Tagging and checklists

Many think the only way to achieve increased efficiencies and safety is to invest in new premises or equipment but the cost to do so are often beyond reach. So if the money is not there to invest, what else can be done to improve the warehousing environment? 

Keeping a warehouse running smoothly and fully operational means keeping equipment in good repair. Too often we read about an employee being injured following a forklift accident. Many of us will have seen YouTube videos of a racking collapse and the carnage it leaves behind. Likewise there are numerous HSE reports of musculoskeletal injuries resulting from poor lifting techniques - easily avoided by using a pallet truck instead of carrying heavy items. 

PUWER (Provision & Use of Workplace Equipment Regulations) specifies the need for annual thorough examinations of forklifts, racking etc to ensure they are safe for use. While equipment may pass with flying colours, it could the very next day be involved in a collision/incident that goes unreported. Without visual checks, such incidents have the potential to go unnoticed for the next 12 months (assuming that thorough examination periods are indeed followed) whilst the damage gradually worsens and the repair bill increases. 

Visual and pre-use checks enable competent personnel to carry out in-house inspections to help identify potential issues before they develop into costly ones. However too often, systems are put into place and checklists provided, only to be left under the forklift seat or in a office desk and only completed and back-filled when they are due to be handed in at the end of the month. 

Retaining records of inspections are also a useful audit trail in the event of an incident - providing any investigating officer with strong evidence that equipment checks are robust and accurate - reducing the likelihood of it being an equipment failure rather than human error. 

Goodtogosafety.co.uk offers a range of equipment tagging and checklist systems designed to cover all the bases. The tag is attached to equipment and displays a "Do Not Use" message until such time that an inspection is carried out. The checklist is then placed inside the tag to display the date and status of the findings to identify to everyone if the equipment is Good to Go. A duplicate copy is retained for management records. 

The system is totally flexible to meet the needs of the company - allowing the frequency of inspection to be defined by your risk assessment - in a busy, high traffic warehouse the frequency of racking inspection may be higher than in a smaller pedestrianised warehouse. Whether it be daily, weekly, monthly or ad-hoc the system adapts to meet your requirements.