Warehouse risk assessment
A warehouse risk assessment should follow goods and people from yard arrival through unloading, storage, picking and dispatch. Workplace vehicles, reversing, pedestrians, loading bays, unstable racking or stock, manual handling, conveyors, falls and fire create interacting risks. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require safe traffic routes, while PUWER, LOLER and other rules apply to equipment and lifting. Observe a busy operating period, including agency staff and visiting drivers, because an empty-warehouse walk misses the critical interfaces. Physically separate people from vehicles wherever possible, display and enforce racking load limits, protect uprights and quarantine damage. Assign clear ownership for daily checks and ensure changes in stock profile or picking method trigger reassessment before layouts are improvised.
- ✓Hazards and controls drawn from HSE guidance
- ✓Scored 5x5 risk matrix
- ✓Editable Word and PDF
In short
A risk assessment identifies what could cause harm in your work, who could be harmed and how, and what you do to control the risk. Every employer must make a suitable and sufficient assessment; with five or more employees the significant findings must be recorded.
What it must include
- ✓The hazards in the activity or workplace
- ✓Who might be harmed and how
- ✓Existing controls and further action needed
- ✓Risk rating (e.g. 5x5 likelihood x severity)
- ✓Who does what by when
- ✓Review date and when to review sooner
You stay the duty holder: review the document for your site before work starts. SitePaper is a drafting tool, not a consultancy.