In the large multi-building facility that I once worked it became a habit for leads and supervisors to use Cushman style carts to go from building to building and around the campus. The facility was huge, with the main building almost 990,000 square feet. As the hourly employees got used to the supervisors and leads using the carts, they decided why “why should I walk all the way over there”. Since the carts were off limits to unauthorized associates, the floor personnel realized there was occasionally an extra forklift sitting around. It became very convenient for the floor personnel to “borrow” a lift to “run up front” or “run to the other building”. As this lax attitude developed, the managers failed to enforce the policy that stated only licensed drivers could use the forklifts.

One warm summer evening, an inventory control associate had to go to one of the smaller buildings on the campus to perform an audit. So instead of walking like the other auditors, he decided he would just grab a forklift and drive to the other building. When he arrived at the location he noticed a few of his buddies from the receiving crew. He decided to stop and chat for a moment. He pulled up beside one of the receiving crew members. When he did the receiving crew member started screaming. It turns out the unauthorized rookie driver had ran over the toes of the receiving crew member. The forklift caught the tip of the toes and SPLAT the tips burst open like zits. The receiving crew member was rushed to the hospital where he sat in the waiting room bleeding for five hours. It turns out that bleeding toes are not as “critical” as a guy having a heart attack. The receiving crew member was placed on light duty for several weeks. This caused the company to have a lot of paperwork, an OSHA recordable, and to fire the Auditor.

It may seem wrong to have fired the auditor, but a corporate safety investigation turned up the fact that he was an unauthorized operator. Even though the policy had not been enforced the site manager was made to enforce company policy. The auditor picked up his bad habit by watching others. The lax enforcement of safety policy once again caused injury and hardship to associates.

It is the responsibility of managers to create a sense of obligation to all team members to observe safety policies. Without enforcement the policies do not protect anyone. As the managers instill the safety messages into frontline supervisors, the supervisors will then carry this safety message to the floor personnel. Without compliance at all levels, the safety policies aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. Your company MUST make safety a priority, not just to prevent OSHA recordables, not to save insurance premiums, but to have the best mindset that a team can have.

So here is a fine example of an experienced operator agreeing with a manager that “we don’t need to rent a special lift, we can use this forklift. I am a good operator and can do it, no problem”. Anyone doing this is a liability to your company and themselves. Anyone suggesting it is a liability to your company and your associates. Please note there are two people on the orange lift in the air. Bottom left of the picture is a person watching. These pluse the operator make four people in danger of bodily harm. Safety is no joke. Emplyees like this are a liability. This type of action must be prevented from the top of the management ladder all the way down.

Most people do not think of housekeeping as a safety issue. I totally disagree and have a good example for you to discuss. In a busy warehouse it is easy to have the mentality that “we have to get these orders done, so we will clean up later”. A few years ago this very mindset caused a young lady to wind up with a cracked tailbone. Could the injury have been prevented? Let us talk through the circumstances and see.

 Jill was a receiving clerk on a very busy warehouse receiving dock. Her manager was concerned about getting behind because his superiors felt he had enough staff. The receiving team did a great job of cleaning up, At the END of the shift. This is where the problem started. As the habit formed of cleaning at the end, the associates became less aware of the mess on the dock.

 One common source of trash and debris was oversize cartons. Each carton had small parts inside of a large carton. Each large carton was on a pallet. Each pallet was wrapped and banded. The banding had to be cut to open the cartons. It had become a habit, for everyone, to cut the bands and “clean it up later”. Since everyone had been accustomed to walking around and over these bands, just like all of the other debris, no one felt it necessary to clean up the mess. Everyone was guilty, but felt they were doing a good job. The supervisor even commented how good of a job everyone did daily cleaning up at the end of the shift.

 This nice Autumn day, it was exceptionally busy due to the upcoming holiday season. Everyone on the dock was working briskly. Then out of no where Jill stepped on one of the bands and slipped. She landed right on her tailbone. As tends to happen, someone a few feet away started to laugh. One of her other co-workers rushed over to help. The person laughing thought it was funny and then out of nowhere Jill yells, “You Think it is funny, butt I fell on my butt and it hurts”. Her supervisor came and checked on her. Jill really was in pain and he followed process and sent her to the doctor.

 An accident investigation was conducted. The safety team determined that the debris littering the dock heavily contributed to the accident. It was noted that good housekeeping practices would have removed the trip and fall type obstacle that was present. In addition, the doctor confirmed Jill had cracked her tailbone. She missed a week of work. This incident caused her pain, caused the company to incur an OSHA recordable, caused a workman’s comprehensive insurance claim, and caused the supervisor to be reprimanded for poor housekeeping practices.

 Safety/Housekeeping Suggestion: I have had a lot of success with housekeeping. If you instill into associates the need for good housekeeping they usually respond well. If you give them better tools, they respond even better. There are two types of general associates in warehouses, for this suggestion: Forklift Drivers and Floor Personnel. Forklift Drivers should be taught to clean as they go and utilize the trash cans located throughout the warehouse, preferably a can is located at the end of each aisle. Floor Personnel should each have a rolling trash can or a cart with a trash bag hanging from it. I have found by requiring them to have this mobile trash can/cart that they tend to utilize it very well. It reduces the trash on the floor and helps maintain a safe work environment.

