Warehouse Safety Archives

Winter Safety Tips for Warehouse Workers

Our Electric Trailer Dolly Operates in Snow

Safety is a year-round priority in warehouses, but injury risks increase during the winter, when snow and cold weather create additional challenges. Our trailer dolly can help you successfully transport materials in any conditions. Here are some other helpful tips to keep your employees safe and injury-free in winter weather.

1. Clear walkways and truck yards.

The simple act of walking becomes treacherous when surfaces are covered with snow and ice. Walkways, truck yards, and any outdoor places where employees travel should be cleared as often as necessary. Salt is commonly used on icy surfaces, but it can damage concrete in the long run. Other options include sand, rubbing alcohol, wood chips, straw, and even kitty litter.

2. Dress appropriately.

Clothing is a first line of defense against cold temperatures. Pay particular attention to protecting vulnerable extremities with hats, gloves, thick socks, and boots. Encourage employees to dress in layers that are easy to adjust as they move from indoors to outdoors and back again.

3. Don’t forget to hydrate.

Drinking water is a no-brainer when the sun’s out, but hydration is equally important in winter. Regular intake of water combats fatigue and keeps the mind alert. Consider providing reusable bottles for your workers so they can always have water on hand.

4. Do regular stretching exercises.

Cold temperatures cause muscles to tighten up, setting the stage for debilitating strains. Instruct your workers in basic stretching techniques that are easy to incorporate during the workday.

5. Keep floors dry.

It doesn’t take long before water from snow and ice outdoors gets tracked indoors. Make sure that warehouse floors are mopped and dried frequently to prevent slips and falls. Any problem areas should be clearly marked and blocked off if needed.

6. Train employees.

Enlist workers to take a proactive approach toward their own safety with training programs focusing on the seasonal dangers of winter.

Our Trailer Dolly Is a Year-Round Safety Solution

The trailer dolly from DJ Products is just one option in our full line of material handling equipment. Call 800.686.2651 to learn more from our friendly and experienced Sales Engineers.

Why Embrace a Culture of Safety in Your Warehouse

Improving Warehouse Safety

Warehouses are filled with equipment and situations that can easily lead to injuries or accidents. However, there are ways to make this type of work environment safer. Choosing better equipment, such as a trailer dolly, and encouraging safety awareness are just a couple of ways to reduce the risk of workplace injuries. Find out more about the importance of promoting a culture of safety in your warehouse.

Increased Productivity

Making changes to increase safety leads to higher productivity. With a lower risk of injuries and accidents, employees can focus on doing their jobs. There’s also a lower chance of downtime when you have safer equipment, which also helps boost productivity levels in your warehouse.

Improved Efficiency

A safer workplace results in better efficiency. Having the right equipment can help ensure that tasks are completed more efficiently while also keeping the risk of accidents lower overall. This allows workers to get more done in a shorter timeframe.

Higher Employee Satisfaction

Taking steps to provide workers with a safe environment helps improve employee morale. Workers who are satisfied with their jobs are much less likely to leave or take extra time off. This helps maintain productivity levels and reduces the risk of high turnover rates.

Reduced Costs

Creating a culture of safety in your warehouse helps keep certain costs down. Workers’ compensation, the cost to recruit and train new employees frequently, decreased productivity, increased downtime, and other costs can add up when you have an unsafe work environment.

How to Provide a Safer Work Environment

Making sure employees are trained on safety issues can go a long way toward ensuring a safer environment. Keep workers up-to-date on safety training as needed. Providing protective equipment and making sure workers know how to use it is also important. Using equipment that boosts safety also helps. Motorized trailer dollies, for example, can help eliminate the need for forklifts and other types of equipment that are linked to a higher risk of accidents.

If you’re looking for a trailer dolly to help increase warehouse safety, please contact DJ Products. Our experts can help you choose the right solutions for a safe workplace environment.

Top Warehouse Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Warehouse Safety Can Be Improved With a Trailer Dolly

Warehouses can put workers at risk of being injured in several ways. Knowing more about some of the more common warehouse injuries can help warehouse owners take steps to prevent them from happening. From using a motorized trailer dolly instead of a forklift to making sure workers use protective equipment, keep the following in mind to improve warehouse safety.

Forklift Injuries

These industrial trucks are used to move pallets and other objects around warehouses and distribution centers. Forklift accidents and injuries can occur if these vehicles are operated incorrectly or when warehouse environments are set up in an unsafe way. Ensuring proper training for forklift operators, clearing obstructions in warehouses, and switching to trailer dollies are all ways to lower the risk of having forklift injuries occur. Keep in mind that forklift injuries can occur inside warehouses or on loading docks.

