For obvious reasons, safety is top of mind right now, even more than usual. While much of the current focus is understandably on individual safety, it is important to not lose sight of the big picture when it comes to your warehouse and forklift safety programs.
Many warehouse and supply chain managers do a good job of taking a holistic approach with the supply chain while emphasizing the important role each person plays in keeping product moving. If you want to build and maintain a strong safety culture, it would be wise to take a similar approach—one that holistically considers every aspect of safety while stressing the role of the individual.
A fragmented or inconsistent approach to safety is inadequate when applied to today’s dynamic, fast-moving warehouses. Just as safety-related incidents can have multiple causes, a successful safety program should include multiple contributors to forklift safety.
What is required is an integrated and holistic approach to safety that may be best achieved by working closely with your forklift provider. A forklift equipment supplier can share best practices gained from broad industry experience and help bring a consistent focus to safety management, with recommendations that enable you to better integrate the components of a holistic program. These components include:
- Equipment design that takes an operator-centric approach;
- Training that extends beyond forklift operators;
- Connectivity that provides more visibility and awareness;
- Optimization that is informed by data analytics; and
- Compliance management that controls access and automates processes.
Crown Equipment has worked closely with companies of all sizes to implement and maintain safety programs that integrate all five of these components to varying degrees as they best fit the organization and its applications.
Based on our experience, the companies that are most successful at maintaining a strong safety culture are those that take this holistic, integrated approach and individualize it with a unifying message that stresses the important role everyone plays in maintaining a safe work environment.
Regardless of an employee’s role in an organization, each person has a responsibility to their family, coworkers, and employer to consider safety in their daily decision-making process and do their part to ensure a safe working environment.
Whether it’s operating forklifts correctly, properly completing pre-shift inspections, or exercising social distancing within the workspace, it starts with the right mindset that produces safe behaviors.
By bringing together safer, more ergonomic forklifts, operator and fleet management software, comprehensive training, and safety-focused service programs, an integrated safety management program can drive measurable improvements in key safety metrics. Taking that approach one step further by personalizing the message empowers individuals and further strengthens your overall safety culture.
For more information on forklift safety and integrated safety management, visit the new Safety and Support display in the Crown Virtual Trade Show, where, among other content, you can follow the introduction of each of the five chapters of our new e-book, “An Integrated Approach to Forklift Safety.”
Submitted by Crown Equipment Corporation, www.crown.com
