Office storage

Storing items in offices, whether in cabinets, cupboards or on shelves in storage areas, can, if carried out incorrectly, lead to accidents involving personal injuries.

Managing the risks

To help you to identify the hazards associated with safe storage and the appropriate ways of controlling them, use our example Risk Assessment - Office Storage. It covers the generic hazards associated with this type of activity and suggests control measures to reduce risks to an acceptable level. You should ensure that your document only addresses “significant” hazards, i.e. any that could and, more importantly are likely to, cause an accident or injury.

Make your instructions clear

Don’t include activities in your document that simply don’t need to be there. Work to the principle that if there is any chance of your staff being unaware of the safe way of storing items in the office, then you will need to make it clear in your document. Finally, always ensure that any control measures you identify and follow are decided upon the principle of “so far as is reasonably practicable”. The list of potential hazards is not exhaustive.

Note. This risk assessment only deals with the generic risks associated with office storage. For your risk assessment to be considered suitable and sufficient in the eyes of the law it must accurately reflect the “significant” hazards found in your office storage areas.