Large warehouses offer jobs to thousands of employees across multiple shifts. The high demand for low-priced products delivered within minimal time keeps these facilities busy.
Unfortunately, not all warehouses put safety as the top priority, leading to a higher number of injuries among employees. Despite some companies’ efforts to reduce injuries, several factors continue to contribute to the elevated occurrences.
High-speed expectations
Large warehouses utilize robotic machinery to speed up production. However, these increased speeds force employees to work faster, too. Combining high production speeds with employee quotas and company production tracking practices often results in employees experiencing repetitive stress injuries.
Modified safety procedures
To keep up with the high-speed production lines, enforcement of safety practices is not always a priority in these warehouses. Supervisors may encourage workers to bypass or uninstall safety devices designed for their protection and skip breaks to keep up with the high output. The poor practices result in more injuries requiring longer recovery times than other warehouses.
Improper training of new staff
A high turnover of employees means that these warehouses have a continual stream of inexperienced personnel. These new employees require training on the proper work techniques to prevent injuries. However, to keep up with the high production schedules, some supervisors do not provide adequate training to new employees and instead put them to work as soon as possible. This practice puts new employees at higher risk for injuries.
Some warehouses make fast output a higher priority than employee wellness. Despite improving safety in these facilities, employees may always be at risk in order to keep profits high.