Safeguard Your Warehouse Against Inclement Weather With These 4 Smart Precautions

To say that bad weather can negatively affect warehouse operations is an understatement. Violent wind events can peel building panels, misalign garage doors and break windows. Unrelenting downpours can flood the interior and damage goods. Snow and ice increase the risk of accidents, while the cold compromises workers’ health and comfort. Wildfires can burn everything to the ground.

Due to climate change, inclement weather will only worsen. Fortunately, management can take these four smart precautions to make warehouses less hazardous, rain or shine.

1.     Prioritize Engineering Controls

The following interventions can reduce workers’ exposure to environmental hazards to promote safety and boost productivity.

Optimizing Building Design

Rule No. 1 is to reinforce the building envelope. It should be airtight to keep drafts from entering the warehouse, shielding employees from the cold and protecting them from wind chill. Adequate insulation slows heat transfer, minimizing energy leakage and allowing commercial HVAC to run efficiently.

Regarding building materials, corrosion-resistant metal has a solid reputation for weather protection. Aluminum, stainless steel and galvanized steel are popular options.

Mainstream flat roofing systems have lengthy track records of protecting against water damage. However, green and blue roofing concepts can make warehouses more climate-resilient.

A green roof helps insulate the building and remove heat from the air, making the warehouse cooler during the warmest months. On the other hand, a blue roof decreases runoff, rendering stormwater more manageable and less destructive.

Leveraging Landscaping

Well-thought-out landscape design can mitigate extreme weather in various ways. More vegetation than hardscape mitigates the urban heat island effect, making an industrial facility feel more like an oasis and less like a desert.

Trees provide shade. Abundant shaded areas make working outside around midday more bearable and less detrimental to health.

Grading the ground to slope away from the structure helps reduce flood occurrences. The steeper the slope, the greater the impact on water’s flow velocity. Horticultural elements — like shrubs or flowers — absorb stormwater, and so do loose gravel, porous concrete and other permeable hardscaping materials.

Industrial properties should also have detention ponds. These artificial basins temporarily hold stormwater, slowly release it toward drainage areas and minimize the destructive force of deluges.

Providing Weather-Appropriate PPE

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has no dedicated standard for cold working conditions. However, the OSH Act of 1970 explicitly states that employers should take appropriate measures to neutralize identified serious hazards — such as winter weather-related dangers.

Warehouse managers should proactively provide proper gear to employees braving frigid conditions to reduce the risk of cold stress or mild hypothermia. Losing the ability to regulate body temperature can result in permanent tissue damage and death.

Warehouse workers should wear multiple layers of clothing that balance insulation and mobility to minimize movement restrictions. Employees should be able to cover their faces, ears, hands and feet. Wearing hats also helps prevent heat from escaping through the head.

Exosuits can be hit or miss. Although researchers found that these wearable devices can cause discomfort in package handlers working in temperate conditions, wearers lifting in a cold climate sweat less, feel warmer and experience more comfort.

Supplement winter-appropriate PPE with warm beverages and toasty break areas. Workers with access to these conveniences are less likely to experience cold-related illnesses.

Rethinking Workflows

Management should minimize workers’ time outdoors when the air temperature is freezing.

Highly dynamic industrial workplaces like fulfillment centers are generally active around the clock. Use relief employees or extra talent to split workloads among more people, preventing staff from working longer hours.

Extend towing assistance to employees who may be stuck on their way to work or home due to icy road conditions. This thoughtful gesture keeps workers from waiting forever for help to arrive and allows them to get to their destinations safely.

Employers should also train employees to report symptoms of cold stress. It will empower everyone to act accordingly when they feel or notice others exhibit signs of this health condition.

Investing in Robotics

Automation helps make industrial workforces less prone to health issues during extreme weather conditions. Incorporating robots — such as automated guided carts and case erectors — into warehouse operations spares human employees from arduous manual labor, reducing their risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion and cold stress.

Contrary to popular belief, employment doesn’t drop in robotic warehouses. Autonomous bots still need human supervision to function correctly. With proper training, employees should be able to operate these advanced machines properly.

Moreover, collaborative robots help warehouse workers pick, pack and transport goods efficiently. These machines have sensors and use machine learning algorithms to safely coexist with their human peers in the same work areas.

2.     Schedule Routine and Emergency Inspections

Building components are subject to wear and tear. Small damage compounds over time when left undetected and unchecked for too long.

Extreme weather events — like tornadoes — can compromise a warehouse’s structural integrity more quickly. Leaky roof sections expose a structure’s contents to the elements, and cracked window glass can injure unsuspecting workers. Dents can strain a garage door’s mechanism when it doesn’t open and close smoothly, offering less protection against vandalism and looting.

Scheduled building inspections should take place during months when weather conditions are pleasant. Warehouse managers must have relevant technicians on speed dial to respond to emergency damage quickly. They can apply a Band-Aid solution to prevent damage from progressing further while awaiting the green light from the insurance company to commence repairs.

3.     Have a Plan for Every Emergency

Warehouse management should prepare emergency response plans for various scenarios to react to natural disasters more decisively.

Although it’s unrealistic to be ready for everything that could happen, targeting these contingencies will suffice:

• Hurricanes
• Earthquakes
• Floods
• Tornadoes
• Wildfires
• Winter weather

The likelihood of these events varies by location. Prioritize more likely threats to spend resources wisely.

While everyone plays a role in emergency response and recovery operations, employers are ultimately responsible for the welfare of employees. The health and safety of workers should be front and center in emergency preparedness plans.

4.     Build Storm Shelters

Building codes don’t require warehouses to have storm shelters. However, the devastation caused by a 2021 tornado that destroyed an Amazon distribution hub in Edwardsville, Illinois, and claimed the lives of six employees forced policymakers to consider the importance of such structures.

The construction of storm shelters can be a significant expense. However, warehouse owners can recoup their capital through lower insurance premiums.

Once mandated, such a project might also become tax deductible. Governments may also subsidize these structures in the name of climate resilience.

Protect Warehouses From Inclement Weather

Making warehouses more resilient to extreme weather events can save lives and minimize financial losses. Adopt these smart precautions to withstand Mother Nature’s worst.