Assess the risks of goods storage

You are required to assess the risks posed by storing goods and materials and take steps to minimise them.

You should consider the hazards and risks caused by storing goods and materials as part of your overall health, safety and environmental risk assessment.

You also need to analyse how storing materials affects the fire risks faced by your business. For more information, see our guide on fire safety and risk assessment.

All businesses need to consider the hazards caused by storing goods and materials. But there are some which face greater inherited risks, such as:

• factories
• warehouses
• shops
• construction businesses
• agricultural businesses
• food businesses
• any business which has to store hazardous materials such as gas cylinders and oil

Your risk assessment must identify hazards caused by your storage of goods, analyse the likelihood of their occurring and determine who and what might be at risk.

You then need to take steps to implement any precautions needed to ensure all risks are minimised.

You'll also need to record your findings and remember to review your assessment regularly.

For more information, see our guide on risk assessment - an overview.

Types of possible hazard you'll need to consider include:

• goods falling from shelving or racking
• someone falling when climbing on shelving
• stock or materials blocking fire exit routes
• accumulations of used packaging
• poor storage causing increased manual-handling risks, eg putting bulky items above head height
• spillages of goods causing environmental damage or increasing the risk of slips and trips occurring
• exposure to badly stored hazardous substances
• contamination or danger caused by storing inappropriate materials together
• the use of mechanical-handling equipment, eg loads falling from forklift trucks
• vandalism, theft and arson causing pollution
• flammable substances

This list is illustrative not exhaustive.

You can download a guide on the five steps to risk assessment from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) website (PDF) - Opens in a new window.

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