Warehouse Organization Checklist

Confirm the OSHA 300A summary is posted Feb 1 through Apr 30 (required for sites with 10+ employees), and that the federal/state labor posters, emergency exit map, and forklift operator authorization list are current and legible.

Check pallet rack uprights for forklift damage (bent beams, missing safety pins), aisle blockage, spilled product, frayed strapping, and obstructed eyewash/fire extinguishers. Red-tag any damaged rack bay and offload it before continuing.

Move product from the damaged bay to a temporary slot, cone off the area, and file a work order with the rack vendor. Do not re-pick from a damaged bay — collapse risk is the most common warehouse fatality cause cited by OSHA.

OSHA 1910.178 requires powered industrial truck operator evaluation every three years. Pull the certification log; flag any operator whose recert is within 30 days and schedule the evaluation before expiry.

Top up cut-resistant gloves, safety glasses, back-support belts, and hi-vis vests. Verify the eyewash bottles are within expiration and the spill kit (absorbent pads, sodium bicarbonate for battery acid if electric lift trucks are in use) is sealed.

Generate today's ABC cycle count list from the WMS (Cin7, NetSuite, Fishbowl, or similar). A-velocity SKUs count weekly; B monthly; C quarterly. Print the count sheets blind — no on-hand quantity shown to the counter.

Counter walks the assigned bins, scans each location, and keys the physical count. A second associate recounts any bin where first-pass variance exceeds 2 units or 5% before adjustment is posted.

Adjusting without investigating masks the shrink trend. For any variance over $250 or 10 units, trace the last 30 days of receipts, transfers, and returns for the SKU before posting the adjustment — common root causes are receiving over/under, mis-scans at pick, and case-pack vs. each unit-of-measure errors.

Hand the SKU, location, count history, and adjacent CCTV time window to the LP manager. Do not confront the suspected associate — civil-recovery and wrongful-termination exposure rests on a documented LP investigation, not a manager hunch.

Inventory planner approves adjustments above the threshold; counter posts the rest. Reconcile on-hand to the ERP at end of day so allocation analysts see clean ATS overnight.

Pull the last 30 days of pick frequency. A-velocity SKUs belong in the golden zone (waist-to-shoulder height, closest to pack-out); C-velocity moves to upper racks or back aisles. Seasonal transitions are the most common trigger for re-slotting.

Move product per the slotting plan, update bin locations in the WMS as you go (not after), and verify reach-truck clearance for any pallet moved to upper levels. A mis-scanned bin move is the most common cause of next-day pick errors.

Replace faded or peeling barcode labels on bin fronts and rack uprights. Verify the label printer is calibrated — drifted barcodes that scan as the wrong location are a silent source of put-away errors that surface days later as cycle-count variances.

OSHA requires a documented pre-shift inspection per powered industrial truck per shift: forks, mast, hydraulics, tires, horn, lights, seatbelt, battery/fuel level. Any truck failing inspection is tagged out and parked until repair.

Call the lift-truck service vendor (Crown, Toyota, Raymond, Hyster) and log the unit number, hour meter, and failure mode. Park the unit in the designated tag-out zone — not back on the charge line — until cleared.

Walk conveyor belts for tracking and frayed edges, test e-stops, check pallet jack wheels and hydraulics, and cycle each dock leveler and trailer restraint. Dock-plate failure during loading is a top cause of warehouse injury claims.

Record hour-meter readings, inspections completed, and repairs performed in the CMMS or maintenance binder. The log is the artifact OSHA and the insurance carrier ask for after any equipment-related incident.

Piece-count or case-count the load on the dock — do not sign the BOL or POD as "OK" without verification. A signed clean BOL waives most shortage and damage claims against the carrier and the vendor.

Note the shortage or damage on the BOL with the driver present, photograph the affected pallets, and submit the claim per the carrier's deadline (typically 9 months for concealed damage under Carmack, but vendor policy is often 7-14 days). Late claims are the most common reason carriers deny.

Put-away within 24 hours keeps the dock clear and ATS accurate. Scan each bin on drop — manual put-away without scan is the single largest source of inventory ghosting.

Release waves by carrier cutoff: parcel (UPS/FedEx) first, then LTL, then will-call. BOPIS and ship-from-store orders pick to a dedicated cart per the OMS rules so they don't mix with bulk DC orders.

Stage packed cartons in lanes by carrier and trailer. Verify carton counts match the load manifest before the driver takes possession. A missing carton caught at staging is a relocate; one caught after the trailer leaves is a freight claim.

Aisle obstruction is the #1 picker-injury cause and a common OSHA general-duty citation. Sweep banding, stretch wrap, and broken pallet scraps to the baling area before the next shift starts.

Run the baler per the trained-operator list only (29 CFR 1910.211 restricts baler operation to authorized employees 18+). Stage bales for the recycler and log any hazardous waste (damaged aerosols, lithium batteries) to the appropriate disposal bin.

Tag damaged items with RA numbers from the vendor portal and stage in the RTV cage. Holding damaged stock on the floor inflates on-hand and ties up sellable space; un-actioned RTV piles are the most common housekeeping audit finding.

Shift lead confirms dock doors are down and locked, lift trucks are on the charge line, the alarm panel is armed, and the close log is signed. Any open exceptions (tagged-out equipment, pending RTVs, open variances) carry over to the next-shift handoff note.