How Safety-First 3PLs Protect Your Supply Chain

June is National Safety Month, and whether you are insourcing or outsourcing your warehouse logistics, this is a great time to be reminded that safety matters. Without proper training, warehouses can be dangerous places: heavy machinery operating alongside pedestrians, multi-ton loads moving at heights, and performance pressures create risky environments. Unlike manufacturing facilities designed around fixed production lines, warehouses involve people, equipment, and materials constantly moving, creating countless intersection points where accidents can happen.

The human cost of warehouse safety issues is staggering.

Warehouse workers face significantly higher injury rates than those in other industries. When accidents happen at your 3PL’s facility, the disruption directly affects your operations. Understanding why warehouses can be dangerous and how to choose a safety-first 3PL partner protects both lives and business outcomes.

The Forklift Safety Factor

The forklift factor amplifies every risk. These machines weigh more than 9,000 pounds, lift loads to over 20 feet, and operate in spaces shared with workers on foot. A single forklift incident can involve multiple victims: the operator, nearby pedestrians, and anyone struck by falling materials.

OSHA’s Warehouse Emphasis Program puts special focus on “powered industrial vehicle operations,” and for good reason. Forklift violations rank as the 6th most cited OSHA standard in 2024, generating over $8 million in penalties across 2,248 citations.

The math is unforgiving. With 855,900 forklifts operating in American warehouses and 11% involved in accidents annually, basic probability suggests larger facilities will experience incidents. When you add deadline pressures, shift changes, varying skill levels, and the complexity of modern warehouse operations, the risk compounds exponentially.

Manufacturing takes the biggest hit—42.5% of all forklift fatalities happen in manufacturing environments. These aren’t just statistics. They are someone’s father, mother, brother, or sister. While accidents are called accidents for a reason, most of these tragedies didn’t have to happen.

Preventing forklift incidents stops a cascade of injuries, operational disruptions, and regulatory scrutiny that can destroy both workers’ lives and customer relationships. Every forklift accident avoided protects multiple people and prevents the kinds of facility shutdowns that ripple through entire supply chains.

Warehouse Safety and Risk Management

Companies operating their own warehouses carry the weight of safety risks and equipment maintenance for their customers. According to OSHA statistics, if you’ve got 10 or more forklifts in your operation, you’re almost guaranteed to have a serious incident this year without the proper safety measures.

OSHA recordable safety incidents can be damaging in many ways. Unsafe workplaces can expect higher employee turnover, adding to the already rising cost of recruitment and training. Workers’ comp claims average $41,003 per incident. OSHA fines for more serious incidents can reach hundreds of thousands. Last year alone, forklift violations cost companies over $8 million in penalties.

Every warehouse accident creates a cascading problem for businesses:

• Operational disruptions
• Regulatory exposure
• Insurance complications
• Reputation damage

This is one of the reasons why retailers and manufacturers choose to outsource warehouse logistics to safety-first 3PL operators with expertise in material handling efficiency and safety.

What to Look for in a Safety-First 3PL Partner

The logistics providers who consistently avoid becoming statistics don’t do it by accident (pun intended). They invest in comprehensive operator training, maintain equipment properly, and create cultures where people actually understand the risks of doing unsafe work.

Companies choosing to outsource warehouse operations and labor management to a 3PL should consider a careful vetting process.

Safety-first 3PL procurement checklist:

• OSHA citation history for the past three years
• Days since last recordable forklift incident
• Operator training and certification processes
• Equipment maintenance schedules and documentation
• Process for removing unsafe equipment from service
• How they track and investigate near-misses

Ultimately, your 3PL choice shouldn’t be about finding the cheapest option, but finding a partner that aligns with your values and avoids costly mistakes.

The Bottom Line

Your logistics partner’s safety performance directly impacts your business continuity, regulatory compliance, and risk profile. Every day they operate safely protects your supply chain from disruption. Every accident they prevent keeps your products moving and your reputation intact.

At WSI, safety is a core value, not a compliance requirement. It’s embedded in every procedure, every training program, and every decision we make. Our incident rates run 40% below industry averages because we genuinely believe that nothing we move, store, or deliver is worth someone getting injured.

When you partner with WSI, you’re aligning with a safety-first 3PL company whose values ensure that every day your products are in our care, someone’s family member goes home safe. That’s the foundation of trust that makes long-term partnerships possible.