Safety in the Warehouse

All warehouses contain different types of goods, materials and equipment, which operate in different ways too. Safety meetings must be conducted focusing on Occupational Health & Safety standards and regulations. This helps refresh the knowledge the workers gained from their Safety Training and reinforces the safety of workers in the warehouse.

Here are some of the topics to be discussed:


Heavy Lifting Equipment/Driven Machinery

Such equipment includes Fokrlifts, lift trucks, motorized hand trucks, cranes, etc. It is important to ensure that all operators are legally trained and licenced and are aware of the safe operations of the equipment and of the people working around them.


Material Handling and Storage

All workers need to be trained on the safe handling and storage of goods and materials within the warehouse. If the mwarehouse makes use of any hazardous/dangerous materials, all workers handling and transporting such goods needs to be legally trained and licenced as well as made aware of procedures in cases of emergency.


Walking and Working Areas 

Warehouses run a high risk of having debris/obstructions in walkways within storage areas. It is therefore important to ensure that housekeeping policies are put in place and that all workers are trained on and adhere to such policies.


Personal Protective Equipment

Warehouse Safety Meetings is the perfect time to review the regulations for personal protective equipment and to ensure that each worker has the necessary equipment to protect his body. Any damaged or worn-down PPE should be replaced immediately. Make sure all workers know how, when and where to use the correct PPE as required, as well as when return PPE for replacement.


If you have identified any training requirements within your warehouse based on the topics discussed above and require a quote or further assistance, feel free to contact one of our Client Service Agents by calling 086 100 7742 or emailing skills@srg.co.za.

5 Key Elements of Training Employees on Safety

Workplace safety policies are not only designed to ensure that your company complies with national laws, but also allow employees to perform their jobs in a stable work environment. When you train employees on safety, there are five key elements that you should always cover.

PROCEDURES

When your employees know what procedures to follow in an emergency, they can act efficiently to prevent injury and property damage.

Procedures to include would be:

• Procedures for reporting potential safety violations;
• Phone numbers to call in an emergency;
• Different safety signs;
• Emergency alarms & how to respond to them.

EVACUATION

If a building needs to be evacuated in any case of emergency, it puts all employee lives at risk. It is therefore important to focus a little more attention on Building Evacuation.

Each department needs to be trained on its escape route out of the building, how to respond when an evacuation is called for and what process to follow once outside the building.

Remember to designate a safe Emergency Meeting Point outside the building and to develop policies to account for all employees once the building has been evacuated.

IDENTIFICATION

Workplace safety involves any activity that runs the risk of bringing harm to employees. Sexual harassment, physical intimidation, suspicious activity from visitors & fellow employees, verbal & substance abuse are all elements of workplace safety that employees should be familiar with and be able to identify.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

All employees need to understand their personal responsibility to workplace safety as well as the group's responsibility. Each employee should keep his/her work area free from obstructions that can cause accidents. When an employee sees obstructions in the hallway that can cause safety issues, they should either clear the obstructions if they are able to do so safely, or report the obstruction to their manager.

IMPACT

Highlight the importance of workplace safety by emphasizing the impact of time-lost accidents on the company. Show employees how much time-lost accidents cost the company in financial terms in the past, and how those losses affected the company's ability to give raises or hire new employees. This is an important aspect of employee safety training because it helps employees put safety into context of their own financial gain and the future stability of the company.


According to the Occupational Health & Safety Act and  Regulations, there needs to be specific Safety training in place to ensure that you are compliant. For more information and assistance with this, call one of our helpful Client Service Agents on 086 100 7742 or e-mail on skills@srg.co.za.

It's July!

A little motivational from our Training Division Manager, Dalwyn Diesel-Reynolds:

It has been said, that at the brink of death, one’s life flashes before their eyes. Kids, parents, childhood, choices, and work will be all that comforts you when your spirit checks out for the last time.

We, as human beings trying to survive in this world, spend so much time focused on the present, and the future, that we forget to reflect on the past. Neglecting life’s hard little teachings taught to us when we made calculated errors in judgment and choice.

Can any one of us truly say, “ok, I’ve done all I’ve wanted to do and achieved the best I could’ve done! Now lay me to rest"

We base our decisions on what we need now, rather than what will best tomorrow. Choosing to eat those delicious chocolates today, but cursing that decision when the belt had to be loosened for the ever widening waist line.

No one ever thinks of that day, but that day will come. When we will face our past again, stare it straight the face, and await it’s judgment.

How would you react?

A shake of the hand and a pat on the shoulder, with “Well done friend, we did it!” or would it be greeted with a shameful stare to the ground, with a “I’m so sorry, I wish I had another chance!”

Take a second to let that marinade in your thoughts a bit.

Now, right now, we all sit with the good and bad choices we’ve made, the happiness and sorrow we’ve been given and discovered.

And there’s nothing to do with it other than to reflect and learn.

Self-pity and depression must end, and optimism and positivity must take over.

We all sit at different places in the paths of our lives, but right now, all of us have come together in the twist and turns of life’s journeys.

It falls upon us, and only us, to make a success of what we have before us. To form a bond and friendship in the light of a single goal.

To take what we have been given, and make it blossom in the memories of our soon to be past and the ever so charming future.

To work together in unity and excellence, so that one day we can lift our fingers into the air and say, “I was a part of that group!”.

That group everyone will remember as being the best of the best. The group who prided itself as they walked victoriously down the road to success.

The group everyone will whisper to each other in awe and amasement...

the Skills Resource Group.