So Your Warehouse Has A Few Problems?

Maintaining a warehouse is no easy feat. It’s all about staying on top of supply and demand, remaining in good contact with the sales team, head office, and logistical teams around the company. So if you own a warehouse, run a warehouse company or rent a warehouse instead, this one’s for you. Problems such as stacking and racking are always prominent. You can bet your bottom dollar that sooner or later, things will get busy and you will begin to suffer from rack issues. You may also find that the health and safety of your warehouse is lacking, preventing employees from safely doing their job. Or you could find that your warehouse is breaking some kind of law but you just don’t know which exact one. Compliance is a major deal for warehouse storage. Here are some things you might be facing and here are some solutions.

Unsafe structure or design

Before the compliance inspectors come in and take a look at their horror and find you for something unsafe, it’s best to do this check by yourself. Go around the warehouse with a pen and paper, logging all the relevant issues. You should set your employees who will be doing this, into teams that take charge of certain kinds of health and safety risks.

• Team 1: this team will just cover the storage, i.e. racks, pallets and spaces where storage is being done on the floor only.
• Team 2: this team shall inspect the ceiling and other areas that hang over the heads of employees, such as awnings.
• Team 3: this team should inspect the outside, making sure that there is no violation of safety, space, and invading other private land.

What if you have violated a code?

A code violation could be any of the following.

• Unsafe structures. Maybe a hole in the ceiling, leaking walls or perhaps loading bays that do not have safety bollards.
• Expired permits. If you don’t have a permit to park in a certain area or perhaps tools and equipment that are no longer covered by the authorities, you need to renew your permit.
• Maybe your warehouse is committing a zoning issue, whereby it has overlapped into another private area. speak with a code violation repair expert about what changes you can make to avoid a penalty and legal action from the other relevant party.

Any of these code violations are liable to incur a fine which can also place a black mark against your reputation. So if you need to expand your warehouse in future, the authorities who give you the green light may reject your plans because they don’t trust you to stay within the limits. 

Lack of safety equipment storage

Most professional warehouse companies will have internally trained fire fighting staff. These are the response team that will try to control a fire until the firefighters arrive on the scene. They will have specialized training, specific equipment and access to the safety equipment around the warehouse. Usually, this responsibility is given to managers who will team up to fight a flood, fire or another kind of damage. 

But where do you store their equipment? They need a unique area which is preferably in the center of the warehouse but not in the way. You can do this by keeping special equipment underneath a rack that is padlocked and covered while in storage. This can also be a no-go area for employees who should be told not to access it or try to move it around. 

Lack of lighting

You’d be surprised at how many warehouses have poor visibility for their employees. The lighting is a major concern for any warehouse because it prevents accidents and even deaths from occurring. Lighting should exist in every layer of the racks. Pendant lighting from the ceiling should hang low enough to shine a light on the tops of racks but not low enough that they get in the way. 

Lighting should also be present at the loading bays so loading during the night is easy. The lighting should therefore be on the outside of the warehouse at the loading bays and internally where the employees are working.

Warehouses always take the brunt of any supply and demand surge. So keeping them out of the firing line and fully operating at all times, is so vital to your business success. Focus first on the healthy and safety design, the lighting, the code violation risks and emergency safety equipment storage space.