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Which written safety programs does your warehouse need?

There is no single OSHA rule that says "a warehouse needs these programs". What exists is a set of standards that switch on when a facility does a particular thing: operate a lift truck, keep a chemical with a safety data sheet, service a conveyor. Answer 10 questions about your building and this page lists the written programs those standards ask for, each with the clause behind it. 5 apply to every warehouse whatever you answer. The result is shown here, in full, with no email required.

Your facility

0 of 10 answered

  • Does anyone operate a forklift, order picker, reach truck, or powered pallet jack?

    Any truck that is powered and carries or lifts a load counts, including walk-behind electric pallet jacks.

  • Are hazardous chemicals stored or used in the building?

    If a product in the building has a safety data sheet, the answer is yes. Cleaning chemicals and shrink-wrap adhesives count.

  • Are electric lift truck batteries charged or changed on site?

    A dedicated charging area, a battery change station, or opportunity charging at the dock all count.

  • Do employees service, clean, or clear jams on powered equipment?

    Conveyors, balers, compactors, dock levelers, and shrink wrappers. If someone reaches into a machine that can start up, the answer is yes.

  • Are flammable liquids stored in the building?

    Paints, aerosols, solvents, fuel for equipment, or anything in a flammable storage cabinet.

  • Do you have a loading dock where trailers are spotted at doors?

    Any dock where a trailer is backed in and employees or trucks drive into it.

  • Is welding, cutting, brazing, or torch work done in the building?

    Count work done by contractors as well as by your own maintenance staff.

  • Do you offer hazardous materials for shipment?

    If your facility prepares, packages, marks, or signs shipping papers for anything with a UN number, the answer is yes.

  • Do outside contractors or temporary agency workers work on the floor?

    Anyone working in your building who is not on your payroll, including third-party maintenance and staffing agency labor.

  • Did the company have more than 10 employees at any time in the last calendar year?

    Company-wide peak headcount, not headcount at this one building.

What OSHA expects in writing

5 written programs

10 questions are still unanswered, so this list will grow as you work through them. The first five apply to every warehouse whatever the answers.

Every warehouse

  • Emergency action plan

    29 CFR 1910.38(a)

    A written emergency action plan, kept in the workplace and available to employees, covering evacuation and how people are accounted for afterwards.

    See the template

  • Portable fire extinguisher program

    29 CFR 1910.157(c)

    Extinguishers mounted, located, and identified so they are accessible without exposing anyone to injury, with the monthly and annual checks recorded.

    See the template

  • PPE hazard assessment, with written certification

    29 CFR 1910.132(d)(2)

    A written certification that the hazard assessment was done, naming the workplace, the person certifying it, and the date. A verbal assessment does not satisfy this.

    See the template

  • Exit route and egress maintenance

    29 CFR 1910.37(a)

    Exit routes kept unobstructed and free of anything that could block them, which in a warehouse means a housekeeping procedure someone owns.

    See the template

  • Material storage and stacking procedure

    29 CFR 1910.176(b)

    Stored material stacked, blocked, interlocked, and limited in height so it is stable and cannot slide or collapse.

    See the template

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How it is calculated

The mapping is a plain rules table, not a model: each question switches on a fixed set of programs, and a program that several questions point at appears once. Answering no never removes a program from the baseline group, because those five apply regardless.

Every citation here is copied from the library template named beside it, and a unit test in this repo re-reads the template data on every build to confirm the clause is one that template actually cites. That is deliberate: it makes an invented citation a failing test rather than a plausible-looking line on a page.

The one exception is injury and illness recordkeeping. 29 CFR Part 1904 is a reporting rule rather than a procedure, so no SOP template cites it, and its clause was read directly from the eCFR text instead.

Source: eCFR, 29 CFR 1904.1, partial exemption for employers with 10 or fewer employees. Read 29 August 2026. If OSHA changes the page, this one changes with it.

This is a starting list, not a compliance audit. It covers what the WarehouseSOP library spans, which is federal 29 CFR 1910 and the DOT hazmat rules a warehouse touches. It does not cover confined space entry, process safety management for refrigeration, state plan requirements, or anything specific to your industry classification. Have a qualified safety professional review the result against your facility. See the template library for what each program looks like written down.

Templates this leads into

A rate or a due date tells you where you stand. The written procedure is what closes it. These are the library entries this tool points at.

Browse the whole template library or start from Emergency.

Write the procedure behind the number

This tool is free and stays free. If you want the written SOPs to go with it, answer the facility questionnaire once and every template comes back with your equipment, your job titles, and your sign-off sheet attached.

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