Receiving to dispatch

Warehouse SOPs: the five procedures a shift runs on

A warehouse SOP describes one step in the flow of goods — receiving a trailer, putting a pallet away, picking an order, loading a truck — plus the safety procedures that sit around them: dock safety, forklift checks, racking inspection. The five below cover the flow for a typical distribution operation from the receiving bay to the truck. Each one is short enough to put on the wall at the place it happens.

Download the warehouse SOP pack (Word)

Which SOPs a warehouse operation needs

The full set, with when each one is used, what it leaves behind as a record, and the rule it answers to. The ones a warehouse gets asked about first are written out in full below.

Procedure	When	Record	Basis
Receiving	Every inbound trailer	Receiving log; GRN	Your WMS; carrier claims rules
Put-away	Every received pallet	WMS location confirm	Racking load notices
Picking	Every order	Pick confirmation; short-pick log	Your WMS
Packing and dispatch	Every outbound order	Manifest; proof of loading	Carrier rules; dangerous goods regs where they apply
Loading dock safety	Every trailer at a door	Dock checklist	OSHA 1910.178(k) and (m)(7)
Forklift pre-use inspection	Every shift, every truck	Pre-use checklist	OSHA 1910.178(q)(7)
Racking inspection	Weekly by the warehouse; annually by an expert	Rack inspection record	RMI ANSI MH16.1 (US); SEMA guidance (UK)
Battery charging and changing	Every charge	Charging log	OSHA 1910.178(g)
Manual handling	Every lift over 15 kg / 35 lb	None	NIOSH lifting equation; UK Manual Handling Regs 1992
Spill and damaged product	Every incident	Incident report	HazCom / COSHH for chemicals

The procedures, written out

These are general procedures. Your equipment, your products, your site rules and your local law come first — change the names, the limits and the forms to match, then have the right person approve each one before it is used.

Put-away

Area

Receiving bay to storage

Done by

Forklift or reach-truck operator

Purpose. Get a received pallet into the right location, recorded in the system, without overloading a beam or blocking an aisle.

Scope. Every pallet that has been received and labelled. Picking replenishment follows the same steps.

Safety.

• Check the load before you lift: shrink-wrap tight, nothing overhanging, pallet boards not broken. A pallet that leans on the ground leans more at 8 metres.
• Sound the horn at every aisle end and blind corner. Pedestrians have right of way; stop and make eye contact.

Step	Action	Key point / warning
1	Scan the pallet licence plate. The WMS gives a location. Check the pallet weight on the label against the beam load notice for that location.	No load notice on the bay, or the pallet is heavier than the notice: do not put it there. Report it.
2	Check the pallet height against the location height. Clearance above the load should be at least 75 mm (3 in).
3	Drive to the location with the load tilted back and low — forks 10 to 15 cm off the floor.	Never travel with a raised load, even for one bay.
4	Stop square to the location. Raise the load to just above beam height. Move in until the pallet is fully on both beams with a 50 mm (2 in) overhang at each side at most.	A pallet resting on one beam is a pallet that will fall when the next one is placed beside it.
5	Lower until the pallet sits on the beams. Back out straight. Lower the forks before you turn.
6	Scan the location label to confirm the put-away. A mismatch message means stop and check — do not override.	Every override is a future stock count error.
7	Look up before you leave the aisle: nothing overhanging, nothing leaning, beam not dented. Report rack damage at once (see the racking SOP).

Record. WMS put-away confirmation; rack damage report where needed.
Basis. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178 (powered industrial trucks); RMI ANSI MH16.1 (load notices); SEMA guidance on rack damage.

Order picking

Area

Pick faces

Done by

Picker

Purpose. Pick the right item, the right quantity, in the right condition, and record what was short — so the customer gets what they ordered and the stock count stays true.

Scope. Case and each picking from floor-level and first-level locations, with a scanner or voice system. Full-pallet picking follows the put-away SOP in reverse.

Safety.

• Cases over 20 kg (45 lb) or above shoulder height are a two-person or mechanical lift. Use the step stool for second-level locations, never a pallet or a rack beam.
• Keep the pick cart in the aisle, not across it.

Step	Action	Key point / warning
1	Log in to the scanner. Take the pick list or the next task. Check the tote or pallet is empty and labelled for this order.
2	Go to the location in the order the system gives. Scan the location label first, then the item barcode.	Scan the shelf, not the picture on the list.
3	Count out the quantity. For eaches, count twice; for cases, check the case quantity on the carton matches what you were asked for.	"Case of 12" picked as 1 is the most common short on the planet.
4	Check the condition: damaged, open, leaking, wet, past date — set it aside on the damaged shelf with a tag, and pick a clean one.	Never put damaged stock back on the pick face.
5	Confirm the quantity on the scanner. If the location is short, pick what is there, report the shortage on the scanner, and move on. Do not take from the next location.	A short reported now is a count fixed today. A substitute from the next slot is two errors.
6	At the end of the order, scan the tote or pallet label to close it. Move it to the packing lane.
7	Return the cart. Report any empty pick face, broken label or blocked aisle to the team leader.

