Do Your Walkways Meet Safety Standards
Safety in the workplace is a concern for employers, employees, and visitors alike. There are multiple safety hazards on any worksite but many surround warehouse and work site walkways. There are places where forklifts, other vehicles and pedestrians will need to cross each other’s paths. Such places can be a cause of hazard or injuries if not properly looked after. This usually happens when pedestrians have no dedicated walkways or safe marcation surrounding them.
There should be no compromise on pedestrian safety walkways warehouse wide, otherwise the consequences can be seriously hazardous. Any walkways should always be installed and maintained according to safety standards to ensure that everyone in your workplace is safe.
The management of your workplace should consult safety inspectors for an assessment of their site and seek advice from experts regarding the enhancement of safety protocols. The very first thing that helps in making a workplace safe is its design. Here are some tips that will go a long way in ensuring safety standards at your workplace:
Separate Walkways:
You can make sure that everyone is safe at your workplace by keeping bystanders and pedestrians separate from the forklifts or other vehicles moving around in the area. This is possible with separate pathways for pedestrians and vehicles. Doing this will keep pedestrians out of hazard zones and keep them away from risks. For large facilities, you can use catwalks and other elevated and prominent structures to keep everyone aware and out of danger. High risk areas should be protected with safety gates and only authorised and approved personnel should be allowed to enter these areas. You can also use floor marking to designate separate pedestrian pathways in smaller facilities as installing physical barriers may not be practical or feasible.
Use Linemarking:
There should be logical and highly visible line markings throughout your workplace to ensure the safety of those using walkways. These line markings help in enhancing navigation, safety, and accessibility around the workplace. These line markings will work effectively in reducing the chances of accidents and help to create safer walkways for pedestrians. They are also a means of designating specific laneways for transport vehicles, forklifts, and heavy machinery working in the area.
Additionally, these line markings will help in assigning dedicated areas for the disposal of hazardous wastes and improve productivity around the workplace. While preparing your workplace for line marking, it is necessary to make sure that it is cleaned properly just like you would do while painting the walls. You also need to take the time to make clear training available to all staff so they are aware of how the linemarking system works.
Effective Scheduling:
Separate walkways make sure that pedestrians are safe and away from moving vehicles to avoid accidents. However, there are some areas where your site specifications and space may not actually permit the installation of separate walkways. The best way to keep everyone safe in these situations is by creating a feasible working schedule that minimises the cross over times of moving vehicles like forklifts and pedestrians in the area. You need to create a feasible working schedule that involves separate working times for pedestrians and vehicles. This scheduling will help you in minimising the chances of accidents. When there are separate working times for pedestrian workers and moving vehicles in a specific area, the probability of accidents will reduce considerably and this will help you in creating a safety rails Melbourne environment throughout your workplace.