Slips and Falls

Warehouse workers can become seriously injured from falling on slippery floors or falling from heights. This can lead to fractures, head injuries, and other severe injuries. Having workers use protective equipment, marking slippery surfaces with signs, and making sure workers use ladders safely can help prevent fall injuries in warehouses.

Overexertion Injuries

Workers in a warehouse environment might put too much strain on their muscles and other parts of their body while lifting or moving items around. This can result in torn or strained muscles, injuries to connective tissue, sprains, and other injuries. Workers should know how to properly lift and carry objects around in order to reduce the risk of overexertion injuries.

Falling Objects

Having items stacked in an unsafe manner, such as being too high and unstable, can cause them to fall from shelves or other areas. This can lead to neck and head injuries if objects, especially heavy items, land on workers. Making sure products are stored and stacked as safely as possible can help prevent these kinds of injuries from occurring.

Looking for the right trailer dolly for your warehouse? Contact DJ Products to learn more about our products. We can assist you in finding the best motorized dolly to help keep workers safe on the job.

OSHA’s Essential Safety Tips for Forklifts and Powered Industrial Movers

OSHA’s Top Safety Tips

Powered industrial movers, like our electric Trailer Dolly, help warehouse workers perform necessary work tasks safely and efficiently. What else can you do to reduce injury risk? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers some great safety tips you can implement in your workplace.

Storage and Handling

- Conduct regular inspection of shelves and racks, looking for areas of weakness. Any damaged areas should be isolated immediately until they can be repaired.
- Store heavier loads on lower shelves and racks. Make sure maximum load capacities are observed without exception.
- Stack loose and unboxed materials carefully to prevent falling.
- Don’t allow stored materials to extend past the edge of shelves, creating possible obstructions to workers and material handling equipment.
- Install rack upright guards to protect from accidental forklift contact.
- Perform ongoing maintenance to keep warehouse aisles free of cases, pallets and other obstructions.

Conveyors

- Have a regular inspection schedule so problem areas are discovered promptly.
- Install adequate safeguards on all pinch points. Make sure lighting is sufficient and work surfaces are level.
- Have procedures in place to lock conveyors out in case of accidents or malfunctions. Train all employees on what to do during an emergency.

Material Handling Equipment

- Perform all scheduled inspections and maintenance on pallet jacks and forklifts to ensure proper performance.
- Make sure all areas where material handling equipment is used are clearly marked. Mark boundaries for proper clearance.
- Keep elevators and hoists free of obstructions. Install appropriate signals and directional warning signs.
- Instruct workers to keep aisles clear of stray boxes, trash and other obstructions.
- Keep floors clean and well-maintained. Repair any ruts, bumps, holes or other hazards that cause workers to use excessive force in transporting materials. These damages can also result in vibrations and shocks when using driven equipment.

The Trailer Dolly from DJ Products

Our eco-friendly Trailer Dolly is battery-powered, eliminating the time and money spent on maintenance for gas-powered industrial movers. DJ Products offers a full line of electric movers, pushers and tugs for any application. Contact us and let our Sales Engineers help you find the solution that’s right for your business.

What is Amazon’s Plan to Reduce Warehouse Worker Injuries by 50%?

Warehouse Safety

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warehouses and storage facilities have by far the highest injury rate of any industry. As the world’s largest online retailer and marketplace, what is Amazon doing to improve safety for their workers? Our Sales Engineers at DJ Products, makers of the eco-friendly trailer dolly, take a look at Amazon’s recent activities and policy changes.

Amazon Invests in Employee Safety

In 2019, Amazon launched WorkingWell, a program designed to offer a number of wellness services to their workers. WorkingWell was implemented at 350 sites across North America and Europe, covering a total of 859,000 employees.

Despite this measure, Amazon’s continued growth has triggered extensive criticism about working conditions. Last year, in an effort to address these complaints, Amazon rolled out WorkingWell to their U.S. operations across the board. They also announced an ambitious goal to reduce recorded incident rates of worker injury and illness by 50 percent as of 2025. Overall, the company invested $300 millon in various safety projects during the year.

How Is Amazon Reducing Their Injury Rate?

Musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, are a primary focus of these initiatives. MSDs make up approximately 40 percent of work-related injuries reported at Amazon. Many of them, such as sprains and strains due to repetitive motions, are associated with new employees.

John Dony, senior director at the National Safety Council, compared the situation to baseball coaches training pitchers in mechanics to help prevent risk of repetitive-motion injuries. In fact, Amazon has hired many certified athletic trainers to work as injury prevention specialists, providing one-on-one employee coaching and assisting with workstation ergonomics.

Other steps being taken by Amazon include:

- Daily meetings, called “Health & Safety Huddles,” to watch short interactive videos
- Hourly prompts asking employees to complete brief mental and physical exercises
- Addition of dedicated onsite wellness spaces
- Increased availability of healthy food options

Reduce Injury Risk with the Trailer Dolly from DJ Products

Are you doing enough to reduce the injury rate in your warehouse or storage facility? Contact us at 800.686.2651 to learn more about our material handling solutions from our friendly and helpful Sales Engineers.

