Are Workforce Challenges Creating New Safety Concerns in Your Warehouse?
Due to current labor shortages, warehouse staffing levels are at historic lows in many areas. Forklift operators may be quitting, retiring or taking positions in other industries. Long-term employees may be leaving or taking extended time off. Regardless of the reasons, warehouse managers are left with the responsibility of keeping operations running smoothly and efficiently while also managing more new and temporary employees than ever before. If you are in this position, you know it can be daunting, stressful and challenging and the loss of qualified, seasoned employees can introduce safety risks due to lack of operator experience.
Inexperienced forklift operators can pose a challenge to maintaining warehouse safety and compliance as new and temporary operators navigate the learning curve. Telematics can help capture and monitor operational data and assist in managing the increased risk. However, successful risk mitigation is highly dependent on how you interpret and use the operational data at your fingertips to manage your workforce and your fleet. This is often when your telematics provider can be a big help.
Performance reviews can help you look at how you’ve been using telematics and how you might change your processes and even your environment to promote safety. If you now have operators with a wider or changing range of experience, certifications and access parameters, you may also need to make adjustments to how you are measuring and interpreting performance. Your telematics provider can help identify gaps and recommend improvements.
Performance coaching takes things further by sharing best practices for improvement in specific focus areas that you define in the review process. This can include safety compliance and impact management as well as operator efficiency. Your telematics provider can help you drill down to defined areas of concern and target opportunities for improvement with step-by-step instruction and professional guidance.
Performance planning continues improvement with ongoing cycles of reviews and coaching to ensure your identified focus areas are addressed and perhaps altered as you make improvements or face new challenges as your workforce evolves.
Crown’s InfoLink® Operator and Fleet Management system was introduced more than a decade ago. We’ve had the opportunity to work with customers on a broad range of applications and operational challenges. We’ve drawn from that experience to create InfoLink Performance Services, which can help any InfoLink customer work through the reviewing, coaching and planning process, address specific challenges and achieve operational goals.
If you’re dealing with forklift safety and compliance challenges resulting from staffing shortages and employee turnover, these services can be key to identifying what is needed to succeed in today’s new reality. Don’t let tight labor markets or staffing challenges have a negative impact on operational safety or performance. We can help you prioritize and interpret data to optimize results. Contact your local Crown dealer if you’d like to learn more.