Safety checklists can add value

Posted: 4/5/2007

Distribution center managers are eager to provide a safe work environment for their employees. However, many lack a dedicated Environmental Health & Safety employee to manage the daily safety and compliance process.

One of the easiest ways to heighten the safety awareness in a distribution center is to establish a thorough monthly safety inspection checklist that can be shared with all employees.

The distribution center managers that I have encountered in my career are genuinely concerned about the safety of their employees. But they often become so focused on the day-to-day process of running the center that they can’t always dedicate the time and resources necessary to cultivate a safe work environment.

Developing a monthly safety checklist that is managed by the facility’s safety committee, not the manager, is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support safety efforts. 

The checklist should include items that are related to environmental, property insurance and, of course, safety issues. It doesn’t matter if these items are categorized as such, just as long as they are all addressed. Resist the temptation to amalgamize operational issues on the same checklist as this may limit individuals willing to sort through the data.  The responsibility of completing the checklist should rotate among the site’s safety committee members. A site’s safety culture, however, should involve more than just the members of the safety committee.

 

Among the specific safety items that should be included most distribution centers include required safety training, OSHA 300 log maintenance, accident investigations, forklift inspections and first aid capabilities. 

Environmental topics to address might include spill response capabilities, fire extinguishers and flammable storage. 

The safety committee members must be trained on how to conduct the inspections properly. Each member should evaluate the topics in the same, consistent manner to prevent higher or lower scores based on who conducts the inspection. 

A prime example that often gets misevaluated is safety training. The evaluator should confirm that each employee designated for training actually received the training—and not simply that the training was provided to whatever employees were present on a given day.

When a facility first implements a safety checklist, perform the initial inspection with all of the safety committee members so everyone understands the “what’s and how’s” of the evaluation process. When new members are added to the safety committee, they should conduct their first inspection with someone experienced who can point out the nuances of the process. 

Completed checklist inspections should be reviewed at the monthly safety committee meeting. (Ideally, the facility manager should always be present during the safety committee meetings.) Any deficiencies noted on the checklist should be assigned to someone for correction, along with an estimated completion date.  

The completed inspection checklists should then be prominently posted for all of the DC’s employees to review. Some sites may prefer to discuss the findings with the employees during a follow-up meeting.

If a standardized safety checklist is established for multiple locations, a scoring feature can be added to each line item on the checklist that will result in a total monthly score for each facility. 

When safety checklists are going to be used to compare sites, standardized training on how to complete the form, and what to look for, are important to be sure that each site is evaluating the same criteria.

Safety checklists are not a panacea for solving all of a distribution center’s safety and compliance needs, but they are a good starting point.  When used effectively, they represent another safety “touch-point” that can add value to the overall safety culture.

John Nadzan is the health, safety & environmental manager for Barnes Distribution in Cleveland.