Warehouse safety management: a guide to getting started

Warehouse safety management is the planned approach to protecting workers, visitors and equipment across receiving, storage and dispatch. It rests on clear procedures, trained people, well-maintained equipment and a traffic plan that keeps pedestrians away from vehicles. The biggest risks come from forklifts and other vehicles moving among people, manual handling, falls from racking and loads, unguarded machinery and stored chemicals.

Traffic is usually the best place to start. Forklifts, delivery trucks and people share the same space, and contact between a vehicle and a person is one of the most serious risks in a warehouse. If you get the traffic right, you remove a large share of that risk.

What are the main hazards in a warehouse?

• Vehicles and pedestrians. Forklifts, pallet jacks and trucks can hit people, tip over or drop loads.
• Manual handling. Picking, lifting, stacking and carrying cause back and shoulder injuries, especially when volumes rise.
• Slips, trips and falls. Clutter, spills, cables and pallets left in walkways are common causes.
• Falls from height. Work on racking, order pickers and mezzanines needs proper access and fall controls.
• Loading and unloading. Trucks move, loads shift and people work close to dock edges.
• Machinery. Conveyors, compressors, cranes and balers can cause crush and entanglement injuries if they're unguarded or left energised.
• Chemicals. Stored products need correct labelling, separation and access to an SDS.

Who is responsible?

The person conducting the business or undertaking (PCBU) has the primary duty of care under section 19 of the WHS Act. That duty covers the warehouse operation and the traffic in it. In practice, the PCBU must:

• provide information, training, instruction and supervision to workers;
• make sure workers understand the traffic rules and the site's procedures;
• supervise people and check that procedures are being followed;
• act on unsafe behaviour and investigate vehicle incidents to stop them happening again;
• keep traffic routes and traffic controls in good order; and
• identify hazards and put controls in place.

Visitors and customers also have a part to play. They should take reasonable care of their own safety and not put others at risk, and the warehouse should keep them away from vehicle areas.

Anyone who drives a forklift or other load-shifting equipment must be trained and hold any licence the equipment requires. Many forklifts need a high risk work licence. Check the requirements for each machine, and keep the records.

How do you manage warehouse traffic?

Work through the hierarchy of controls. First, ask whether vehicles need to be in the pedestrian area at all. If they don't, remove them. If they do, separate people from vehicles. Only then rely on rules, signs and warnings.

When a forklift and a pedestrian must share an area, plan for it. Designate a route for each, mark it on the floor and keep loads low and within the edges of the pallet. Use a spotter for reversing into tight bays, and clear the area before moving a load.

Write a traffic management plan

A traffic management plan (TMP) sets out how movement is controlled for a site or a specific activity. It should be tailored to your building, your traffic and your work, not copied from another site. A warehouse TMP should cover:

• how vehicles, people and equipment move around the site;
• the designated paths for pedestrians, vehicles and mobile plant;
• where traffic signals, signs and barriers are placed;
• how traffic is controlled during an emergency;
• how you'll monitor whether the plan is working; and
• who is responsible for each part of it.

Review the plan whenever the layout, the volume of traffic, the equipment or the controls change, or after an incident. These are the same kinds of triggers that require a review of control measures under regulation 38 of the WHS Regulations.

For a starting point, the workplace traffic management plan and warehouse traffic management plan checklist cover the core items. Our guide to traffic control plans and traffic management plans explains the difference between the two.

Other documents for a warehouse

A traffic plan is one part of the system. Most warehouses also need:

• A risk assessment for each area and activity, including the warehouse traffic risk assessment form.
• SOPs for loading, unloading, forklift operation and pallet handling. The warehouse SOP is a starting point.
• A SWMS for high-risk tasks where one is required. The forklift SWMS shows the format.
• A plant and equipment register, with inspection and maintenance records for forklifts, racking and conveyors.
• An induction checklist for every worker, including visitors who enter vehicle areas.
• An emergency response plan that covers fire evacuation, medical emergencies and communication.

Make sure these documents are where the workers need them, not only in the office. A forklift driver should be able to find the traffic rules at the start of a shift.

For the hazards in more detail, see our guide to mobile plant safety, and our note on lockout and tagout for machinery and conveyors.

Common questions

Do all forklift drivers need a licence? Many do. Check which licence each machine requires, confirm the driver holds it, and keep a record. Drivers also need site-specific training.

Should pedestrians and forklifts be separated? Yes, wherever it's practicable. Physical separation is more reliable than warnings, so use barriers, separate doors and marked walkways first.

How often should the traffic management plan be reviewed? Review it when the layout, the traffic or the equipment changes, after an incident, or when a worker raises a concern. Don't wait for an annual date.

Do visitors need an induction? Yes, if they enter an area where vehicles or machinery operate. Give visitors a short briefing, escort them where needed and keep them out of no-go zones.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current law with your WHS regulator.