The lift operator, Joe (names have been changed for privacy), was loading a trailer using a dock stocker (sometimes called a Standup CounterBalance lift). When he began loading he engaged the dock lock which made the light green inside showing it was safe to enter. He engaged the dock plate and began loading. When the trailer was nearly full someone walking down the dock decided to help Joe out while he was away from the dock and called the trailer in to be moved. When the trailer as called in to the yard driver. The guy who called the trailer in made sure he unlocked the trailer from the dock and dropped the dock plate. It was great of him to be helpful, EXCEPT this was outside of process.

When Joe came back he noticed his almost full trailer still had room for three pallets. He re-engaged the dock plate and started to drive into the trailer. Did you notice I left out a step? Joe, in his haste, forgot to make sure he pushed the button to lock the trailer back to the dock. So as Joe went into the trailer, the yard drive hooked to the same trailer as he had been instructed. He looked in his mirror and had a green light. He then pulled the trailer from the dock AS JOE WAS ENTERING IT. Joe followed his instincts and jumped from his lift as the trailer shifted. When he jumped he twisted his knee causing a minor knee injury, This minor injury required months of therapy. His lift hit the dock plate on its way to the ground. The hit caused the body of the lift to be damaged beyond financially feasible repair.

An incident investigation was conducted. The investigators determined there were several issues. First and foremost, the operator failed to engage the dock lock when he re-engaged the dock plate. Operator failure was cited as the major safety issue. The person walking down the dock who was being helpful was counseled for failing to follow procedures. Only the operator loading the trailer was authorized to remove dock plate, in this facility. 

Joe the operator was very lucky he didn’t have a more serious injury. The company suffered the destruction of a piece of equipment and two good employees received counseling for failing to follow procedures. This talking point is another real world example of the kind of safety issues that can arise when people forget safety is everyones job.

In the large multi-building facility that I once worked it became a habit for leads and supervisors to use Cushman style carts to go from building to building and around the campus. The facility was huge, with the main building almost 990,000 square feet. As the hourly employees got used to the supervisors and leads using the carts, they decided why “why should I walk all the way over there”. Since the carts were off limits to unauthorized associates, the floor personnel realized there was occasionally an extra forklift sitting around. It became very convenient for the floor personnel to “borrow” a lift to “run up front” or “run to the other building”. As this lax attitude developed, the managers failed to enforce the policy that stated only licensed drivers could use the forklifts.

One warm summer evening, an inventory control associate had to go to one of the smaller buildings on the campus to perform an audit. So instead of walking like the other auditors, he decided he would just grab a forklift and drive to the other building. When he arrived at the location he noticed a few of his buddies from the receiving crew. He decided to stop and chat for a moment. He pulled up beside one of the receiving crew members. When he did the receiving crew member started screaming. It turns out the unauthorized rookie driver had ran over the toes of the receiving crew member. The forklift caught the tip of the toes and SPLAT the tips burst open like zits. The receiving crew member was rushed to the hospital where he sat in the waiting room bleeding for five hours. It turns out that bleeding toes are not as “critical” as a guy having a heart attack. The receiving crew member was placed on light duty for several weeks. This caused the company to have a lot of paperwork, an OSHA recordable, and to fire the Auditor.

It may seem wrong to have fired the auditor, but a corporate safety investigation turned up the fact that he was an unauthorized operator. Even though the policy had not been enforced the site manager was made to enforce company policy. The auditor picked up his bad habit by watching others. The lax enforcement of safety policy once again caused injury and hardship to associates.

It is the responsibility of managers to create a sense of obligation to all team members to observe safety policies. Without enforcement the policies do not protect anyone. As the managers instill the safety messages into frontline supervisors, the supervisors will then carry this safety message to the floor personnel. Without compliance at all levels, the safety policies aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. Your company MUST make safety a priority, not just to prevent OSHA recordables, not to save insurance premiums, but to have the best mindset that a team can have.

            The issue begins with the attitude, followed by poor practices by the battery technician. The battery technicians would change the batteries, but were not in the habit of making sure the battery cables were pushed fully within the body of the lift. When operators would notice the loose cables, they would just ignore the danger. The prevailing attitude was “so what, it isn’t my problem”.

            One evening, an operator was loading a trailer. As he got near the end of the trailer he got to close to the wall. When he scrapped the wall with his lift, the loose cable got damaged. The scraping action sheared the skin off of the cables. The wires became exposed and started arcing. The resulting electrical arcing caused a wire to weld itself to the body of the lift and created a small fire. The fire was put out and the lift had to be moved off of the wall to break the electric circuit.

            The incident had several results. The battery itself was a total loss.  The lift had smoke damage. A thumb thick wire was welded to the body of the lift and had to be cut. Through extreme luck the operator was not injured. A review of the equipment indicates the operator could have easily received an electrical burn or shock had he touched the body of the lift before the circuit was broken.

            The accident investigation found that both operator and battery technicians carelessness contributed to the incident. Ultimately, the operator was found negligent and received counseling. The operator was sent for the mandatory drug and alcohol screening. The operator was not allowed to operate equipment until he had been sent for recertification. The entire staff of the facility received refresher training on loose wires. The management raised the level of accountability for pre-shift inspection.

            As a talking point, you should insure your staff understands the risk to operator and equipment from loose wires and to less than serious attitudes towards pre-shift inspections