A well-designed warehouse ensures material handling, fulfillment and storage processes are smooth, efficient and accurate — all while keeping employees and goods safe. A productive, logical layout that facilitates the movement of products throughout a facility can also prioritize safety and ensure workers have the space to move and operate equipment with minimal risk.
Learn how warehouse design directly affects safety and what it takes to create a layout that minimizes downtime and accidents.
How Is Warehouse Design Linked to Safety?
A warehouse is a busy, fast-paced environment that comes with many risks to employees and products. Your organization can mitigate safety issues with appropriate design choices and clear operational procedures. An efficient layout can optimize your space and enhance workflows while still prioritizing safety.
A poorly designed warehouse with inadequate storage, unclear boundaries and cramped navigation can impact safety by increasing risks of:
- Fire hazards: Cluttered aisles, obstructed emergency exits, inefficient traffic flow and incompatible material storage can increase the chances of fires, explosions and injuries during an emergency.
- Employee injuries: Falling objects, repetitive stress injuries, insufficient visibility and slipping hazards are all potential threats to employee safety that stem from poor warehouse design.
- Pests: Improper storage can lead to disorganization and material accumulation, increasing the chances of pest infestations, contamination, health hazards and structural damage.
How to Maximize Your Warehouse Floor Plan for Efficiency and Safety
With an optimized warehouse layout, you can ensure smooth, efficient movement of both goods and employees throughout your facility. Strategically planning each area will contribute to a safer working environment.
Begin the design process by conducting a warehouse risk assessment to identify hazards. Once you understand your facility’s highest dangers, you can mitigate them through thoughtful design. Keep in mind the following tips when planning your warehouse layout.
Assess Your Needs and Available Space
The right warehouse design for your facility depends on your operations and how much space you have to work with. Consider what an ideal flow would look like throughout the space, focusing on the type of equipment you use, what your loading and unloading processes are, and what type of storage racks you have. You will need to dedicate enough space for each workflow to ensure efficiency and safety.
Optimal warehouse layouts minimize how often goods need to move and how often employees handle goods. Your design should ensure inventory moves as little as possible to reduce the risk of accidents between employees and equipment.
Create Designated Areas
Setting boundaries between different activities can promote safety — create distinct zones for unloading and loading, receiving goods, storage, picking and dispatching inventory. Clarity between these areas can reduce cross-contamination, spills, accidents and other risks that could harm employees or damage products.
Signage can help create these designated areas throughout your warehouse. Clearly marked signs with bold text and coordinating colors and shapes can help employees and equipment operators understand expectations for the zone. Signs can help:
- Direct traffic.
- Highlight potential hazards.
- Describe uniform requirements.
- Mark storage areas.
- Promote a safety culture.
Plan for Proper Storage
Adequate storage is key to facilitating smooth workflows and safety throughout a warehouse. With organized and accessible storage, you can reduce the clutter that leads to fire hazards and risks to employee health and safety. Proper pallet sizes and sufficient storage racks can prevent accidents, damage and injuries due to falls or collapses.
When designing your warehouse, ensure everything has a designated home. Equipment parking zones should be clear, emergency exits should be easily accessible, and inventory should fit within your storage solutions. Your employees and equipment operators must have enough space to maneuver safely through aisles and open floor space without risk of collision.
Design a Forklift-Friendly Warehouse
As you plan your warehouse layout, consider how your employees will navigate the space when on foot and when operating equipment such as forklifts.
Proper warehouse design can minimize forklift accidents and improve the flow of goods throughout the space. Consider appropriate aisle widths, parking and charging requirements and potential blind spots when planning your layout.
Create a forklift-friendly environment by:
- Using safety features, such as guard rails.
- Clarifying traffic patterns for employees and equipment operators.
- Ensuring proper ventilation and lighting.
- Posting bold signage.
- Clearing forklift pathways.
The Role of Technology in Warehouse Safety
Incorporating technology into your warehouse design can enhance employee safety, ensure products are secure and streamline operations. These technical solutions also promote accuracy, increase efficiency, improve space utilization and promote a safety culture that protects and teaches employees.
You can incorporate technology into your warehouse design through:
- Safety devices: Sensors, cameras and access control systems are a few ways you can secure your warehouse. These devices can also help operators prioritize safety while operating equipment.
- Warehouse management systems: Automated systems for inventory tracking, storage, retrieval and even floor cleaning can improve safety, space optimization and accuracy. They can also benefit employees by reducing manual labor requirements.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools: Advanced AI and ML technology can help you analyze potential hazards in your workplace. You can monitor employees and product flows to identify risky behaviors, safety concerns and inefficiencies.
OSHA Regulations for Warehouse Design and Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) outlines regulations to promote worker safety and health in the warehouse environment. Employees can face many potential hazards in a warehouse, but with careful layout design, you can increase their safety and minimize risks of injury.
As you design your warehouse, you can align with OSHA regulations by:
- Ensuring inventory is stored on appropriate racks or shelves.
- Securing stacked materials to prevent sliding, falling or collapsing.
- Keeping aisles and storage areas free of clutter and in good repair.
- Storing noncompatible materials separately.
- Installing handrails and guardrails.
- Incorporating proper drainage and ventilation.
- Understanding and mitigating forklift hazards.
Choose Burns Industrial Equipment for Warehouse Layout Optimization
Since 1972, Burns Industrial Equipment has been dedicated to helping businesses improve warehouse efficiency and safety. Our experienced team can provide customized warehouse design solutions that work for your specific needs and budget. We use CAD technology to evaluate your space and consult with you on the best layout for maximizing productivity while ensuring employee safety.
We offer an extensive selection of dock loading, warehouse, material handling and storage equipment from trustworthy brands. In addition to designing and planning your warehouse layout, our professionals can install warehouse products to ensure their safety and reliability. We also provide operator training to help your workforce improve safety in your facility.
Contact us today to learn how we can help optimize your warehouse layout for better efficiency and safety.