What are Warehouse Ergonomics and How Can They Reduce Injuries?

Trailer Dolly for Better Ergonomics

You’re probably familiar with the term “ergonomics,” but how much do you know about actually applying these principles in your warehouse? Our experts share tips on how use of our trailer dolly and other ergonomic techniques can reduce injuries among your warehouse workers.

Ergonomic Best Practices for Warehouse Tasks

In general, warehouse tasks fall within three broad categories. Here’s a look at each one, including the risks involved and ergonomic methods to minimize them.

Placing and Picking

Placing and picking usually refers to handling items that go on shelves or in bins, often while filling orders. The repetitive motions and body postures involved can cause undue strain, especially with heavy objects.

Train workers to align themselves with the item’s location so they don’t have to twist their spine.
Use proper lifting techniques, with the majority of work taking place between shoulder and knee height.

Packing

Once items are picked, they’re ready to be packed for shipment. The stress of repetitive motion comes into play here as well, along with the stress of moving heavy boxes, crates and pallets.

Emphasize maintenance of a neutral posture. Neck and back should be straight, shoulders down, elbows held at a right angle.
Use carts, conveyors and roller tables whenever possible to cut down on the excessive need to carry items.

Receiving and Shipping

In addition to moving pallets, receiving and shipping calls for maneuvering semi-trailers in and out of loading docks, doubling the risk of injury.

Pallet jacks and other mechanical tools allow for smooth transport of pallets without forcing workers to handle most of the weight.
Our trailer dolly lets a single worker move a wide variety of trailers, up to semi-trailers quickly and effortlessly, even in crowded warehouse yards.

Reduce Workplace Injuries with the Trailer Dolly from DJ Products

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, musculoskeletal injuries are twice as common in warehousing as they are in other industries. DJ Products offers a full line of tugs, pushers and movers to protect employees from injury and maintain a safer workplace.

Contact us at 800.686.2651 and let our knowledgeable Sales Engineers help you find the right solution for your specific application.

Do You Know These Warehouse Safety Tips?

Warehouse Safety Tips

Warehouse workers face risks of injuries when they operate equipment, pull heavy loads, and perform other tasks. Maintaining a safe workplace environment in your warehouse should be a top priority in order to protect your employees. Consider the use of a trailer dolly or warehouse tug to prevent injuries. The following warehouse safety tips can help you provide a safe working environment for your staff.

Keep PPE Available at All Times

Personal protective equipment for workers should always be available in your warehouse. Your workers should also be aware of when to use PPE and how to use it properly. The use of PPE helps reduce the risk of injuries in your warehouse.

Hold Safety Equipment Training Sessions

Having safety equipment in your warehouse isn’t enough to guarantee that it will be used correctly. Schedule training sessions to make sure that your workers know how to operate or use safety equipment correctly. A trailer dolly is easy to operate and does not need intensive training. From time to time, hold retraining sessions or refresher courses.

Teach Vehicle Awareness to All Staff

Office staff and staff in other areas of your facility need to be trained on vehicle awareness as well. This helps cut down on accidents that can happen when these employees are on the warehouse floor instead of in their office.

Create an Efficient and Safe Layout

Your warehouse floor should have a layout that reduces the risk of collisions or accidents when forklift trucks or other vehicles are being operated. Make changes to your current layout as needed in order to keep workers walking on the floor from being in or near the path of vehicles.

Put in Physical Barriers

If you don’t have barriers already, consider installing them in your warehouse. Physical barriers, such as guard rails, help separate vehicles lanes or areas from areas where workers walk around. These barriers can help lower the risk of accidents in your warehouse.

Install Sensors and Other Visual Barriers

Sensors and other kinds of visual barriers can serve as another layer of protection for warehouse employees. These barriers might alert forklift operators or other vehicle operators to the presence of workers walking in certain areas.

For more warehouse safety tips and to find solutions that help improve safety in your facility, visit DJ Products. We are highlighting the Trailer Dolly this week. Ask us for a video demo or more information today.

Five Key Warehouse Safety Facts

Warehouse Safety Facts

Providing a safe environment for workers in your warehouse is essential. Reducing the risk of injuries and accidents in your warehouse keeps employees safe from harm while also boosting productivity. The following warehouse safety facts can help you better understand the importance of ensuring the safest environment possible. Consider a trailer dolly to stop injury when moving heavy loads.

Overturned Forklift Trucks Cause the Most Fatalities

Forklift trucks are often used in warehouses to move pallets and other large objects around. These trucks can tip or overturn, leading to potentially fatal injuries. In fact, overturned forklift trucks are the most common incident resulting in fatalities. Over 40 percent of fatalities are caused by these trucks overturning.

