The Truth About Warehousing
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More than 145,000 people work throughout 7,000 different warehouses, and
the fatal injury rate in warehousing jobs is higher than the national average in
almost all other industries.
The bulk of injuries that occur in warehousing are due to unsafe use of
forklifts (not following protocol), improper organization of products
(stacking), failure to use protective equipment on your person, failure to
follow proper lockout procedures, improper fire safety procedures, and
repetitive motion injuries such as bending and lifting over 35 pounds.
Many people overestimate how much their bodies can handle. Sure, lifting
fifty pounds is easy. Once. Can you do it all day? Can you do it repetitively?
These are important questions to ask yourself before applying for a
warehouse job. They do have training courses for safety procedures, but over
half of employees don’t follow them; assuming that these injuries couldn’t
happen to them. Sure, workmans’ comp is great, until you can never work
again.