Warehousing Distribution & Storage

Causes of accidents

The main causes of accidents in warehousing and storage are:

Slips and trips

Slip and trip accidents are a serious problem in warehousing and storage and can happen anywhere. They are often seen as trivial and ‘just one of those things’, but most slip and trip accidents can be avoided.

Manual handling

People suffer from work-related aches and pains in the warehousing and storage industry, including problems such as lower back pain and neck pain.
If there is a risk from a manual handling task, try to avoid the task first. If the task cannot be avoided, the risk of injury occurring must be minimised

* Images from HSE

Work at height

Any work at height, including maintenance work undertaken for you by a contractor,must be properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe way.
Avoid work at height if you can, but if it cannot be avoided, select the correct equipment for the task.

People can fall from stepladders or ladders. Where they are used you must be able to show that it is not reasonably practicable to select alternative, safer equipment because the task is low risk and short duration.