Fulfillment centers are hand injury factories. The combination of high speed, high volume, and performance metrics creates pressure that pushes safety to the margins. Fighting this requires systematic approaches.
The Speed-Safety Conflict
When workers are measured on rate, they'll sacrifice safety to meet numbers. Effective safety programs must either reduce the conflict or change the incentives. Neither is easy in competitive logistics environments.
Practical Approaches
Make protection easy and fast. Stock self-adhering tape and gloves at every station. Train workers on quick protection application. Include safety metrics alongside productivity metrics. Investigate hand injuries to understand root causes.
In large fulfillment operations, even small improvements multiply across thousands of workers. A 10% reduction in hand injuries across 5,000 workers is significant impact.