Question 1

What does a warehouse health and safety consultant do?

Accepted Answer

It starts with a site walk across the warehouse floor, the loading bays and the yard, which shows where each part of the site stands today, followed by a priority-ranked action list covering racking, lift trucks and traffic routes. After that your consultant keeps the risk assessments current, prepares the evidence and briefs you ahead of inspections, and runs training for the people who need it. Your business stays the duty holder. For an example from a transport and logistics operator, read the McLaughlan Transport case study.

Question 2

What health and safety law applies to a warehouse?

Accepted Answer

In Great Britain, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 sets the general duties, and regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. Specific regulations then cover the warehouse's main risks: the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 for traffic routes and floors, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 for the lifting parts of lift trucks, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 for the rest of each truck and for racking, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, and the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Question 3

How often does a forklift need a thorough examination?

Accepted Answer

At least every 12 months under regulation 9 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, or at least every 6 months for a truck used to lift people and for lifting accessories, unless a written examination scheme sets the intervals. A service is not a thorough examination, and each report has to be kept available until the next one is made or for two years, whichever is later.

Question 4

How often should pallet racking be inspected?

Accepted Answer

HSE's warehousing guidance, HSG76, sets out a person responsible for racking safety who makes sure visual inspections are carried out weekly or at other regular intervals based on risk assessment, and an expert inspection by a technically competent person at intervals of not more than 12 months. Any damage should be reported straight away. Racking is work equipment under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, which requires it to be maintained in an efficient state and in good repair.

Question 5

How do you separate pedestrians and forklifts in a warehouse?

Accepted Answer

Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires a workplace to be organised so that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate safely, with sufficient separation between them where they share a traffic route. In practice that means marked and physically separated walkways, crossing points where walkways meet truck routes, a one-way flow where the layout allows it, and rules for visiting drivers.

Question 6

Who can act as the competent person for a warehouse?

Accepted Answer

Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires you to appoint one or more competent persons, and where someone competent is already in your employment, regulation 7(8) of the same Regulations requires them to be appointed in preference to an outside person. An external consultant fills the role where nobody in the business has the competence, and can be appointed alongside your own competent person where they need more time or specialist support: regulation 7(3) of the same Regulations requires the people appointed to have adequate time and means.

Question 7

What do agency and temporary workers need before they start?

Accepted Answer

Temporary staff you hire directly are your employees, so regulation 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires health and safety training when they are recruited, and regulation 15 of the same Regulations requires you to tell anyone on a fixed-term contract, before they start, about any qualifications or skills the job needs and any health surveillance it requires. Agency workers must be given the same information on qualifications, skills and health surveillance, and the agency must be told about the features of the job that affect health and safety. Regulation 12(3) of the same Regulations requires anyone working on your site who is not your employee to be given instructions and information on the risks. HSE's warehousing guidance says the same standards that apply to permanent staff should apply to agency workers. Anyone driving a lift truck also needs training and written authorisation for the truck they will use.

Warehousing health and safety consultants for distribution and logistics sites

What a warehouse health and safety consultant looks at

Pedestrian and lift truck segregation

Racking damage and inspection

Loading bays

Agency and peak-season staff

What you should be able to show

What you get as a partner

Know exactly where you stand

Pass inspections without the scramble

Meet regulatory requirements

One named consultant, not a call centre

Two ways to work with Opus Safety

Software Only

Opus Safety Partnership

What non-compliance can cost a business

Everything your people need, from one team

Health and Safety

Occupational Health

Human Resources

Training

McLaughlan Transport

Frequently asked questions

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