U.S. Warehouses Have Fewer Than 30 Fatalities Each Year

Regulations on worker safety have made it possible for warehouse owners to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries in these facilities. Even with more and more warehouses being built in recent years, the number of fatalities has remained stable. Warehouses in the U.S. have fewer than 30 fatalities per year.

Warehouse Injuries Cost Over $84 Million a Week

The cost of warehouse injuries, which includes medical bills, equipment damage, replacement staff training, and production time loss, adds up quickly. One of the most notable warehouse safety facts is that injuries in these facilities in the U.S. cost more than $84 million a week.

Warehouse Staff Numbers Have Doubled in the Last Decade

Warehouse safety becomes more and more important as the number of workers in these facilities increases. In fact, the number of warehouse staff has doubled during the last decade and is expected to reach close to 2 million by 2030. With more warehouse workers, it’s crucial for owners to ensure warehouse safety.

Forklifts Cause 90 Percent of Pallet Rack Failure

While forklifts are commonly used for moving goods around warehouses, they can lead to pallet rack failure. Collisions with these trucks is one of the top reasons that failure occurs. The way forklift trucks move makes them more likely to hit pallet racks.

Having the right equipment for moving large items around is an effective way to ensure warehouse safety. Visit DJ Products to learn more about the solutions we offer. Our highlighted product this week is the versatile Trailer Dolly. Find out more today.

Warehouse Injuries Statistics for 2021 – Amazon is a Dangerous Place to Work

Warehouse Safety

Not surprisingly, warehouse workplace injuries are a frequent occurrence. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, freight, stock and material movers are second only to healthcare workers in the number of incident-related days away from work.

Many companies take steps to protect employees with stronger on-site safety protocols. But a recent report indicates this may not be the case at one of the country’s largest employers.

Amazon: A Question of Safety

The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) is a coalition of four major labor unions that represent more than four million workers. In their published report, based on 2021 data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), SOC turned the spotlight on Amazon’s questionable safety record.

Incredibly, while Amazon employs only one-third of warehouse workers, they accounted for 49 percent of warehouse injuries. Total injuries amounted to nearly 40,000, which is a 20 percent jump over Amazon’s 2020 injury rate.

How do Amazon’s numbers compare to the rest of the industry? The overall rate of serious injuries is 3.3 per 100 workers, which is nearly doubled by Amazon’s rate of 6.8 injuries per 100 workers. In addition, Amazon’s general injury rate of 7.7 per 100 workers far surpasses the industry average of 4.0 injuries per 100 workers.

Carpal tunnel, back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders comprise the bulk of the injuries. These are usually caused by repetitive motions that put undue strain on workers’ bodies.

Seeking Relief

Ironically, Amazon has proudly proclaimed its goal to become “Earth’s Safest Place to Work.” Authors of the report point to Amazon’s rigid quotas and “obsession with speed” as primary factors contributing to Amazon’s poor safety record.

For their part, Amazon workers have been campaigning to unionize the facilities, driven in part by unacceptable working conditions. Another motivation? As workplace injuries were on the rise, so were company profits, by approximately the same rate.

Protect Employees from Warehouse Workplace Injuries

Our eco-friendly tugs, movers and pushers are easy to use and reduce the physical strain of workplace activities. Contact DJ Products at 800.686.2651 or use our handy online chat feature and let our Sales Engineers help you find the right solution for your application.

How to Encourage a Culture of Safety in Your Warehouse in 2019

Encourage a Culture of Safety

Keeping your warehouse safe is always at the top of your mind. Maybe you’ve just gone through dealing with an employee accident, or perhaps you want to prevent it from happening at all. Either way, we have some helpful tips that can make it a lot easier.

Cultivating a Culture of Safety

Your team will only take safety seriously if you do. You need to be their leader because if it’s important to you, they will make it important to them. This is just the beginning of creating a culture of safety in your workplace. There is more that can be done as well.

Employing Observational Safety

Even though safety is really important, trying to convey this to your entire group of employees might not be effective. It’s usually best to start by training a smaller group to observe the practices of the warehouse. They can be your eyes and ears, and if something isn’t right, they can bring it to your attention, or even correct it right then and there.

Opting for Tugger Carts and Other Equipment to Enhance Safety

If you do begin to utilize observational safety practices, you may notice that many of your employees are struggling as they work. A lot of warehouses don’t have the proper equipment to allow their workers to do their jobs and avoid injuries. At DJ Products, we see this all the time, which is why we want to help.

We specialize in tugger carts, dumpster movers and trailer caddys to assist businesses like yours in keeping their workers safe from injuries. If you haven’t considered equipment like this before now, we would love to talk with you about its benefits. Please contact us right away for help.