We're not telling you anything you don’t already know: Amazon is the undisputed leader in the online retail industry. According to this article, by the end of 2023, Amazon will have at least 355 large warehouses and sorting centers in the United States, totaling approximately 319 million square feet.
Considering the scale of Amazon’s warehouse and facilities, the operational management methods and warehouse security best practices allow this juggernaut to achieve the success it has today.
Amazon warehouses invest in worker health and safety
When you consider warehouse performance with expedited shipping options like Amazon Prime, safety in the workplace becomes top of mind. Aware that its employees are at the heart of its success, Amazon launched the WorkingWell program in 2021, part of the company's investment of more than $300 million in safety projects. With this initiative, the company aims to improve the safety of its warehouses — all while reducing the number of recorded incidents by 50% by 2025.
Like many managers, you are probably constantly looking for warehouse safety best practices to optimize your facilities. This article summarizes some of Amazon's top warehouse safety best practices that are both easy to implement and accessible. Read on to improve safety in your work environments, enhance employee well-being, and reduce the risk of accidents.
Safety Tip #1 | Make employee communication a priority (the key to Amazon warehouse safety)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Safety is everyone's business. To ensure that you are communicating better with your staff, take advantage of all communication channels to get your messages out:
- Visual reminders: A wide variety of free tools are available online. From forklift best practices to pallet rack safety, you can easily print and post posters like this free one on breakroom walls to create constant reminders to keep safety in mind and educate on recognizing safety issues.
- Warehouse floor markings: Floor markings delineating different areas provide effective cues for operators, forklift drivers, and all employees moving throughout your warehouse.
- Meetings and emails: Bringing up Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) topics in meetings or in an email will allow you to share warehouse safety best practices with many employees at once.
- Collect worker feedback: At an Amazon warehouse, managers get frequent feedback from their employees on what can be done to improve safety in the facility. They then make changes accordingly to improve workplace well-being.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
The more you reach out to your employees using different communication channels, the more successful you will be at increasing the adoption of workplace safety habits and warehouse safety best practices. Establishing a feedback loop will also help you better understand what's happening in the field, so you'll be more proactive in the measures you put in place.
Safety Tip #2 | Streamline Safety Processes (Like inside an Amazon warehouse)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Whenever possible, reduce security protocols to their simplest forms. Break them down into steps that are easy to remember and apply. It's better to have more simple protocols that are well understood than fewer long ones that are difficult to understand.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
The simpler your warehouse security protocols are, the easier they are to implement in your workplace. This will also help more employees remember and apply them. By providing your staff with the easiest way to implement good safety habits all day, you'll increase overall safety in your warehouse.
Safety Tip #3 | Provide your workers tools to enhance warehouse safety best practices (Like Amazon does)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Provide your workers with the right tools to elevate warehouse safety best practices:
- Downloadable checklists (often free) are a must for creating a safe work environment. For example, this pallet rack evaluation grid allows you to record deficiencies and makes it easy to follow up on repairs.
- Quality protective clothing and equipment are also important to optimize safety in the warehouse. For workers (steel-toed boots, safety glasses, etc.) or the environment (convex traffic mirrors, column guards, machinery, walkway guards, etc.), equipment helps protect your warehouse's most important assets: your employees, merchandise, and building.
- Like most industrial environments, nearly 40% of work-related injuries at an Amazon warehouse are classified as musculoskeletal disorders. This Occupational Health and Safety statistic has inspired important health and wellness initiatives across multiple settings, such as creating custom workstations using modular systems.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
When your employees are safe and healthy, they help you maximize operational warehouse performance. According to OSHA: "In its 2021 Workplace Safety Index, Liberty Mutual estimated that employers paid more than $1 billion per week for direct workers' compensation costs for disabling, nonfatal workplace injuries in 2018." Employees' physical protection will improve your chances of avoiding significant costs for rehabilitation and employee turnover.
Safety Tip #4 | Maintain well-organized and clean work areas to ensure warehouse safety (Good upkeeping is encouraged at Amazon)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Store your merchandise in an organized and safe manner, maintain your racking systems properly, post-load capacities on racks, protect high-risk areas, and keep floor spaces clean.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
Maintaining a clean work environment automatically improves warehouse safety by reducing the risk of accidents. In terms of efficiency, employees may waste time searching for tools or merchandise in a cluttered warehouse. In a well-organized warehouse, they will know exactly where to get the needed merchandise.
Safety Tip #5 | Continuously train and educate workers (In Amazon warehouses, employees are encouraged to take ownership of their workplace safety)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Provide opportunities to learn through training (for example, forklift safety or pallet racking safety training). At Amazon, Safety Campus has been implemented. This augmented reality program allows new employees to go on "hazard hunts" in a virtual facility to learn how to spot potential safety issues within a warehouse.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
Making your employees accountable for safety in the workplace will reduce the risk of incidents because the responsibility for safety will be shared across the entire workforce. It also lets you demonstrate to your employees that you care about their safety and well-being.
Safety Tip #6 | Implement a robust warehouse safety program (A strong Amazon safety principle)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Establish a warehouse safety program to monitor and manage potential hazards in your facilities effectively. Amazon's Safety Saves program aims to identify and address hazards before anyone gets hurt. Incidents and hazards are recorded using a handheld device and are immediately shared with all staff members. Rack safety as a service programs like this one, which focuses on pallet rack safety, can help you establish an effective warehouse safety program and facilitate maintenance.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
A warehouse safety program protects you from complacency, helps distribute maintenance and repair responsibilities among different employees, facilitates follow-ups and communications, increases employee involvement, and ultimately reduces the risk of accidents.
Safety Tip #7 | Use a third-party partner to accelerate best-practice adoption (Amazon relies on external safety experts)
Tip to improve workplace safety:
Because safety is multi-faceted and time-consuming, more and more warehouse safety managers are turning to outside experts. Health and safety specialists, ergonomic consultants, and pallet racking safety experts will help you establish a game plan to prevent and address issues in your warehouse. This will help you achieve a higher level of safety in your warehouse.
Safety benefits to your warehouse:
Getting an expert's perspective on warehouse safety in your workplace will give you a comprehensive and objective picture of where your company stands. You will also gain valuable advice based on your partner’s expertise and the opportunity to address critical issues or uncertainties with warehouse safety specialists.
Applying Amazon warehouse safety tips to your workplace
With Amazon's extensive warehouse network and commitment to employee safety, its strategies have propelled its success in the online retail industry. From prioritizing communication to streamlining security processes, providing tangible tools, maintaining cleanliness, promoting continuing education and training, implementing a robust safety program, and leveraging third-party expertise, these tips offer valuable insights to enhance safety in your warehouse environment.
Despite the size of Amazon's warehouses, many of the warehouse safety best practices implemented throughout their facilities remain accessible and easy to implement, regardless of the size of your company.
Enhanced safety in your work environments will improve the well-being of your employees, reduce the risk of accidents, and optimize your operations!
Sources
- cnbc.com: Amazon has a new plan to cut worker injuries by 50%.
- Amazon: Safety, Health, and Well-Being
- OSHA: Business Case for Safety and Health
