Light Industrial Safety Practices
A Growing Warehouse Space Makes Safety More Important Than Ever
Safety challenges for the warehousing industry are a key focus for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This is good news for the staffing industry, which provides warehouse employees to numerous clients throughout the country. It’s more relevant now because Amazon is planning to build even more warehouses, mostly fulfillment centers throughout the country, according to staffing firms that deal with this space. As of May 2021, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that there were 1.08 million people employed in the warehouse and storage industry-a 13.5% increase over 2020.
The American Staffing Association plans to work more closely with OSHA on this issue thanks to feedback from its members and an OSHA staff that seems to be far more open to input and changes/updates to Temporary Worker Initiatives including warehousing. ASA is working with OSHA to come up with on an “umbrella” warehouse document that will cross reference specific safety challenges faced by temporary workers. This initiative will coincide with updates to the warehouse TWI. One of ASA’s goals is greater outreach to marginalized groups in the staffing space, so they’ll know what to watch for. It will also provide a handy guide for clients, so they’re more familiar with the risks encountered by temporary workers.