Why You Need Loading Bay Safety Barriers

Why You Need Loading Bay Safety Barriers

A warehouse can be a very dangerous environment for workers, passers by and any visitors to the site, especially when the proper safety precautions and risk assessments are not in place even something as simple as loading bay safety barriers are missing in most warehouses.

This is because the movement of vehicles within often tight spaces in a warehouse needs to be managed correctly. When the flow of traffic in a warehouse isn’t properly controlled and a heavy vehicle goes somewhere it shouldn’t, dangerous incidents can potentially occur.

It’s in order to keep risks and hazards of warehouse traffic at the very minimum, that warehouse managers looking to reduce the dangers might install loading bay safety barriers in their warehouse. These will provide solid protection against the damage that potentially could be caused.

Whether unloading goods, transferring them on to pallets or taking them for storage in another part of the warehouse, ensuring your loading bay has the right crash barrier protection in place is vital.

In addition to installing the right loading bay safety barriers, according to the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSA), two major safety factors also apply in order to create the safest, most risk free loading bay environment:

  • There is enough space in loading areas for vehicles to move safely and for people to move around.
  • Anyone not involved in loading or unloading should be kept away from loading areas.

Questions to ask when creating a loading bay

So, when installing a safe loading bay in a warehouse or other industrial environment, what sort of questions should always be asked? You’ll need to know the following:

  • Where goods will be loaded and unloaded
  • Who needs to be in that area (anyone else should be kept away)
  • Is there adequate space?
  • What risks of trips and falls are there?
  • Is there an electrical risk, or similar hazard to health?
  • Are those who will be using the loading bay properly trained?
  • Is the vehicle loading platform the same height as the loading bay?

Safety barriers are vital for keeping people away from automated processes and machinery, which could be dangerous if handled in the wrong manner and they are able to protect employees against falls. In addition, their high visibility offer a warning for forklifts, pedestrians and other moving machinery to stay away from empty loading docks.

Loading bay safety barriers, as with all safety barriers and bollards can be used to protect expensive equipment or the building itself from the damage that a wayward vehicle could cause. So, when you are installing a loading bay, this is exactly why you need loading bay safety barriers that are fully up to the job. Read our definitive barrier guide here.

Buy your loading bay safety barriers from Armco Direct

If you’re looking to install loading bay safety barriers, at Armco Direct, we have a range of products available to fit all shapes and sizes. Keep your workforce and machinery safe in no time at all – contact us about loading bay safety barriers today.