Warehouse safety is a big concern for everyone working in a facility, from the plant managers to the floor personnel and everyone in between. And while there’s plenty of information out there about how to keep your employees and materials safe from injury or harm, we’ve compiled a few tips that might get overlooked or aren’t as well-known among workers:

Practice Careful Stacking

A sadly common source of accidents is due to improper stacking of materials. Different methods of stacking are best used for items of varying shapes, such as block stacking which keeps items in a cube shape (often fastened together with zipties or shrink wrap), or brick stacking which turns subsequent items 90 degrees while being stacked to prevent accidental falls. Irregularly-shaped items could be stacked with a sheet of plywood between them to add additional support

Install Safety Panels

While many similar safety methods exist for keeping people from getting hurt on exposed machinery or anything similar, not a lot of warehouse managers know that you can get safety panels for racks and shelving too. Pallet rack safety guards can be installed in the front of pallet racks to prevent any products from accidentally sliding off and injuring someone or damaging the items contained within.

Check for Unwelcome Guests

Particularly in cold months, disused corners or any area that doesn’t get a lot of traffic or daylight could become home to small animals like rodents. Make sure to check underneath anything that doesn’t get moved very often and try to clean around anything that remains stationary or doesn’t get as much usage as other equipment to make sure you don’t have any guests that could create safety hazards with their nests, or might accidentally chew through some sensitive cables.

Use Visual Cues

Safety signage is crucial in any warehouse, but installing visual indicators around stacking and storage areas could help to prevent accidents and make sure everything stays in its place. Use floor marking tape to mark aisleways and walkways to prevent accidental obstructions, and mark the maximum height of a pile or shelving unit as a visual reminder to prevent over-stacking of an area.