Warehousing
WarehousingForklifts, racking and loading bays, checked every shift.
In a warehouse the risks move: forklifts, people on foot, loads going up and coming down. ProComply puts the pre-shift checks on a phone and keeps forklift test and examination dates where you will see them.
Where it goes wrong
The hazards that come up most on warehousing work, and where the daily checks matter.
- Forklifts and pedestrians sharing aisles
- Racking damaged by impact or overloaded
- Unstable stacks and falling stock
- Loading bays and vehicle movements
- Hazardous goods storage and segregation
What the law asks
A summary of the main requirements, taken from the Act and Regulations themselves, with links to the official text.
Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
General duty
The employer must provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to health.
OHS Act s8(1)
Source: Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (labour.gov.za)
Forklifts and other lifting machines
Every lifting machine, including a forklift, must be operated by someone specifically trained for that type of machine. For machines listed in the national code of practice, the operator needs a certificate from an accredited training provider.
DMR 18(11)
Lifting machines need a thorough examination and performance test by a lifting machinery inspector before first use, after being re-erected, and at least every 12 months.
DMR 18(5)
Ropes, chains, hooks, brakes and safety devices on the machine must be examined by a competent person at least every six months, and a register of tests and examinations kept on the premises.
DMR 18(6), 18(7)
Source: Driven Machinery Regulations, 2015 (gov.za)
Checklists ready for warehousing
These standard templates come with ProComply, alongside the general ones every site uses, such as the daily site safety inspection and toolbox talk record. Use them as they are, or change them to suit your sites.
How checklists work- Daily Warehouse Inspection
- Forklift Pre-Use Check
- Racking Inspection
- Loading Bay Inspection
- Hazardous Goods Inspection
- Vehicle & Fleet Pre-Use Check
Guides on this topic
- TemplatesDaily site inspection checklists, with free templatesWhy a short daily inspection is one of the most useful habits on a high risk site, what a good one covers, how to make it stick, and a printable daily site inspection checklist.
- Incidents and COIDIncident reporting and investigation under the OHS ActPublishing soon
- TemplatesRisk assessments (HIRA) explained, with a free templateWhere the duty to assess risk comes from in the OHS Act and the Construction Regulations, a simple way to run a hazard identification and risk assessment, and a printable HIRA template.
Get started
See it with your own sites in mind.
Book a demo and we will walk through ProComply using the kind of work you do, the checklists you need and the way your sites are run. Or start now and set up your first site today.