Utilising Warehouse Steps: Your Guide to Safe Access

Maximising space in a large warehouse is essential for efficiency, organisation, and productivity. To achieve this, businesses often install tall shelving units and multi-tiered storage systems that allow them to store more inventory without expanding their floor space. To access these supplies that are stored at height, warehouse steps are a valuable type of access equipment. Read on to discover everything you need to know about them, from their key features to why they can be beneficial.

Understanding Warehouse Steps

As an alternative to ladders, warehouse steps are a type of access equipment that staff can use to access stock and supplies in a warehouse. They allow employees to reach height safely and with ease. In many cases, these solutions are often a better option than ladders, as they allow staff to carry supplies up and down without risking their balance. 

The Benefits of Using Warehouse Steps

If you’re considering access equipment for your warehouse, warehouse steps are a fantastic option. Discover the key benefits of implementing these systems in your business’s warehouse below. 

Enhanced Safety

While workplace safety is paramount across all industries, it's particularly critical in physically demanding jobs such as those in warehouse operations. Thankfully, warehouse steps from reputable manufacturers can help ensure employee safety when working at height.  Their design incorporates key safety features that minimise the risk of falls and accidents, thereby preventing potentially serious injuries.

Increased Efficiency and Productivity

In workplaces where accessing stored items is difficult, employees often waste valuable time and effort trying to retrieve necessary supplies.  This inefficiency can significantly impact productivity. Warehouse steps offer a practical solution by enabling employees to safely and quickly reach stock located at various heights.  By streamlining the retrieval process, warehouse steps empower workers to accomplish more tasks in less time, leading to increased overall productivity and improved operational efficiency.

Versatility

Warehouse steps can be used to help staff manage stock in a warehouse, in several ways. This can include loading and unloading goods, as well as stock-taking tasks. Warehouse steps can also help employees undertake maintenance procedures with ease, such as replacing lightbulbs and accessing broken ventilation systems. 

Durability

Typically made of metals, warehouse steps are durable and resilient to damage. Their robust construction ensures they can withstand frequent use in demanding warehouse environments, where heavy foot traffic and regular movement of goods are common. Additionally, metal warehouse steps are resistant to impact, bending, and corrosion, making them suitable for long-term use in a wide range of environments. 

Improved Organisation

Organisation is highly important to a well-managed warehouse, helping operations to continue to run smoothly.  Warehouse steps can help to make organisation simple, allowing staff to easily categorise supplies and goods, while also ensuring that they are easy to access in future. 

The Key Features 

Warehouse steps have many features, each designed to make them more beneficial for use in a warehouse. Below, you can discover the key features of warehouse steps to look for in a set of warehouse steps, making sure they are as beneficial to your business as possible. 

Slip-Resistant Treads

Slip-resistant treads are crucial safety features in warehouses, especially on steps. Falls from even a short height can cause serious injuries, including fractures, sprains, and head trauma. Slip-resistant treads, often made of materials like rubber or textured metal, significantly reduce the risk of slips and falls by providing better traction and grip. Implementing slip-resistant treads is a proactive measure to protect workers and maintain a safe working environment.

Handrails and Guardrails

Handrails and guardrails are essential safety features on warehouse steps, designed to prevent falls and protect workers from injury. Handrails provide a stable gripping surface for individuals ascending or descending the steps, offering support and balance, especially when carrying heavy loads. 

Essential Maintenance Tips

To keep your warehouse steps functioning at their best, it’s important to look after the equipment carefully. From regularly inspecting for damage to making sure to use appropriate cleaning products, maintenance will help your warehouse steps last for years to come. Discover some essential tips below, detailing how you can carefully maintain your access equipment.

Routine Inspections

Before using warehouse steps, it’s important to first ensure the steps are safe for use. You should carry out regular inspections of the key features of the steps, looking out for signs of damage or loose parts. By making sure to look over this important equipment, you can prevent accidents from happening. You can also reduce downtime, as problems can be both detected and repaired quickly. 

Appropriate Cleaning

With staff frequently needing to step on warehouse steps, debris from their shoes and accidental spillages can leave cleaning relatively dirty. Routinely removing dirt and debris with a brush can help prevent these materials from causing damage to the steps themselves. To properly clean the steps, it’s important to use non-abrasive cleaning supplies, as these will effectively clean the steps without causing damage to the steps themselves.

When to Repair Warehouse Steps

If you notice any signs of damage or instability in your warehouse steps, it is crucial to carry out repairs before using them again. Repairs are needed to prevent workplace accidents and ensure the safety of employees. Signs that indicate repairs are needed include loose screws or bolts, which can cause wobbling or structural weakness, damaged or worn steps that reduce grip and increase the risk of slipping, and bent or misaligned frames that may compromise stability.

Choosing the Right Warehouse Steps for Your Business

If you think warehouse steps could be right for your business, it’s important to find the right ones. Below, you can discover some key considerations to take into account when choosing a set of warehouse steps, helping you to make the right decision. 

Height

Different warehouses will have different requirements for the heights of their warehouse steps. When deciding, it’s worth measuring your shelving units to get an understanding of what height your warehouse steps should be. Consider the number of steps you will need to reach your desired height, and how that will affect the overall width of your warehouse steps. 

Colours

While many factors to consider when choosing warehouse steps are purely functional, it’s important not to overlook the aesthetic considerations too. Warehouse steps come in a wide range of colours, allowing you to choose your preferred colour. You can easily find a solution that remains visible in your workplace, amongst other equipment and supplies. You might also want equipment that suits your brand identity, so it can be helpful to choose a colour relevant to your company. At TopTower, for example, our Industrial Mobile Safety Steps are available in blue, yellow and red.

Space Considerations

Considering how much space you have available in your warehouse is key, as large warehouse steps will likely take up large amounts of space unnecessarily and can prevent operations from running smoothly. Before purchasing a warehouse step, make sure you know where it will be stored when not in use. Using the measurements given by a potential supplier can give you a reasonable idea of whether the equipment will work in your space.

Quantity

For large warehouses, it’s unlikely that one set of warehouse steps alone will be equipped to meet all the access needs of the business. So, when selecting warehouse steps, it’s important to consider the quantity you will need. Typically, small warehouses will only require one to two sets of warehouse steps, while large warehouses might instead benefit from around five sets of warehouse steps. This will allow operations to continue smoothly, preventing major delays. 

Our Warehouse Steps and Ladders

As experts in access equipment, TopTower can provide you with the warehouse steps you need to make your workplace more functional. We offer mobile solutions that can easily be moved around a warehouse and positioned in the ideal space. Additionally, we offer a wide range of other access equipment, including scaffold towers, allowing us to meet all of your access needs.

Please visit our website to learn more about us and to shop our products. Here, you can also find more helpful information and blog posts, helping you to decide which access equipment will work best for you. Alternatively, please get in touch with us directly for our expert product recommendations and further support.

For more information on Utilising Warehouse Steps: Your Guide to Safe Access talk to Toptower Ltd