The pandemic has disrupted business in all industries, leading to the need to reassess and implement a series of emergency rules, procedures and requirements. For many business leaders, this is a wake-up call to reveal the quality and level of their emergency preparedness. One year later, especially the warehouse is still dealing with labor shortages, safety precautions and other disaster-related interruptions, which may affect normal warehouse operations.
All of this happens at the same time. At this time, uninterrupted warehouse management is essential to maintain the normal operation of the supply chain, ensure business viability, and serve the community. Although we are not out of the predicament, things look more positive. As life begins to return to normal, the warehouse management team can take a few simple steps to reassess and implement new emergency preparedness protocols to prevent future setbacks.
For warehouses and distribution centers across the country, safety is a top priority—perhaps more important than most other workplaces. Due to the nature of the job, it is standard practice to formulate rules and regulations to prevent machinery or vehicle accidents and educate workers on how to best prevent injuries. However, no facility is truly safe unless a comprehensive emergency evacuation plan is developed.
No one likes to think about the worst-case scenario, but as we have seen in the past year, this is critical to your livelihood and the health and safety of your employees. When sitting down to develop an emergency preparedness plan, it is important to first identify possible disasters. This will depend on the type of business you work in and where your warehouse is located. OSHA recommends brainstorming for emergencies.
Disasters are unexpected in nature, so it is important to be creative, not only to foresee common emergencies such as warehouse fires, but also to foresee less obvious sources of disasters. Involving all employees can be the difference between panic and crisis. If you don't know what will happen, you will not be ready when it happens.
Are you close to the route of transporting hazardous materials? What happens if a toxic substance leaks? Are you in the area where the hurricane occurred? flood? earthquake?
Are you ready to deal with potential warehouse-related incidents? What would you do if there was an electrical fire or accidental explosion? Unfortunately, we live in a world where you need to consider the possibility that someone may enter your workplace and threaten violence.
No matter how big your business is, it is important to solve the "what if" question. As the Red Cross said: “Developing an emergency preparedness plan is one of the most important strategic decisions you make as a small business owner.”
Any workplace should have a contingency plan tailored to different possible disasters. Certain situations may require a safe assembly in the facility, such as a tornado, while a warehouse fire requires evacuation to a safe area outside.
When it comes to disasters, if you and your employees are not well-trained, there is no chance to respond appropriately. In addition, poorly prepared employees may make the disaster worse. They may cause unnecessary property damage, and surrounding communities may also be affected by lack of preparation. Therefore, when planning warehouse security, including emergency preparedness is crucial.
Before any problems arise, a clear chain of emergency command should always be established. Each department should have designated leaders and backup personnel to be responsible for gathering employees to appropriate places. The assembly location should be known and agreed in advance. After arriving at the scheduled location, each section chief needs to count the number of people.
Every employee should be trained and tested on emergency plans for evacuation of buildings. The warehouse manager should keep multiple copies of these plans throughout the facility and should always remind employees where they need to go and what they need to do. Before emergency rescuers allow them to do so, workers should never be allowed to return to evacuated buildings or leave designated safe areas. Administrators should develop a clear plan to contact these officials at the first signs of a threat or disaster.
The most important thing is that emergency preparedness is not a "one-time-for-all" plan. Focus on re-examining these procedures, especially if you work in a warehouse with high employee or seasonal employee turnover. The important thing is to re-examine, re-evaluate and make sure that everyone knows what to do and where to go in different emergencies.
Your work environment is always changing. Different types of potential emergencies can occur at different times of the year. Evaluate your emergency plan frequently and make changes as needed. Several workers should join a working group focused on emergency preparedness. The possibilities that can go wrong are endless. In order to prepare all your employees for emergency, please periodically rotate emergency awareness at safe times. This can be as simple as asking each employee to determine where the closest fire extinguisher is. This helps keep employees' emergency awareness.
In order to redouble our efforts and conduct emergency drills regularly, everyone should take these drills as real. And, just like the real thing, it’s important to surprise your employees with these drills on a regular basis. The more realistic they are, the better. In places where you cannot simulate the environment—such as the smoke and heat of a fire—remind people of what the scene might look like. For example, in a fire, visibility may be poor and breathing may be difficult. Incorporate some unexpected situations into your drill and let your team figure out how to deal with them.
The exercise is also a good time to test alarm systems such as alarm systems and PA systems. The staff needs to know what your alarm system sounds like. It is also important for all employees to understand the entire building. Walk around the space with your staff regularly and point out the safety features of the entire space. Where is the emergency exit? Fire extinguisher? Automatic external defibrillator (AED) kit?
This brings us to the point of ensuring that the physical warehouse space is also ready. Keeping employees safe in an emergency is a top priority, but companies also need to consider other factors. Important documents and information should be kept in a fire-proof lock box or other safe container to withstand any type of disaster from floods to earthquakes. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration pointed out that all workers should fill out an emergency contact form, which should be kept in a digital file and can be accessed from any location in case someone is missing after an evacuation.
If it is necessary to manually shut down warehouse operations during the evacuation process, it is important to know in advance which employees will perform the necessary duties. It is currently difficult to make these decisions, so it is important to develop procedures in advance. Most conversations about warehouse safety focus on common workplace safety issues, such as preventing trips and falls or using tools correctly. But what if disaster strikes?
The following preventive measures should be implemented in all workplaces:
However, in addition to the basics, several people in the workforce should contribute to the creation of agreements that apply to the specific disaster possibilities of your warehouse.
Develop a risk management plan
Risk management and mitigation plans should be a continuous process involving continuous updates in response to changes in technology, manpower, product classification, and markets. Of course, certain emergencies often bring unique risks, as is the case with the COVID-19 outbreak. Warehouse management should make use of existing agreements and procedures, and should review and update plans with all responsible parties through a teleconference platform. Topics to consider include:
It may require investment to ensure that your warehouse’s emergency preparedness is regularly updated, but the security and peace of mind that it brings to protect your business and team is priceless.
Gabe Grifoni is the CEO and co-founder of Rufus Labs.
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