Keeping a clean work environment should be a priority to every level of your warehouse operations. With orders coming and going at an increased rate, warehouse managers often lose track of the basics and wind up with messy working conditions that negatively affect productivity and profitability.
Fortunately, this problem often has a less complicated solution than you might expect, and implementing that solution can often be done without any significant expense. Learning more about the best ways to clean your warehouse could help ensure that it operates at as close to maximum capacity as possible.
Lack of accountability is the most common cause of unsanitary warehouses. With quotas to meet and a limited amount of time in a workday, employees may not take the time necessary to keep their workspaces clean. The first step you should take to keep your warehouse clean is setting up a detailed schedule which clearly delineates who is responsible for cleaning what and when.
Setting the expectation for tasks like sweeping aisles on a daily basis or dusting racks every month can help solidify this kind of plan. Depending on the layout of your warehouse and the kind of services/products you provide, it may be beneficial to assign employees to cleaning shifts or make them responsible for keeping their own work zones clean.
Adhering to a schedule is essential to maintaining warehouse cleanliness, but it’s also important to think ahead when designing that schedule. For example, if it usually takes a week for trash bins in your warehouse to fill up, having them emptied on a weekly basis could result in overflow if one week is particularly busy. Instead, having your staff empty bins twice per week could help avoid this problem and others like it.
In the same vein, instituting a clean-as-you-go policy can help minimize the chances of unpredictable situations interfering with a larger sanitation plan. Trash, debris, and other potential hazards shouldn’t be left out simply because the cleaning schedule calls for it to be handled at a later time. Instead, you should encourage workers to take the initiative in cleaning up messes and safety hazards as soon as they become apparent.
While these best practices can help with keeping your warehouse orderly, there are also some things you should do at the operational level to promote cleanliness in the facilities you oversee. For instance, unsold inventory that sits around collecting dust should be rotated and/or replaced. Likewise, if a certain rack arrangement impedes movement through the warehouse, consider reorganizing your floor.
Most importantly, you must ensure that cleaning supplies are properly stocked and readily available for workers to use. After all, a cleaning schedule does nothing without the right tools and supplies. For more insight on the different ways you can clean your warehouse and instill a pro-active attitude in your staff, do not hesitate to register as a HapiEmployer today.