Industrial safety barriers are one of the most important changes you can make to ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of your workers. Whether you’re operating a busy warehouse, a construction site, or a plant or factory, industrial safety barriers can be the difference between a safe and happy worksite and a serious accident taking place, injuring or even killing one of your workers.
Just as there are certain dos when it comes to safety barriers, there also a few don’ts that you need to be mindful of when you’re looking for and installing industrial safety barriers. We’ve put together a helpful guide so you understand what to avoid when it comes to safety barriers.
1. Poor quality barriers
Not all barriers are equal. Just like most products, even those that are meant to be there for your safety and the safety of your workers, there are cheap alternatives on the market that don’t meet necessary safety standards. Ensure the barriers you install on your work-site are top quality.
2. Wrong type of barrier
There are different types of workplace safety barriers, including fencing-style barriers, hand railings, guard rails, and kicks boards that prevent vehicles and heavy machinery from entering certain work areas. Ensure you choose the right type of barrier for your different work areas.
3. Blocking paths and exits
Industrial safety barriers are there to make a safer worksite for you and for your workers, so the last thing you want is to have your safety barriers actually endangering your workers. When installing your safety barriers, ensure they’re not blocking paths and especially exits.
4. Blocking signage
When implementing safety barriers on your worksite, one of your primary considerations should not only be whether the barriers will block paths and exits but also whether the barriers will block any safety signage that’s been installed on-site. If necessary, add additional signage to the barriers.
5. Not educating staff
Not only should the safety barriers be present, your staff should know when and how to use them. A strict set of safety regulations should be implemented amongst workers and all staff members should be made familiar with the regulations and when and how to use the safety barriers.
6. Not installing them properly
Once you’ve chosen the right type of industrial safety barriers for the different areas of your worksite, it’s of crucial importance that the barriers are not only top quality, but are also properly installed by a reliable tradesperson who has experience installing safety barriers in your type of worksite.
7. Not using them at all
This is the worst thing you can do when it comes to safety barriers. If you are operating any kind of work site that sees a lot of foot traffic and puts workers in the path of heavy machinery or heavy boxes or pallets, it’s imperative you install good quality industrial safety barriers.
