There are hazards around every corner when you work in a warehouse setting where materials are handled. Slips, trips, falls and material handling incidents can result in serious injuries. When your employees are at risk of being injured, your business is also at risk. This is why it is imperative that you have official policies in place to keep your business accident-free and to ensure that your employees are being as safe as possible on the job. If you are not sure what types of policies are appropriate to reduce the likelihood of a worker's compensation claim, here are four policies that you should enact.

Heavy Lifting Policies to Avoid Strains and Serious Injury

One of the leading causes of injury in warehouse settings is heavy lifting. In fact, 36 percent of workers who have missed work because of an injury did so because they did not know how to properly lift heavy materials. You should have smart lifting practices and policies enacted so that your employees are not as likely to miss work because they strained their back or they pulled something. You should have a maximum weight that employees can lift on their own and label items that require team lifts. You should also have training to show how to transfer items from pallets to equipment and what posture is correct to avoid injury.

Documenting Equipment Safety Policies and Enforcing Them

In a warehouse, it is very common for workers to cut corners to get their work done quickly. Rushing can result in dropped pallets, damaged merchandise, and injured employees. That is why anyone who is authorized to operate lift trucks and other specialty trucks found at material handling suppliers like ARPAC need to follow safety procedures. Training operators on how to safely operate the lift truck in small and narrow settings is actually required by OSHA. The policies must be documented and even further enforced by supervisors. If there are not consequences for failing to follow the policies, then the employees have no reason to do so.

Keep Work Areas Free of Clutter

If tools, boxes, and other equipment is strewn about the warehouse, it will create unnecessary tripping hazards. The last thing you want someone to do is trip over a small appliance while they are carrying a large box. Put policies on housekeeping in place to ensure that there is order all throughout the warehouse. You should also state in the policies that all spills are to be cleaned immediately.

Fire and CO2 Alarms

May industrial workplaces and warehouses will run a higher risk of gas poisoning and fire due to the products they contain and the machinery required to move and maintain them. To minimize the risk to employees and infrastructure, consider installing a security and monitoring system from Arpel Security Systems or a similar business in your particular locale. Security systems these days are very comprehensive and typically include gas and fire sensors as well as a direct line to police and rescue services.

Have a Safety Committee in Place

If your employees have concerns, you need to have associates that they can go to. A safety committee is a great step to implementing the policies and also to supervising employees. Be sure to ask employees who they want nominated so that they are open to going to the committee when they need.

Workplace accidents do not only hurt your loyal employees, they can hurt your business financially. Claims will result in higher premiums, slowed production and even in fines. Be sure that you make an effort to enact the right policies and you can prevent accidents and claims.