Making Your Warehouse Docks Safer for People Working on Them

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Warehouse docks and loading docks, in general, can be hectic places with a lot of activity happening all at once. Sometimes the loading and unloading are happening very fast, so adding some things to increase safety at your warehouse docks can be an excellent idea.

1. Gates and Barricades

On docks that have a lot of high storage on pallet racks or shelves, installing scissor gates at the ends of each row is an excellent way to block off the row while pulling freight from the shelves. The operator pulling the pallets is concentrating on the load above and not people walking around them. 

If people can not get down the aisle, the operator can do their job and stay safe, knowing they aren't going to injure people moving around on the warehouse docks. These same scissor-style gates work well at docks doors, allowing a door to be open without a truck in the door. The barricades are strong and bright colored, so provide early warning and will stop a forklift from driving off the end of the dock accidentally. Learn more by contacting warehouse doors suppliers. 

2. Large Convex Mirrors

Adding large convex mirrors onto blind corners is another simple method that you can implement that can significantly increase the safety on the dock. When put in the right place on a blind corner, the mirror allows people to see around the corner and be on the lookout for forklifts coming around corners or forklift operators to see people coming. 

These mirrors are extremely effective when used in production facilities and warehouse docks. Once the mirrors are in place, people will quickly adapt to checking them when they come to a blind corner, and the likelihood of a collision between machines or a forklift and a person will be much lower.

3. Self Leveling Dock Plates

Dock plates are used on warehouse docks to span the gap between the dock and the trailer that you are loading or unloading. The dock plates on most docks are built into the dock, so an operator no longer needs to lift and carry a dock plate to the dock. 

When you are considering dock plates, look for a self-leveling system that extends and raised or lowers to meet the truck at the dock and keeps the plate as level as possible. Once the dock plate or transition is in place, the system should lock so the plate can not move while the truck is being loaded or unloaded. Systems like this reduce accidents with plates not solidly in place, and the possibility of someone getting hurt lifting a steel dock plate is gone because that is no longer needed.

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12 May 2020

Equipping Your New Industrial Facility

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