A proactive approach to safety

The Safer Logistics Seminar Theatre and Feature Area will be one of five focus areas at The Health and Safety Event, which takes place at the NEC from 24-26 March 2015.

The aim of ‘Safer Logistics’ is to encourage managers in the supply chain to take a proactive approach to safety. This is an easy thing to say, but difficult to put into practice and sustain. It can only be achieved when management takes the initiative.

Paper company Colombier Group was recently prosecuted by the HSE after pallets on its premises fell injuring an employee.

What is shocking is that management was made aware of the danger numerous times (for example, pallets falling without hitting anyone) but nothing was done about it.

This complacency is at the root of many such incidents in logistics. Solutions and practices to counter specific risks are typically readily available. It is just that they are not always consistently applied.

This is why we are asking warehouse and logistics managers (and health and safety managers) to encourage a healthy work culture where staff feel they can challenge practices they regard as unsafe. No matter who you are in the management structure or workforce, take responsibility for safety, don’t assume someone else has taken care of it.

It is vital to push home the message that poor health & safety practices have no place in the modern logistics world. The truth is that many jobs in warehousing and logistics, such as forklift operator, are repetitive. They are not easy to manage safely. That is why a sustained management effort is needed.

For several examples of how this can be achieved I would encourage you to read this article on the Fork Lift Truck Association’s Safety Conference.

It should give you heart to hear that major companies like GKN, JCB and Briggs Equipment are going through an often strenuous learning process regards health and safety. No one has it perfect, but working together, we can manage the best we can.

That’s why we see the HSS Safer Logistics Campaign and the seminar area at the Health & Safety Event as important opportunities for managers to learn and to reach out to partners that can help them improve the safety of their operations.