In warehouses, where materials are often stacked on shelves that are almost as high as the ceilings, employees will often have to use scissor lifts, mobile scaffolds and cherry pickers to access items. These employees will usually be provided with height safety products. Here are two important instructions warehouse owners should give their employees who use this equipment.

They should instruct them to use this equipment for both quick and lengthy periods of working at a height

One vital instruction that all warehouse owners should give their staff members who work at heights is to use their height safety gear, not only on occasions when they need to work at a height for an extended period but also for times when they may only need to be up on the scissor lift or scaffold for a few minutes. When a person only needs to, for example, quickly grab one item from a high shelf and expects this process to only take a minute or so, they might be tempted to skip putting on their hard hat or harness, simply because this will add several extra minutes to this task.

However, whilst the risk of falling is usually higher when a person is working at a height for a long time, they could still fall, even if they only spend, for example, 30 seconds on an elevated cherry picker. If an employee falls off their access equipment whilst trying to quickly pick up an item from a high shelf, and they're not wearing anything that will prevent them from falling (such as a harness and lanyard) or that will protect their head if they do fall (like a hard hat), then they could be badly injured. As such, warehouse owners must emphasise to their employees the importance of using their height safety equipment, no matter how much time they need to spend working at a height.

They should advise them to check their safety equipment in good lighting before putting it on

When warehouse employees are trained on how to use their height safety equipment, they will usually be advised to check it prior to using it when working in elevated locations. However, one additional instruction that all warehouse owners should give to their employees is to perform this check in good lighting. In a warehouse, where the tall shelving units may cast shadows on the areas around them, this might be challenging and might require employees to, for example, leave the area where their access equipment is located so that they can find better lighting.

To learn more about height safety products, reach out to an industrial supply company.