OSHA | Warehousing Insights | Material Handling Systems
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OSHA Safety Standards for Mezzanines & Platforms

November 9, 2017

mezzanine handrailing in a warehouse

We help clients with structural mezzanines and rack supported systems in a range of facilities.

Mezzanine options range from professionally manufactured to home-made to local fabrication shop to professional contractors. If you have a mezzanine or storage platform custom fabricated, you need to be sure your contractor is complying with OSHA & local safety regulations, particularly on guard railing, stairs and gates. If your fabricator doesn’t routinely work with mezzanines, this is something you’ll have to do on your own. The best policy is to look at established vendors if you don’t want to micro-manage the details of building permits, code compliance, and OSHA’s blessings. Here’s a breakdown of the handrail issues you might run into:

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Posted in Mezzanines & Industrial Platforms|

Digital OSHA Incident Reporting: Mandatory and Coming Soon

December 5, 2016

fall protection harness system in a warehouse

If you are a safety or EHS director, you probably knew this was coming: starting January 21, 2017 certain companies will be required to electronically submit their injury and illness data. This is data these companies should already be keeping, so the requirement isn’t so much about new record keeping as it is updated methodology.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

Interview: Proximity Detection for Forklift – Pedestrian Safety

June 1, 2016

ZoneSafe Pedestrian Safety System

Safety has always been important to warehousing and manufacturing, but in recent years, the emphasis has grown – and it’s no wonder.

The forklift has always been at or near the top of these concerns, due to its common use. There are nearly 900,000 forklifts in use in the United State. Forklift accidents are always in OSHA’s top ten  safety violations lists. But the reality is that despite the dangers they can present, forklifts are indispensable for material handling operations.

We sat down with Randall Chamberlain, assistant manager of Cisco-Eagle’s Safety Automation Group, to discuss some common questions involving ZoneSafe, a proximity detection technology that helps alert drivers that pedestrians are nearby as they do their work.

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Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|

Safety – A Manufacturing & Distribution Hot Button

November 3, 2015

ProMat 2015 Convention Floor

In manufacturing & distribution, safety is an area of top concern, for both the protection of workers and financial ramifications for companies. We spent some time at ProMat with Kelly Kamlager from Ladder Industries to examine the importance of safety and compliance for industrial companies.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

The Critical Importance of Conveyor Emergency Stops

September 11, 2012

e-stop on a conveyor system

Take a look at your conveyor – do you think it’s safe? Are there sufficient guardrails? Are operators wearing loose clothing? Are visitors allowed near running lines? Because conveyor seems safe at a glance, it’s an often-overlooked hazard. Used correctly, of course, it is a safe way to increase productivity.

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Posted in Conveyor Optimization|

Seeing Around Corners: The Danger Spots in Warehouses & Factories

August 28, 2012

pallet rack row end and forklift traffic

In an industrial environment, intersections can be dangerous. With fast-moving workers who are busy and probably distracted, and fast-moving forklifts that may have loads elevated that can obstruct the driver’s view, corners, ends of rack rows, and intersections can be the cause of many accidents. Whether it’s a worker walking and carrying a load, or a forklift on its way to the next pick, the chances of collisions, injuries, and damages are greater at intersections than most anywhere else. What are your options when it comes to making your intersections safer?

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Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|

OSHA, Whistleblowers, and Safety Bonuses

April 9, 2012

carrying cartons in a warehouse, wearing safety vest

OSHA has recently released a guide to safety incentives, disincentives, and reporting issues. It’s worth a quick read if you manage a manufacturing, warehousing, or industrial facility.

This document focuses on reporting/non-reporting workplace injury issues. OSHA says that “Reporting a work-related injury or illness is a core employee right, and retaliating against a worker for reporting an injury or illness is illegal discrimination under section 11(c).”  Of course, smart companies want to know if there are unsafe conditions or practices. But what if your safety rewards program is discouraging employees from reporting incidents, or even near-misses?

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

Forklift Safety: Don’t Blame the Driver

June 24, 2010

Forklift driver as seen from overhead in a warehouse. Forklift is in motion.

Most forklift accidents are blamed on operator error, but that is just partially true – and something of a cop-out. Rough estimates say that a quarter of forklift accidents could be avoided by addressing environmental concerns. When you eliminate those, it helps you understand better when a driver is truly ineffective, or just hamstrung by the way your warehouse is set up. In other words, before you point the finger at the driver, take a look at your operation. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|

Wire Pallet Rack Deck Capacities: What You Need to Know

August 17, 2008

pallet rack wire decking

Craig Chamberlain has an article over at the MHEDA Edge website that you need to read if you use pallet rack wire decking.

Here’s the money quote:

“Decking can, and often does, directly bear the total weight of the application’s load and transfers that load to the beams of the pallet rack. Regardless of the weight-bearing capacity of the rack’s beams, an improperly overrated deck can and will jeopardize the load-bearing capacity of the entire system and result in a failure.”

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Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|

How to Minimize Forklift Impacts on Pallet Racks

July 3, 2008

Pallet rack and forklift in a warehouse

Pallet racks take a beating over time. They get loaded with exceptionally heavy pallets, by exceptionally powerful lift trucks over and over throughout the course of years. Chances are that if you have pallet rack in your warehouse, it’ll get hit at some point. When it does, inspecting (and generally replacing) it is your best course of action. But what about avoiding that hit, or its dangerous aftermaths in the first place?

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Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|

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