The five risks that define a distribution depot

Transport and storage has one of the higher rates of fatal injury of any UK sector, and the pattern of harm is remarkably consistent from depot to depot.

Workplace transport

Being struck by a moving vehicle is the single largest cause of death in the sector. The controls are old and proven: segregate pedestrians and vehicles with barriers and marked routes, one-way systems in the yard, banksmen for reversing, and speed limits that are enforced. A near-miss reporting culture is the early warning; if people cannot report a close call in a minute, they will not.

Falls from vehicles

Climbing on trailers to secure loads, working on tail-lifts, and getting in and out of cabs account for a large share of major injuries. Controls include curtain-sider platforms, three points of contact policies, and tail-lift training with the six-monthly LOLER examination where people ride the platform.

Manual handling

Still the largest cause of over-seven-day injuries. Mechanical aids, load limits, and a manual handling assessment that people have actually read. Read-and-sign on a phone beats a PDF in an inbox.

Racking

Damaged racking fails suddenly. A weekly visual inspection by a trained person and an annual inspection by a SEMA-approved inspector, with damage reported through the same channel as everything else.

Lone and night working

Cross-docking at 3am with a skeleton crew means the fire marshal, the first aider and the person who knows how to shut off the charger may not be on site. Roles per shift, drills per shift, and a way to raise an alarm are the basics.

Each of these has a home in Safegen: workplace transport in incidents and near-miss reporting, falls and tail-lifts in the asset register with LOLER, manual handling in documents by role, racking in scheduled checks, and shift cover in people and fire safety.