Safety Plan for a Food Distribution Warehouse (Essay Sample)

Safety Plan
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Safety Plan for a Food distribution Warehouse
Introduction
In management, it is vital to have a safety plan to deal with the different safety concerns associated with different enterprises and businesses. Before exploring the scenario in our case, it is important to understand the meaning of a safety plan. A safety plan is a practical plan designed to help individuals or entities circumvent difficult or emergency situations CITATION Cla01 \l 1033 (Clare Gallagher, Elsa Underhill & Malcolm Rimmer, 2001). In this particular case there are employees experiencing sickly feelings with dizziness in a food-distribution warehouse. The select employees experiencing the aforementioned symptoms are specifically located in the refrigerated section of the warehouse where temperatures can be as low as 40 degrees F. While temperatures are consistent at 40 Ëš F at the refrigerated section the other sections are also under refrigeration but under significantly higher temperatures than the one mentioned above as this is largely a fresh food storage warehouse. Warehouse statistics place 14 workers at the section affected with 12 being women and the remaining two men. While the warehouse has the usual machines associated with a warehouse like loading docks (20), gas powered forklifts, and railroad car lines, and they lack environment monitors or sensors. Such monitors are vital for enclosed warehouse like the one associated with our scenario. Curiously while visiting the facility the warehouse manager is keen to point out that the company has contract negotiations ongoing with the labor union. Using the above scenario the purpose of this paper will be to explore causes of the anomaly affecting the employees. In addition, discern possible solutions to the problem by providing recommendations that the warehouse can adopt.
Plan of Action
Developing a plan of action is the first step, a plan of action details the step a health officer will take to identify source of the problem CITATION Vic08 \l 1033 (Worksafe, 2008). Interviewing the affected individuals is the first step. Four women with the most severe signs avail themselves for the interview. The workers should identify the days they started experiencing the symptoms respectively. In addition, what the employees in that section wear in terms of protective gear against the cold and any particular preventive measures incepted by the warehouse. Our plan of action will be based on three steps. The first step will be identification of factors that maybe the sources of the problem. The second step will entail identifying the main source or the most probable course among the previously analyzed possible sources. Ultimately, the paper will avail recommendations that the warehouse manager can implement to prevent future problems of a similar or a different nature. The illustrations below demonstrate the steps that are required to produce possible solutions to the problems encountered in the warehouse.
PROBABLE COURSES AND LIST OF HARZARDS
IDENTIFICATION OF THE PARTICULAR COURSE
RECOMMENDATIONS, CONTROL LIMITS AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES
Possible sources
After one look at the section and the workers dress code, it became apparent that that lack of sufficient dressing might be the cause of the problem. A brief description by the four women on the clothing they wear in the refrigerated section was enough to discern an anomaly. To begin with, the workers only wore two layers of clothing. The first tight layer consisted of polyester that prevented moisture from leaving the skin and the second woolen layer of maybe a sweater or jacket. One particular defective aspect of the clothing was the lack of clothing with a waterproof fabric that could prevent the individuals from the cold moisture. Gloves were not consistent in the warehouse according to the employees with some wearing and some not. In a cold environment, it is vital for workers to prevent any loss of heat in the body CITATION Vic08 \l 1033 (Worksafe, 2008). Lack of gloves for some workers was a monumental fail for the people responsible for safety in the warehouse. Preventing the head from exposure to cold is one of the most important adherences in a cold environment. However, in the case of our referenced scenario the workers did not wear enough protective gear on the head. They wore a hard cap that had a woolen lining underneath but they did not wear protective gear for the face. Heat loss from the head contributes up to 40% of the whole body’s heat loss CITATION Vic08 \l 1033 (Worksafe, 2008).
In addition, due to the lack of environmental monitors or sensors it was apparent that the warehouse could not effectively monitor temperatures in the facility. Lack of monitoring creates a particularly dangerous situation as without regulation temperatures can fluctuate without identification. Besides inadequate dressing, temperature fluctuations can be the source of the problem in the warehouse. The warehouse manager commented proudly on the warehouse’s special seals on doors and on the loading docks that prevent entry of heat or exit of cold. Inside the facility are several gas-powered forklifts and railroad car lines that ferry items into the warehouse. As a safety officer, it is difficult to ignore how all these factors might contribute to the hazardous situation. Gas powered machines inside the warehouse produce toxic gases like carbon monoxide not forgetting the warehouse is enclosed with few ventilation facilities to prevent entry or exit of heat or cold. Combining these factors with refrigeration of the facility produces a situation where air is thin inside the warehouse, an evident lack of oxygen. Some of the signs of low oxygen levels are dizziness, reduced attention span, difficulty in performing complex tasks to name but a few. The interviewed workers were each experiencing at least one of the aforementioned effects of minimal oxygen deprivation. Such symptoms can be associated with many afflictions, however in the scenario the signs are most likely caused by the aforementioned factors.
The Cause
According to medical statistics whenever any individual is exposed to cold at a certain level, they experience cold stress CITATION Vic08 \l 1033 (Worksafe, 2008). Individuals experiencing the condition mentioned above are prone to dizziness and lightheadedness, the signs displayed by the sick individuals in the said warehouse. As such, I believe that according to my assessment that the cause of the problem in the warehouse is lack of protective gear for the workers and lack of proper circulation of air in the facility. Cold storage warehouse standards assert that each facility must be extensively ventilated to ensure there is enough supply of air in the facility. Any continued effort by the warehouse to safeguard the amenities in the building is affecting the employees in the refrigerated section. The body temperature is documented to be sufficient at 98.6˚ F, the refrigerated section’s temperature is 40˚ F, dangerously low for the human body. As such, the cold temperature coupled with the lack of proper environmental monitors is affecting the workers. In addition, lack of proper air circulation in the facility is a dangerous proposition as this effectively reduces oxygen in the warehouse thus affecting the already depleted bodies of the workers. According to SAFETYGRAM 17, a document by AIRPRODUCTS dedicated to educating people of the defects of air products, low oxygen levels can cause the following. These include weakness, loss of judgment, lightheadedness, nausea, fainting, and the like. The employees are experiencing the effects of low oxygen levels and cold.
Recommendations
In light of the many refrigerated structures and warehouses in the globe, it has become of vital importance that every facility has the ability to protect its employees from the effects of the cold. As such, this section of the paper will offer the warehouse manager recommendations, control limits, and preventive measures that he can adopt to prevent future problems.
In such cold warehouses, utmost conditioning is required. In such environments workers become susceptible to factors like work load, clothing insulation, air velocity and radiant heat. According to Eastman Kodak Company, 1983 although more increase in worker comfort in cold work places is assisted by workload and radiant heat the subsequent increase in air velocity increases discomfort. Exposing the body to high air velocity increases heat loss and subsequently adds discomfort to workers. Lowered skin temperature increase heat transfer gradient out of the body contributing to the workers’ sickness. One of the advantages of cold warehouses and the ability to counteract cold is that they are indoors. As su...