Pictured is the inside of a warehouse. OSHA has launched a five-year program that will target warehousing operations in Pennsylvania and other nearby states. Warehousing operation have a higher injury rate compared to other workplaces, but OSHA hopes to help fix that through a new five-year program in Pennsylvania and other nearby states.
Kevin Chambers, OSHA’s Harrisburg director, said that this new initiative, OSHA’s regional emphasis program, will allow the department to be more proactive when it comes to safety.The warehousing and storage industry’s injury rate of 4.8 per 100 workers is higher than the U.S. average of 2.7 per 100 rate among all private industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, from 2017 to 2020, the bureau reported 93 work-related fatalities nationally in the industry.
OSHA officials say that its Harrisburg office routinely receives complaints and reported injuries relating to hazards of forklifts,But OSHA doesn’t perform annual checkups of warehousing operations like restaurant inspectors do. Chambers said they don’t have a large enough workforce to do that. OSHA’s Harrisburg office has 12 inspectors that cover a 14-county area, and their jobs go well beyond warehouses. Many times when an inspector goes to a warehouse it’s after a complaint or a work injury.