Warehousing and Distribution WHS Manual

This is the warehousing and distribution edition of the WHS Manual. It has the same chapters as the general WHS Manual, written for warehouses, distribution centres, cross-docks and trade stores, so you only need one of the two. It follows the work in the order it happens: receiving, put-away, storage, picking, packing and dispatch, with the forklift, racking, dock, conveyor and battery rules in the order the Queensland law and good practice set them, and it points to the safe work method statements, checklists and registers in our range that match. The cover page is ready for your business name and logo. Part A is the management system, in 23 numbered chapters. Part B holds the full text of 75 policies and procedures (41 that apply to every business and 34 for warehousing and distribution work), each on its own pages in the same editable file, so you can edit, issue and sign off each one without buying it separately.

What Is Included In Our Warehousing and Distribution WHS Manual?

• WHS policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Duties and roles for owners, managers, supervisors, forklift operators and pickers
• Why a warehouse does not need a SWMS by law, the written safe work procedures this manual requires instead, and the racking installation exception
• Licences and competency: forklift, order picker, reach stacker, vehicle loading crane, dogging and written authority for each truck
• Forklifts, reach trucks, pallet trucks and pedestrian traffic management
• Loading docks, trailer restraint, container unpacking and the chain of responsibility
• Pallet racking, load capacity, inspection and damage
• Order picking, mezzanines and work at height
• Dangerous goods and packaged chemicals, manifests, spills and fire
• Lithium and lead-acid battery charging, conveyors, balers, cold stores and night work
• Emergency planning and first aid, incident notification and return to work
• A list of the warehouse forms, registers and SWMS in our range, with when to use each
• Part B: the full text of 75 policies and procedures, from risk, hazard and incident management to manual handling, hazardous substances, emergencies and return to work, plus 34 for warehousing and distribution work

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld): the meaning of reasonably practicable (s 18), our primary duty of care (s 19), duties of persons who manage or control a workplace (s 20), management or control of plant (s 21), duties of designers, manufacturers, importers, suppliers and installers (ss 22 to 26), codes of practice (ss 26A, 274 and 275), duties of officers (s 27), duties of workers and others (ss 28 and 29), notifiable incidents (ss 35 to 39), consultation (ss 46 to 49), the right to cease unsafe work (ss 84 to 86), and no levy on workers (s 273)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): the electrical safety duty (s 30), codes of practice (ss 44 and 45), and electrical work licences (s 55)
• Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld), which applies the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland): loading manager and the other chain of responsibility parties (s 5), the primary duty and its officers (ss 26A to 26H), the loading rule (s 111) and mass, dimension and loading documents (s 186)
• Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (Qld): gas work and gas work licences (ss 726 and 727)
• Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld): claims and the employer’s injury report, rehabilitation and return to work
• Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld)
• Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld): the general environmental duty (s 319) and the duty to notify of environmental harm (ss 320A to 320D)
• Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld): the value of a penalty unit (s 5(1)(d))
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): managing risks (ss 32 to 38), information, training and instruction (s 39), facilities, first aid, emergency plans and personal protective equipment (ss 40 to 47), remote or isolated work (s 48), airborne contaminants (ss 49 and 50), ignition sources and flammable material (ss 52 and 53), noise (ss 56 to 59), manual tasks (s 60), confined spaces (ss 62 to 77), falls (ss 78 to 80), high risk work licences (ss 81 to 85 and sch 3), plant (chapter 5 and sch 5), hazardous chemicals (chapter 7 and schedules 11 and 14), asbestos (chapter 8), crystalline silica (chapter 8A), and the dictionary (sch 19)
• Work Health and Safety (Codes of Practice) Notice 2022 (Qld): the list of approved codes of practice and advisory standards
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead electric lines (ss 10 to 15 and sch 2), unsafe electrical equipment (s 17), energised electrical work (ss 199 to 204), and notifying serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events (ss 292 and 296)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Dangerous Goods) Regulation 2018 (Qld): training for people on dangerous goods tasks (s 20)
• Petroleum and Gas (Safety) Regulation 2018 (Qld): gas cylinders carried in vehicles (ss 141 to 144)
• Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld): evacuation routes (s 7)
• 18 Queensland approved codes of practice, named in full in the manual

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word manual (about 500 pages), A4 portrait, with a cover page ready for your business name and logo, a contents list, Part A (23 numbered chapters) and Part B (75 policies and procedures)
• Business details and document control typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• A WHS policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Roles, procedures, a risk matrix, record-keeping periods, definitions and references
• Part B: the full text of 75 policies and procedures, each starting on a new page
• Links by name to the matching SWMS, forms and registers in our range

Review it and adjust it to suit your business, your sites and the way your team works, and talk it through with your workers. If you have any trouble downloading this template, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading.