Distributors often think of safety in terms of the products they stock and the services they offer to help their customers promote a safe, healthy workplace environment. But periodically they should take a thorough look at their own safety approach, especially if their business includes a warehouse.

Some business owners might hear the word “safety” and think “money,” as in costs. But the savvier ones hear “safety” and think “savings,” specifically in terms of lowering their company's health insurance costs and rate of employee absenteeism.

Terry Grisim has spent 40 years working in the safety industry. As president of Safety Management Consultants Inc., based in Elmhurst, Ill., and as an experienced safety engineer, he has conducted numerous safety audits and inspections.

In those 40 years, the general safety profession has changed considerably, he says.

“It has gone from being a career path … to where now, so many things have been added to it, like security and environment,” says Grisim, who is also a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers.

What hasn't changed—and in fact may even be more essential than ever—is that a well-planned safety approach can pay off for any company, large or small, in lower rates of absenteeism and lower insurance premiums, among other benefits. Grisim has seen myriad cases of companies knowing what to do or, unfortunately, not knowing what to do.

The concept seems simple enough, but is not put into action by all companies, he says.

“Most of the larger [companies] realize it, but [safety] is more of a collateral duty that gets passed around to different people, especially in smaller companies,” Grisim notes.

Grisim cites three important categories of warehouse safety for distributors: employee; property and motor vehicle.

In a warehouse, there is inventory, in boxes and crates, that gets moved around and lifted by warehouse employees. Lifting too much weight too often can result in back injuries and lost time.

“Most major companies, like the Wal-Marts, have spent huge amounts of money on the layout of their warehouse to minimize strains and back injuries,” Grisim points out.

But there is no reason for small to mid-sized companies to think only the big boys can afford an effective safety planning approach. As an example, look to N.H Bragg, a Bangor, Maine, distributor of industrial, safety, janitorial and welding equipment and supplies. Bragg has a 75,000-square-foot warehouse where its inside salespeople and repair technicians work throughout the day, explains president John Bragg.

“It's a place where we all have to be careful,” he says. “There's a lot of activity there.”

Bragg and his company have taken a proactive philosophy. For one thing, they formed a five-person safety committee. As president, Bragg is a member along with employee representatives from the repair department, warehouse, sales counter and human resources.

The committee meets monthly and goes over what has happened, what hasn't happened and what safety-related problems they should watch for, Bragg explains. He also takes part in a monthly inspection of his warehouse, specifically to anticipate any safety-related concerns.

“The warehouse rep on the committee and I walk through looking for electrical panels that might be blocked or step ladders missing a caster [for example]—anything that catches our eye,” Bragg says.

N.H. Bragg also makes sure its employees are up to date on safety precautions.

“All of our employees annually are put through a regiment of training on various subjects—some a requirement of federal law, others state law,” Bragg explains. “Some are encouraged by our insurer and some are just common sense to remind people of certain things.”

Employee back injuries are his company's biggest area of safety concern.

“The largest risk we run in operating a warehouse is back injuries,” he says. “About a month ago, we went through an hour-long session with a representative from the insurance company, taking us through the structure of the back and what happens when you do something improperly. They also taught us the proper way to lift, bend and stretch.”

Bragg explains that they most common occurrence of back injuries at his company is not found inside the warehouse but among his outside salespeople.

“They'll lean over, reach into their trunk and lift something. That's an awful position to be in for lifting heavy objects,” he says.

Grisim applauds this proactive approach and also advises warehouse workers to watch for areas that could be a potential source of falls, usually from ladders placed on uneven surfaces, another common cause of injury.

A proactive approach should also be taken when it comes to fire prevention. Virtually all warehouses have sprinkler systems that are tested periodically. In this case, an owner probably feels the facility is fully prepared in case of fire.

But Grisim suggests that warehouse owners be absolutely certain their sprinkler system is strong enough for the materials being stored. The answer is much more complicated, and potentially threatening, than one might think.

“Sprinklers are designed to shed a certain density of water per square foot,” Grisim explains. “But the catch is the person occupying that building needs to know the proper calculation [per square foot] and whether or not they are adequate for the materials being stored.”

Most buildings were built to “spec”—constructed to rent to a business for use as office space or, more likely, as a warehouse. A company moves into the building and continues to grow its business, adding product lines. The facility itself may be large enough, space-wise, to accommodate the inventory. But the sprinkler system may need to be adjusted, depending on what new product lines are added.

“The densities are geared toward what are called 'ordinary hazards,'” Grisim explains. “But if you later start storing plastics or flammable liquids, then that requires a greater density and [stronger] sprinklers.”

