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Addressing human rights risks in warehousing and logistics requires HREDD that meaningfully involves warehouse workers and their trade unions in identifying, preventing and mitigating harm, and in delivering remedy.

The ITF Warehousing Principles set a floor for labour standards in warehousing

Warehouse work is increasingly shaped by subcontracting, precarious employment and fragmented supply chains, creating risks relating to wages, working conditions and living conditions. 

Outsourced and agency-based models weaken accountability for fair pay and conditions, leading to low wages

Restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining are systemic in warehousing, and they undermine every other human right risk in this section. 

Restrictions on freedom of association are systemic in warehousing, and they undermine every other right in this section. Fragmented sites

Warehousing is vulnerable to forced labour and human trafficking, particularly where migrant workers are recruited through labour agencies or cross-border recruitment systems. 

Risks arise through agency work, temporary contracts and outsourced operations – especially where workers are recruited

Warehouse work presents a range of discrimination-related risks linked to subcontracting, precarious employment and fragmented supply chains. 

Outsourced and agency-based models can create unequal treatment between workers performing similar roles, particularly where different contractual

Warehouse workers experience violence and harassment from supervisors, colleagues, security personnel, delivery drivers and contractors. Women workers, migrant workers and young workers may face heightened risks. 

Harassment takes many forms, including verbal abuse, intimidation, bullying or sexual

Warehouse work is increasingly shaped by complex supply chains, where subcontracting, precarious employment and lone working create distinct risks for workers. 

Rapid growth in e-commerce and just-in-time delivery has driven widespread outsourcing and short-term contracts, resulting in insecure jobs

Warehousing operations increasingly rely on digital technologies such as warehouse management systems, wearable devices, robotics and algorithmic performance monitoring. 

While these technologies can improve efficiency, they introduce new labour risks. 

Algorithmic management systems track worker

Warehouse operations present a range of occupational safety and health risks that are closely linked to subcontracting, precarious employment, and isolation and lone working. 

Fragmented contracting models obscure responsibility for safety standards, leading to inconsistent implementation of safety

Access to sanitation is a basic human right, protected under international and national regulation. 

In warehouse environments, workers may face barriers to accessing toilets, drinking water and hygiene facilities due to strict productivity targets or limited availability. 

Productivity monitoring