A Comprehensive Guide to the Warehouse Associate Position

Written by Staff Writer | Edited by Michael Purser

Warehouses are essential facilities that form the cornerstone of any logistics chain. Jobs in these indispensable hubs can be physically demanding but also rewarding.

There isn't a single warehouse associate job description template, but these workers play important roles in the logistics of inventory management for most businesses. Working in this role can challenge you mentally and physically as you master the art of processing and storing inventory.

As you are starting out in your new position, it's important to understand your role and the responsibilities it involves. It's also extremely important that you get safety training designed for warehouse associates. These workplaces can be dangerous if you don't know how to protect yourself and others.

Let's look at the fundamentals of this position.

Warehouse Associate Job Description and Responsibilities

Warehouses, storehouses, depots and repositories are all terms that refer to buildings with a similar purpose: to store goods or inventory. Those goods could be anything — from retail products like food, clothing and toys to chemicals, precious metals or even military munitions.

Warehouses fit into almost every step of any production chain, which means that each position will have a unique description based on the demands of that facility. However, many warehouse associate job descriptions are similar, regardless of industry or employer.

The job usually involves receiving, organizing, storing, retrieving goods and fulfilling orders. Job duties include heavy lifting, reading and creating labels, standing for long periods of time, picking orders, packing and unpacking boxes, operating powered machinery like forklifts, using scanners to update inventory and a variety of other tasks.

Daily Tasks of This Role

What does this role involve regularly? It depends, but daily responsibilities may include:

• Unloading items: Removing stock from vehicles, unpacking deliveries, checking materials and distributing items within the facility
• Loading items: Moving products into vehicles, ensuring they're packed securely and verifying records like manifests
• Order processing: Picking items from stock and preparing them for shipping
• Using tools: Managing stock by operating forklifts, hand trucks, pallet jacks and other equipment
• Stock tracking: Conducting periodic audits of items, rotating them and updating records as stock levels change

Your tasks might center around specific responsibilities, such as unloading shipments or preparing orders for delivery. Alternatively, you could specialize in handling equipment like a powered industrial truck (PIT) throughout the day.

Depending on the organization's needs, you may have broader duties. Smaller companies might require you to handle many of these tasks regularly.

Training Needed for This Role

While formal schooling isn't necessary for entry-level positions, training helps a lot. Even experienced candidates may need new guidance specific to a facility's processes.

For example, beginners in shipping may need to learn label-reading, navigating stock locations, packing methods and proper workplace protocols. Safety training specific to shipping departments, or broader industrial lessons, is crucial too.

The Importance of Proper Safety Training

Safety training is important in every workplace. But in industrial workplaces like warehouses, it is especially important to learn how to protect yourself from common hazards. There are many different potential dangers in this kind of facility.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lists common hazards in warehousing. Threats include:

• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Slips, trips and falls
• Hazardous chemicals
• Electrical hazards
• Stress and fatigue

You might not be exposed to all of these in any single role, but you will likely encounter at least some of them. Fortunately, you can learn how to avoid unnecessary risk. You just need to get the right safety training and practice what you learn.

How to Get Safety Training

While some employers might have in-house training programs, you can usually skip the classrooms and the 90s training tapes with an online education. You can select one or more digital training courses that will prepare you for a busy warehouse environment.

We offer a wide range of comprehensive online safety courses that cover just about every subject, ranging from general safety training like OSHA 10-Hour Training for General Industry to job-specific options like forklift certification and materials handling. We also offer OSHA-compliant competent person training so you can serve as a designated person to help identify and control hazards where you work.

You can learn the safety information you need to protect yourself on the job at your convenience with our fully online safety education courses.

OSHA Education Center — Your Source for Online Safety Training

We are the go-to resource for online safety training. As the industry leader in safety and compliance training, we make it easy for you to learn at your own pace. Train from your computer, tablet or mobile device. Benefits include:

• 100% online lessons available on any device
• An extensive course catalog with more than 150 options
• 24/7 course access
• Automatic progress saving
• Instant access to download and print your Certificate of Completion
• Full-motion video, audio narration and interactive exercises

Get the training you need in the most accessible way possible. Sign up for one of our courses today and find out why so many warehouse workers rely on OSHA Education Center for high-quality safety training.