff can suffer by falling while climbing the racking, changing bulbs, looking for repairing leaks, etc | Staff is directed at never climbing the racking; the forklift cage is used for changing bulbs; no controls are present for safeguarding for repairing leaks. | Training of workers for checking cage condition, and security; putting up “fragile” signs where needed, the contractor should be used for roof access, assessment of roof should be done before any work |
| Manual Handling of Cartons, flat pallets, etc | Back pain from carrying and lifting heavy objects | Conveyer system is used, lift trucks are used. However, a lot of manual handling is still done | Training in manual handling to workers. Risk assessment of all manual handling tasks. |
| Falling Objects | Injuries can occur if any worker is hit by a falling object | Racking is done as per the loads carried, reporting of racking damage is done, defective pallets are withdrawn, protective gloves and footwear are used | Signs should be used for maximum racking loads and its layout |
| Slips, Trips | Staff can slip from or on debris, liquid spilled | Dry flooring, good housekeeping standards, non-slip footwear is used | Absorbers for liquid spills should be made available, training of staff for dry and liquid spillage, extra bins to be provided |
| Stretch wrap machines | Staff using the machine can trap body parts while using it. | Standard palletized are wrapped. The emergency stop button is given, mechanical parts are maintained, the staff is trained, fixed guards on the moving parts is used | The machine area should be unobstructed; the machine area needs to be marked orange-red color, and a weekly inspection of the condition and guarding of machine |
| Portable equipment like kettle, heater, cleaner | Electrical shocks and burns can be induced in staff using these | Fixed installations and proper maintenance, inspected after five years | The six-monthly inspection should be done, fault reporting should be made immediately. |
| Fire | While trapped in a warehouse, staff can suffer from inhalation of smoke and burns | Fire resisting material is used in building designs, fire exits are marked and accessible, fire extinguishers are present, a fire alarm system is present, training and drill is conducted once a year, good housekeeping | Suggestion for the provision of the automatic closing of the roller shutter doors which are linked with the fire alarms should be given to the insurer |
(Health and Safety Executive, 2014)
These steps and recommendations show that the risk assessment of GHI warehouse can be improved and therefore it should be implemented as a priority. It will ensure that no potential hazard points are left open.
References
GreenBelt Houses Inc. (2018). GHI Departments. Retrieved from https://www.ghi.coop/content/ghi-departments
Health and Safety Executive. (2014, September 1). Example risk assessment for a warehouse. Retrieved from http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/casestudies/pdf/warehouse.pdf
Richards, G. (2011). Warehouse Management: A Complete Guide to Improving Efficiency and Minimizing Costs in the Modern Warehouse. London: Kogan Page Publishers
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