Facilitating Staff Work Days

Utilising a warehouse mezzanine for staff facilities

The workplace environment has a direct impact on the productivity, comfort, concentration, and morale of your employees. This means that providing adequate facilities for your staff isn’t just the law, but it’s also the difference between a high or low staff turnover. What it also means is that workplace facilities and amenities require the same level of consideration as any other area of your Melbourne warehouse. What it doesn’t mean though, is that you have to sacrifice valuable storage space to accommodate these facilities.

What does the law say?

The law mandates that employers must provide practical and adequate facilities for the welfare of their employees. Some amenities are compulsory for all workplaces. However, some will be dependant on the industry and activities involved in a specific workplace. Does the work leave employees dirty, smelly, or exposed to contaminants? Are employees required to change their clothes? Are employees working with foodstuffs? Employees need amenities and facilities for their basic health, safety, and welfare.

Basic Facilities and Amenities include:

• Clean drinking water
• Adequate number of toilets for males and females
• Adequate washing facilities
• Dining rooms for preparing and eating
• Change rooms that provide privacy
• Shower facilities for strenuous work or exposure to contaminants
• Secure, personal storage

Read the Victorian Compliance Code and Australian Code of Practice for further information and to ensure your workplace complies with the law.

What do your workers think?

Just because the law states that you must provide a certain level of facilities and amenities, doesn’t mean providing only the bare minimum. If you want to find and retain good staff, you’ll have to go above and beyond this. Today’s work environments have evolved: break rooms are now breakout zones equipped with refrigerators and TVs; employees bring valuable technology to fill in their break times and need secure lockers; or sometimes they jog on their lunch break and require shower facilities. Studies have shown that there is a direct link between work environment, job satisfaction, and productivity levels. Therefore, designing a workplace that provides the best working environment for your warehouse staff, simply makes good business sense.

Maintaining storage space

Many warehouse managers and owners are concerned that they’ll lose valuable storage space, when incorporating staff facilities. A great way to get around this is to install a mezzanine floor. You can utilised the space above and below a mezzanine level for staff facilities, with a staircase connecting the two levels. Or, you could install a mezzanine level over storage or working space and just use the vertical space of your warehouse for the staff facilities. Additionally, depending on the size of your warehouse, you may be able to incorporate more than one mezzanine level. Compared with the costs of construction and real estate to expand horizontally, mezzanines are a cost effective solution to providing adequate facilities for your staff.

When deciding on which facilities and amenities to provide, businesses have several factors to consider. In addition to legal requirements, they should also consider the impact facilities and amenities have on employee experience and workplace productivity. Most workers spend more of their time at work than at home; so don’t cut corners—keep the law and your employees happy. And remember that a warehouse mezzanine is an easy and practical solution to accommodate staff facilities, without losing vital storage space.