Best Tips For An Organised | Warehouse Safety Solutions

Best Tips For An Organised Warehouse

If you’re working in a warehouse, let alone managing it, then you’ve probably got a lot on your hands – and even more in your head. Meeting the day-to-day demands of orders, logistics, workflow, and above all, meeting safety requirements, there’s a lot to consider to keep warehouse operations running smoothly.

A well-designed, organised and maintained workspace is key to keeping operations running smoothly and safely. In Australia specifically, we place a huge emphasis on working smarter, not harder, and an organised warehouse is the smartest way to ensure that your business is running at an optimal level.

WSS has helped warehouses create safe and organised mezzanine floors Sydney wide. Here are our 5 key tips on how to keep your warehouse organised.

1. Assess (And Reassess) Your Floor Plan

A functional floor plan is a key factor to keeping a warehouse organised. 

Think of it as the skeleton to the body. The physical structure of the space dictates how well all the moving parts within it work. The mezzanines, walkways, workbenches and equipment all need to be logically arranged for warehouse staff to work effectively. The physical layout must allow for a safe, smooth workflow that doesn’t impede on daily tasks and functionality.

Keep a lookout for any common ‘annoyances’ that often come up in workplace discussions. You don’t always have to be the boss to take initiative. Next time you’re in your workplace, ask yourself: what areas/processes could be improved? How can things be done differently? 

Well-defined areas that are both ergonomic and efficient not only improve production, but also encourage a safer work environment. 

2. Install Warehouse Racks and Shelves

All warehouses are unique in one way or another, so finding the right shelving and racking solution will differ from workplace to workplace. 

The order and nature of your business will determine the size, type and location of your racks and shelves. Working smarter, not harder, involves getting the right shelving systems that work for you – some things to consider include the type of stock you are moving, how frequently it’s being moved, how many different SKUs you stock, and how you can access them.

Best practice is to maximise your vertical space as much as possible and allow for safe forklift access, ensuring proper forklift safety.

3. Label Everything In Your Warehouse

To optimise efficiency and safety, you should label everything in your warehouse. And we mean everything: work areas, potential hazards, aisles, racks, and items. This is particularly important if you have forklifts onsite, which require safety signs, clearance heights and capacity alerts.

4. Perform Regular Maintenance

This is one of the most important elements of keeping a warehouse organised. Applying a daily schedule for maintaining cleanliness will improve efficiency, productivity and safety – whilst also imparting a sense of pride among workers in their environment. 

An easy way to implement this is create a checklist that must be completed and signed at the end of day, every day. Clean workspaces, sweep floors, and pack away tools are just a few tasks that could be added as a way to maintain safety and workplace accountability. 

5. Review Your Warehouse Organisation

Regular and in-depth reviews of workplace organisation and reorganisation is essential in any warehouse.

This can be done, weekly, monthly or yearly – the frequency is up to you. Reviews ought to address pain points for staff and management, whilst also ensuring that any changes made does not compromise safety for efficiency.

Get In Touch With WSS Today

Organisation is an all-hands-on-deck approach to maintaining efficiency, productivity and safety in the warehouse. If you see something that can be improved, don’t be afraid to speak up about it.