The cold and wet winter weather can be extremely hazardous in warehouses, leading to an increase in slips and falls. However, this doesn’t have to have a significant impact on your business. There are measures that you can put in place to improve safety levels and prevent your employees having unnecessary accidents.
Understand the Risk
Whatever sector you operate in, it’s imperative that you assess the risks that exist in your workplace. This will enable you to understand what additional practices you need to implement and make your employees more aware of the risks.
When conducting a risk assessment, it’s useful to work from the exterior areas first and then move inside. At each stage you should make a note of the specific risks. This will enable you to put together a plan for the different seasons so that everyone knows how the weather can impact on safety. The Health and Safety Executive’s Slip Potential Model and Trip Potential Triangles highlight the factors that could be responsible for accidents in the workplace.
Implementing a Plan
Once you’ve identified the problems and assessed how the risks can be mitigated, you need to put the plan into action. In winter this will need to include how you prevent accidents in snowy and icy conditions. It can be beneficial to cover over walkways to stop ice forming or snow building up. Equipment for removing snow and ice should be readily available at this time of year, and employees should know where it’s located.
Effective Maintenance
One of the biggest causes of slips and falls is poorly maintained warehouses. If your space has had its day then looking to a new location could be key like the ones with a Warehouse Space London company and this can be found at sites similar to http://uplands-e17.co.uk. It’s vital that walkways and floors are kept clear of obstructions and remain clean and dry.
Look Up
Employees working outside warehouses can be put at risk by ice and snow falling from roofs. After a heavy snowfall or significant cold spell, this should be removed from roofs as soon as possible.
Keep Up Inspections
Even when you’ve carried out a comprehensive risk assessment and implemented additional safety measures, you need to keep up the inspections. Problems can arise throughout the winter, and the sooner you’re aware of these, the better prepared you can be.