Page 46 - OHS, October 2023

TRAINING: MATERIALS HANDLING The Underestimated Power of Good Housekeeping Training Good housekeeping training plays a critical role in minimizing material handling incidents, boosting morale, and cultivating a healthier environment for all. BY KAREN D. HAMEL CSP, CIT, WACH Forklift certifications and hazard communication training often top the checklist of required trainings for material handling employees. Chances are good that most also receive training on fall prevention, the use of ladders, personal protective equipment, and the safe use of sharp tools. Too often, good housekeeping isn’t addressed during on- boarding or even in refresher trainings. It’s also commonly over- looked or gets pushed aside in favor of other trainings that are required or take a higher priority within the organization. Let’s face it: for most people, cleaning up has been a dreaded chore since childhood, regardless of the attempts by many chil- dren’s television shows to serenade viewers with clever songs to make clean up just as much fun as playtime. In the workplace, there usually aren’t cleanup songs, and it can be very easy to let a Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock.com mess accumulate when production goals or other deadlines need to be met. Introducing good housekeeping as an independent program and conducting a separate training for it adds one more thing to schedules and can sometimes be viewed by employees as a pun- ishment. Incorporating it into other trainings makes it a compo- nent of those already existing programs. Keeping workplaces tidy does more than provide a morale boost. It also helps to reduce risk by eliminating hazards that are caused by clutter and unorganized spaces. Ergonomics Stocking shelves, packing boxes and filling trailers are just a few of the tasks that keep material handlers in nearly constant mo- 46 Occupational Health & Safety | OCTOBER 2023 www.ohsonline.com