Record. Pick confirmation per line in the WMS; short-pick log; damaged stock tags.
Basis. Your WMS procedure; NIOSH lifting guidance for the weight limits.

Loading dock: securing a trailer

Area

Dock doors

Done by

Dock operator; forklift operators

Purpose. Stop a trailer moving or pulling away while someone is inside it with a forklift.

Scope. Every trailer at a dock door, inbound or outbound, whether the tractor is attached or not.

Safety.

• Trailer creep and early pull-away are the two ways a forklift falls out of a trailer. Both are prevented by the same thing: the trailer is secured and the driver knows it.
• Never jump across the gap between the dock and the trailer. Use the dock plate.

Step	Action	Key point / warning
1	Driver backs in. Dock operator signals the stop. Driver sets the trailer brakes and switches off the engine.
2	Engage the dock lock (vehicle restraint) and check the green light inside and the red light outside. If there is no dock lock, chock both rear wheels on the driver's side.	Lights not working: use chocks as well, and report the lock.
3	Take the driver's keys, or operate the key-control box, so the tractor cannot leave. Give the driver the waiting area; drivers do not stand on the dock.	A driver in the cab with the keys is a trailer that can leave.
4	Dropped trailer with no tractor: fit the trailer stand (jack) under the nose before any forklift enters. Check the landing gear is down and locked.	A forklift's weight at the nose of an unsupported trailer tips it.
5	Open the doors. Look in with a light: floor condition, load shifted, anything that could fall. Check the trailer floor can take the forklift (holes, soft boards).
6	Set the dock plate or leveller and check it sits flat and fully on the trailer bed. Then begin loading or unloading.
7	When finished: forklift out, dock plate raised, door closed, then and only then release the dock lock or remove the chocks and return the keys.	In that order. The forklift is out before the trailer is free.

Record. Dock checklist per trailer: door, trailer number, restraint engaged (time), released (time), operator's initials.
Basis. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(k)(1) (brakes set and wheels chocked or restrained) and 1910.178(m)(7); UK HSE guidance on workplace transport.

Racking inspection

Area

All racking

Done by

Weekly: trained warehouse supervisor. Annually: a competent rack inspector

Purpose. Find damaged racking before the damage becomes a collapse.

Scope. All pallet racking, cantilever racking and mezzanine edge protection. The weekly walk is visual from the floor; the annual inspection is a full survey.

Safety.

• Damaged racking is not repaired by straightening it. A bent upright has lost strength and is replaced.

Step	Action	Key point / warning
1	Walk every aisle with the inspection form. Look at each upright from the floor: bends, dents, twists, missing footplates, loose floor bolts.	Use a 1-metre straight edge against the upright. A bend of more than 5 mm over the metre in the direction of the beams (along the aisle), or more than 3 mm front-to-back in the plane of the frame bracing, is an amber. Twice that — 10 mm / 6 mm — is a red (SEMA figures; RMI uses similar criteria).
2	Look at each beam: deflection that does not recover when unloaded, missing or damaged beam locks, beams not seated in the upright.	A beam without both safety locks can be lifted out by a fork. Fit the lock before you leave the aisle.
3	Check the load notices are present and readable on every run, and that pallets do not exceed the stated load or height.
4	Check column guards, end-of-aisle barriers and row spacers are in place and not themselves bent into the upright.
5	Amber damage: tag it, order the repair, and once the bay is unloaded do not reload it; the repair is due within 4 weeks. Red damage: unload the bay and the adjoining bays at once and cordon the aisle until repaired.	The person who finds red damage makes the aisle safe; they do not wait for the manager.
6	Record every item on the inspection form with the location code. Review open items at the weekly meeting until closed.
7	Annual: a competent person (rack supplier or SEMA/RMI-approved inspector) surveys every bay and issues a report. Act on it in the stated timescales.

Record. Weekly rack inspection form; damage tags; annual inspection report; repair records.
Basis. SEMA: Guide to the Conduct of Pallet Racking and Shelving Surveys; RMI ANSI MH16.1 and RMI's Guideline for the Assessment and Repair of Damaged Racking; OSHA 1910.176.

