About This Sector
Warehousing and logistics operations carry some of the highest injury rates in the UK. Forklift collisions, falling objects from racking, manual handling injuries, and struck-by incidents account for the majority of serious workplace injuries in the sector. HSE actively targets warehousing operations for proactive inspection. Arinite provides Chartered health and safety consultants with specific experience in warehouse environments, distribution centres, and logistics operations.
Sector-Specific Regulations
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 apply to all warehouse operations. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) cover forklift trucks, conveyor systems, and all warehouse machinery. The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) apply to pallet trucks, dock levellers, and any lifting equipment. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 are critical given the volume of manual stock handling. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 apply to traffic routes, floor conditions, and welfare facilities. HSE guidance HSG76 (Warehousing and Storage) provides the sector-specific framework.
Common Compliance Failures We Find
These are the health and safety failures Arinite's consultants find most frequently in this sector:
No segregation of pedestrian and vehicle traffic routes, or inadequate marking and enforcement of designated walkways.
Racking inspections not conducted regularly or not documented. SEMA guidelines recommend inspections at least annually by a competent person.
Forklift operator training records that are expired or cannot demonstrate ongoing competence assessments.
Manual handling risk assessments that are generic rather than task-specific for different picking, packing, and loading operations.
No documented safe systems of work for loading bay operations, including reversing vehicles and dock leveller use.
Fire risk assessments that do not account for high-density stock, cardboard, and packing materials as fire loads.
Our Services for This Sector
Arinite's warehousing and logistics health and safety services include comprehensive risk assessments covering all warehouse operations, forklift safety reviews and traffic management plans, racking inspection programmes and documentation, manual handling assessments for picking, packing, and loading activities, fire risk assessments accounting for warehouse-specific fire loads, health and safety audits including PUWER and LOLER compliance checks, loading bay and vehicle movement risk assessments, staff training for forklift operators, fire marshals, and manual handling, and health and safety software for managing compliance across multi-site distribution networks.
Book a Free Warehousing Gap Analysis Call
Book a free gap analysis call with one of our Chartered health and safety consultants. In 30 minutes, we will assess your current warehousing and logistics health and safety arrangements and identify the compliance gaps that matter most.