In other words, a distributor of flammable chemicals could not use the same sprinkler system in his warehouse that a cutting tools distributor would use.

“So in that case, if a fire started, those sprinklers [at the chemicals warehouse] would never put it out,” Grisim explains. “And that scenario is fairly common. [Owners] are putting their businesses at risk because they are not protecting them adequately.”

He advises that companies stay up to date on requirements issued by the National Fire Protection Assn., specifically its NFPA 13 regulation, which contains information on the standards owners should follow when protecting their warehouses.

Grisim strongly recommends keeping these sprinkler demands in mind when a company starts looking into buying a warehouse.

“It's a matter of whether anybody in the organization is savvy enough to look at this when they're looking at real estate,” Grisim explains.

If you have a warehouse, you will have vehicles—trucks, more than likely—arriving and departing with shipments of materials.

In Grisim's experience, motor vehicles can be the source of the most harmful and expensive damages a company can face.

“The biggest cause of occupational deaths in this country is motor vehicle accidents,” he says. “And most if not all warehouses will have fleet operations.”

Grisim specifically cites loading areas as prime examples. Trucks that are backing in need a “lookout” to be on the alert in case workers are walking behind them—back-up lights and high-pitched beeping alarms are not always sufficient warning.

Forklift drivers cruising around a warehouse also need to be vigilant, Grisim explains. In many cases, forklifts will drive right into a large trailer truck to unload materials. If the driver is not alert, that forklift (and its driver) might still be on board as the truck pulls away, its driver thinking its contents have been emptied.

“That miscommunication is a fairly common accident,” Grisim says, who strongly recommends warehouses use a dock lock, a device that hooks on to the trailer and keeps the truck from pulling away until unloading is finished.

John Bragg agrees and also recommends doing what his warehouse employees do: before his warehouse even starts an unloading process, all trucks must “chock their tires”—insert hard-rubber wedges under the truck's tires, making it virtually impossible for it to leave the docking area before the job is finished.

Safety upgrades do not necessarily mean a company has to take from one area of its budget and move it to safety. Companies may want to look at working with their insurance providers to come up with an incentive plan to promote company safety.

N.H. Bragg is self-insured as a member of the Distributors and Suppliers Group, a Maine-based cooperative trust that is made up of about 45 distributors and suppliers, Bragg explains.

This arrangement includes a series of incentives for companies to emphasize safety in their workplaces. When employees miss fewer work days due to injuries—which in turn means a lower compensation amount for the insurance providers—the greater the rewards, Bragg says.

“That has been a tremendous inspiration for paying attention to safety,” he says. “And it's also been a tremendous financial benefit to the company. Last year our premium was $46,000. But we got $26,000 back” from the insurance provider as a result of lowering injuries and absenteeism.

Strict safety standards are emphasized throughout the company, he adds. The group Bragg belongs to issues a 12-point safety standards plan to all its members that must be followed strictly.

“It states specifically all the things we need to do. You have to run a tight ship. We are inspected annually on our warehouse and also on our documentation to prove we're complying with that 12-point plan,” Bragg explains.

One aspect of the 12-point plan encourages the anonymous reporting of a near miss or potential problem, Bragg says.

“We don't wait for something to happen and then check into it. Let's see things and talk about things that might have happened or almost happened. Then we think about how to avoid that. … So we all look out for each other.”

If a potential problem or near miss is reported, the company's safety committee looks into it and sees if something needs to be changed. One practice that resulted from this, Bragg relates, was to ensure that heavy packages are no longer stored overhead, eliminating the possibility of being dropped or, worse, becoming the source of back injuries.

It can all pay off down the road. That $26,000 rebate was the biggest the company has received to date, Bragg says.

Simply put, companies will have greater value if they have a better safety record, Grisim says. And as N.H. Bragg's example shows, a good safety approach does not have to be expensive.

“Some people's definition of what costs money is different from others,” Grisim says. “And of course, some people think if they have to spend any time [on something], then that time is money.”

But being proactive and staying informed can be half the battle. Grisim suggests that distributors with warehouses be familiar with the guidelines issued by the American National Standards Institute. ANSI's standards for motor vehicles “address everything a company should do to run its fleet safely,” he says.

And like any company-wide improvement, it must start at the top, Grisim stresses.

“Safety is ultimately the responsibility of the business owner. Safety management … is an unending loop of actions and feedback that you always have to keep going,” Grisim says. “Once you put the controls in place, you then have to monitor how well they are working.”