Packing and dispatch

Area

Packing lanes and outbound dock

Done by

Packer; dispatch clerk

Purpose. Send the complete order, packed so it arrives undamaged, with paperwork that matches what is in the box.

Scope. Every outbound parcel and pallet order. Dangerous goods, temperature-controlled and export orders have additional steps in their own SOPs.

Safety.

• Box cutters: retractable blade, cut away from your body and the person beside you. Tape guns: watch the blade edge.
• Stretch-wrapping a pallet by hand: walk forwards, not backwards; keep the aisle clear.

Step	Action	Key point / warning
1	Scan the tote or pallet label. The screen shows the order lines. Check each item and quantity against the screen as you pack — every item scanned, not counted.	The scan is the check. Packing by eye is how the wrong colour ships.
2	Choose the box or pallet pattern from the packing guide. Heaviest items at the bottom, fragile items wrapped and in the centre, no voids: fill them.	A box that rattles will arrive damaged.
3	Seal with the H-tape pattern. Pallets: stretch-wrap from the base up with at least three turns at the bottom and the top, and the wrap tied to the pallet, not to the load.
4	Print and apply the shipping label on the top face, flat, with no tape over the barcode. Put the packing slip inside the first box or in a pouch on the pallet.
5	Scan the label to close the order. Weigh the parcel or pallet; the system compares the weight to the expected weight.	A weight mismatch means an item is missing or extra. Open it. Do not ship it.
6	Stage in the lane for the carrier. The dispatch clerk checks the manifest against the staged units before the trailer is loaded.
7	Load (see the dock SOP). Driver signs the manifest for the number of units, not the contents. Keep the signed copy.

Record. Packing confirmation per order; weight check result; signed manifest; photo of a loaded pallet for high-value orders.
Basis. Carrier packaging rules; IATA/ADR/49 CFR where dangerous goods apply.

Where warehouse SOPs go wrong

Chocks are in the SOP and not on the dock

Every warehouse has a wheel-chock rule. Fewer have a chock at every door, a hook to hang it on and a line on the checklist that someone initials. If the chock takes a walk to fetch, it does not get used at 2 am.

Overrides are allowed

A scanner that lets the picker confirm a location mismatch, or a put-away in a bay the system did not give, is a system that will be lied to a hundred times a day for good reasons. Lock the override behind the team leader's login and look at why each one happened.

Rack damage is reported to maintenance and lives in a queue

A bent upright found on Monday and repaired in six weeks is a bay that should have been unloaded on Monday. Separate the two actions: making it safe is the finder's job, now; the repair is maintenance's job, later.

Short picks are 'fixed' from the next location

The picker is being helpful. The result is two locations wrong, an order that may still be wrong, and a stock count nobody trusts. Report the short, pick what is there, move on. Replenishment is a different job.

Pre-use checks are done by signing a sheet

Thirty ticks in the same pen at the start of the shift. The check that works is the one where the operator has to write the hour-meter reading and one fault or "none" in words. Spot-check the sheet against the truck.

Getting the shift to follow them

Put each procedure where the task happens: the dock steps on the wall by the door, the racking damage criteria on the inspection clipboard, the picking rules on the scanner holster card. Agency and seasonal staff are the people doing most of the picking and the least of the reading; a one-minute video of each procedure, in the languages your agency sends you, shown before the first shift, is the induction that sticks. The forklift safety talk covers the pre-use check and the pedestrian rules, and the new-worker orientation covers the first day.

Questions

Which warehouse SOPs does OSHA require?

OSHA does not list SOPs by name, but 1910.178 requires forklift operators to be trained and evaluated, trucks to be examined before each shift, and trailer wheels to be chocked or restrained; 1910.176 covers storage and 1910.1200 chemicals. Written procedures are how you show an inspector you meet them. In the UK the equivalent is PUWER, the Workplace Regulations and the HSE's workplace transport guidance.

How often should racking be inspected?

A visual check by a trained employee weekly (many sites do it daily on busy aisles), and a full survey by a competent inspector at least once a year. Both SEMA and RMI recommend this; some insurers require it.

What is the difference between an SOP and a work instruction in a warehouse?

The SOP covers the whole task — receiving a delivery. A work instruction covers one specific piece of it with photographs — how to use the dock leveller at door 4. Small sites combine them; larger sites keep the work instructions by equipment type.

Can agency staff follow these?

That is the test of a good SOP. If the procedure needs a month of experience to interpret, it is a training document, not a procedure. The versions here are written for someone on their first week, which is why they say 'scan the shelf, not the picture'.

Sources

• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178: Powered industrial trucks
• Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI): ANSI MH16.1 and damage assessment guideline
• SEMA: racking inspection guidance (UK)
• HSE: Workplace transport safety