Healthy tips for productive materials handling and warehousing
As we often repeat, your employees are your greatest assets. We need to look after them. After all, healthy and happy workers are more productive and more likely to stay with your company. We’d like to offer some advice on maximising their mental and physical health.
Naturally, protecting staff from sudden accidental injury is a big priority. In this article, however, we are looking instead at factors which affect warehouse workers’ minds and bodies more gradually, day by day. Our guidance below summarises the main issues and includes links to previous articles for further information.
A healthy warehouse environment
One of the most basic requirements for good health is clean air to breathe. Exhaust emissions can cause respiratory illnesses and make existing health problems worse. This is one of many reasons for switching to electric forklifts. See our summary of electric forklift advantages.
Another airborne health hazard is dust. It gathers on almost all surfaces in warehouses and other industrial buildings – and takes to the air whenever disturbed. Dust comes from a variety of sources and none of it should be viewed as harmless. Long-term exposure often contributes to respiratory disorders such as bronchitis, emphysema and other forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as cancers. See our practical guide to protecting warehouse staff from dust hazards.
Our industry’s experience of the Covid pandemic taught us a lot about disease transmission in the work environment. Disease organisms can easily be picked up from the air and from infected surfaces. Hopefully, hand washing and surface disinfection are now taken more seriously in all workplaces. Our article on Covid-driven changes in the warehouse explores other ways of preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
Workers’ health can also be affected by adverse temperatures in the warehouse. Uncomfortably hot or cold conditions may affect morale and performance, cause additional physiological stresses and lead to illness. Excessive heat may also result in tiredness and lack of concentration, increasing the risk of mistakes and accidents. Our articles on sustainable warehouse heating and preparing materials handling operations for summer address these problems.
Poor warehouse lighting not only makes work difficult and uncomfortable but affects health. Related problems include eyestrain, headaches, migraines and ‘sick building syndrome’ (SBS) symptoms such as fatigue, irritability and poor concentration. Our article on improving warehouse light quality explores the practicalities of upgrading to LED lighting.
Healthy materials handling equipment
All lift trucks emit at least some noise and vibration. Even at relatively low levels, this may be annoying. And if workers suffer that annoyance hour after hour, day after day, it becomes a serious issue. It leaves them feeling tired, stressed and less fit for work. Eventually it may affect their health.
Exposure to high levels of noise or vibration can damage hearing and nerves. One aspect of particular concern is whole-body vibration (WBV), which is especially damaging to the operator’s back. Switching from IC engine forklift trucks to quiet, low-vibration electric alternatives substantially reduces these risks. See our article on the health and safety benefits of electric forklifts. On warehouse trucks, vibrations arising from travel over rough surfaces can be a problem. Look for models with suspended floors and other vibration-damping designs. Of course, it’s also a good idea to keep your warehouse flooring smooth through regular maintenance. We have articles on that too.
Repetitive strain injury (RSI) and other strain-related complaints are all too common amongst lift truck operators. Typically, they cause pain in the back, neck, shoulders, wrists, arms or knees, as well as a feeling of tiredness. These symptoms should never be ignored, as untreated conditions can become more serious over time. Strains often arise from too much twisting, turning and bending while operating the lift truck.
Truck design for ergonomics and comfort answers these problems. Essentially, it allows the operator to adopt a relaxed, comfortable posture and to operate all controls with minimal movement and without straining. Our article on boosting operator comfort will tell you more. Key features include high-comfort seating and armrests. These, along with the steering and other controls, should be shaped for optimum anatomical support, and adjustable to the perfect position for each operator. Easy all-round visibility is also important.
The ideal forklift truck should be enjoyable to drive. It should also empower its driver to work well. These factors give drivers a sense of wellbeing and job satisfaction. This is good for their mental and physical health.
At Cat® Lift Trucks we invest heavily in optimising the user experience given by our products. See our article on the importance of user experience in lift truck design. It’s all about the way a truck makes its operator feel.
One other area in which comfort and other feelgood factors should be considered is clothing. Our article on warehouse workwear technology looks at how this issue affects forklift operators and other logistics workers. It covers personal protective equipment (PPE), everyday outfitting and wearable warehousing aids.
A healthy lifestyle
The next group of worker health issues relates to behaviour and lifestyle choices. In our article on healthy forklift operating practices, we consider how poor habits can cause aches, pains, stress and fatigue. It includes advice on correct posture, driving style and simple stress-relieving exercises.
Increasing customer and market demands can make the warehouse a high-pressure, high-stress environment. You must be careful to prevent this from creating an unhealthy work-life balance. At the very least, that means working sensible hours, stopping for lunch and taking annual leave.
Exercise, a good diet and bodyweight control are fundamentals of health. In our article on keeping your core asset in shape, we offer inspirational examples of employers helping and incentivising workers to be fit and healthy.
Some bring in expert dietitians to give advice. Their support can even extend to carrying out body composition analysis. Rewards may be offered for weight loss, or maintenance, and for time spent exercising. More fundamentally, you can serve free healthy breakfasts and snacks. It’s also becoming more common to provide gyms, sports facilities, and yoga and fitness classes, as well as coaching from professional trainers.
In another article on employee wellbeing and morale, we expand our search for factors affecting the effort and enthusiasm that workers bring to your business. Encouraging confident communication between managers and staff is essential. This includes opportunities for one-to-one discussion of employees’ concerns. Career development programmes, giving them something to work toward, are vital to job satisfaction. You should also frequently recognise and reward workers for their efforts. Consider, in addition, their social wellbeing. Social events and team bonding activities outside work help to build happy and effective working relationships.
Ultimately, the success of your business depends heavily on the physical, mental and social wellbeing of your workers. We hope our thoughts on this subject will give you fresh ideas for improving health, motivation and teamwork in your workforce.
For further practical guidance on a wide range of topics relevant to materials handling, warehousing and logistics:
- Search our Cat Lift Trucks blog
- Search our Eureka online magazine and archive
Further information on Cat forklifts, warehouse equipment and related services can be found on the Products section. See them in action via https://www.catlifttruck.com/videos and follow the news on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.





