Employee Safety in the Distribution Center
METRO strives to be a leader in operational safety for its employees, suppliers and customers. Ensuring safety at all levels of operations is an integral part of business. Near miss project is an initiative of the distribution center in Noginsk that has shown excellent results.
Why is it important
The distribution center of METRO has 75,000 square meters of space, there are 7 platforms differing in temperature regime and product groups. And the most important thing there are about 700 employees, 400 of which work directly in the warehouse space, manage warehouse equipment, perform various operations with the products, using racks.
Any type of work can be dangerous both for the performer and for the people around. And working with a tool / technique is doubly dangerous.
Statistics show that accidents most often occur with experienced employees and newcomers. Employees who have been working in the company for a long time do not notice some hazards already. Employees who have recently joined the company do not yet know where and how to recognize hazards.
Safety Programs
To increase the focus of employees on the safety of operations, a practical project Near Miss was launched in February 2021 in addition to standard methods (training and briefings, 10 golden rules of safety, five minutes of safety). The project is aimed at recognizing unsafe conditions / actions / situations and developing response skills. All incidents are registered in the Jira internal system, processed, and feedback is provided on them. Each incident is investigated and worked through, corrective and preventive actions are developed.
The algorithm is as follows: the employee sees it, makes a correction (if possible), registers it, takes part in the investigation and adaptation of the measures taken.
And no matter where it happens, the project covers all platforms and types of work, including services provided by contractors.
At the first stage, after the training, employees were assisted by colleagues from the OHS department. It turned out, the motto “prevention is easier than dealing with the consequences” speaks to everyone.
Results
194 Near Miss accidents have been registered from the start of the project up to the present, the number of active participants is 65 people, and this is a good result for improving the safety culture in general.
All operations in MGL are timed, and it is important to have time to complete them according to the plan. At the same time, safety is the top priority when performing any type of work, because the most important thing is to return home to the family and friends after a productive working day without any health consequences.
