OSHA guidance for warehouse ops

Lori B

Hi all

Does anyone have a quick summary of what OSHA requires vs. what is simply good practice for warehouse staff with exposure to haz mat? For ex, we require all our warehouse staff to wear steel toe shoes. Is that required or simply good practice? Other areas of interest: using straps for loading, eye wash stations, etc. thanks

Balloonman

WOW, first off you need to do a hazard assessment to determine what PPE (personal protective equipment) is needed for protecting the employee from known exposures.
As for training, you need to do specific Hazard Communication training, and additional hazardous material training if you expect employees to be reesponsible for the clean up of spilled chemicals. If there is a splash hazard due to liquids being handled then you do need eye wash station.

Also if you have rechargable batteries on your forklifts you MUST have an eyewash/shower station for emergencies.

I have not even gotten into the numerous other training that is required such as training on the forklifts, emergency action plans etc.

This is what I did for over a decade before getting into HR, was a straight safety guy. I can help you with some possible resources on where you can find help on these issues if you want to email me here.

My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Lori B

Hi Balloonman. Thanks for feedback. We do have haz com program in place b/c we do move haz mat on occasion. I just couldn't get a straight answer from my safety folks about the need for eye wash stations, among other things. There seems to be lots of disagreement over what is required vs. what is recommended. If you have a citation or material directly on point for eye wash as a start, I'd be most appreciative. Thx

Lori

Glacier Rose

ON the PPE, you are required to assess your location's hazards and determine the appropriate personal protective equipment needed based on your hazards. there are no specific standards that tell you what PPE is needed for each industry.

On the eye wash station, I don't have the standard committed to memory, but the OSHA.gov website is very well done. You can go into the standards section and do a search.

Hope that it helps.

Also, for a very small fee, the American Society of Safety Engineers is an organization with local chapters all over the US. You can join them & meet some very good and helpful safety personnel.